When we think of branding and brand equity in the music industry, we traditionally think of it when applied to performing artists. Fan bases, stream counts, social media engagement, tour revenue, and NIL deals are just some of the metrics used to define and measure an artist’s brand equity. But this is not the sole domain of artists as accomplished songwriters have found value in defining their own brand and growing their brand equity. In our panel, we will learn how a songwriter’s brand is defined, measured, and developed through their own efforts and those of the team around them. And we will hear how songwriters, publishers, and managers leverage building the songwriter’s brand to unlock opportunities and further their career.
Speakers:
• Kristin Juel is the founder of Juel Concepts, an incubator and music marketing/management firm for emerging artists that encourages them to know their worth, value their craft and prepares them for a high stakes and data driven industry. Kristin founded Juel Concepts in 2013 following a storied career of building brands like Blue Cross, Nissan Automotive, Kahlua, KFC, Church’s Chicken, Hotwire.com, Herbalife, TiVo and Kaiser Permanente, for over two decades. She has created strategies for integrated advertising campaigns, curated music playlists for brands, designed concert series, blogged for HuffPost, and advised boards on the use of emerging music technologies. Through Juel Concepts, she and her team have been passionately building the careers of artists like Australia’s Hamish Anderson (“Top 10 Best New Artists of 2016” – Yahoo!), Atlanta’s Billboard charting Ruby Velle & The Soulphonics, and Grammy-Nominated Songwriter/Author Shelly Peiken among many others Kristin applies her keen sense of what it takes to create meaningful experiences for all audiences to everything Juel Concepts does. She often advises startups on how to integrate brand efforts into their business models from the onset and prioritizes mentorship for young entrepreneurial minds where you can hear her talk about three tenets of her business approach: passionate, proactive and transparent. She curates a Spotify Playlist VIBEZZZ FOR DAYS – and recently started a music-oriented collective, UnCut Juels, which is a hybrid media platform designed to uncover and reveal unique, music-adjacent artist stories. The first season of Uncut Juels launched in 2021 as a Web Series + Podcast.
• Chris Martignago is a senior member of the A&R team at Prescription Songs based in Nashville, TN. He graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor’sdegree in Music Business from Full Sail University in Orlando, FL. While in school, an internship with Steve Robertson (Paramore, Shinedown) turned into a full time job developing the A&R research department as Director of A&R and Research at Atlantic Records. There he signed Anna Clendening and guided her single “Boys Like You” to platinum status in the US. He put together A Day To Remember’s Gold certified collaboration with Marshmello “Rescue Me.” Delivered “Sway With Me” by GALXARA & Saweetie as a fan favorite on Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey soundtrack which featured Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Halsey and Normani. He also managed alt R&B artist R.LUM.R overseeing two Top 10 Urban AC singles with “Frustrated” and “How It Feels.” In Nashville he has continued signing artists, collaborating with the creative community, and volunteering his time to local arts programs & schools. He prides himself on being both an outspoken advocate for creatives in Nashville and a bridge of creativity to the rest of the world. His latest signings at Prescription Songs include A.B. Eastwood and Puru Dogra.
Moderator:
• Marc Caruso, CEO & Co-Founder, Angry Mob Music/AIMP LA Vice President
April 21, 2022 LA – Building The Brand: A Career In Songwriting (video)
This event begins with the virtual award of this year’s recipient of the Linda Komorsky AIMP Scholarship!
Many artists have been exploring NFTs, DAOs and the metaverse always to build community, develop truly engaged super fans and generate revenue.
This panel explores how songwriters and their publishers may enter this new virtual arena by collaborating in branding the songwriters behind the songs, building communities of followers, fulfilling songwriters’ creative and artistic visions, increasing attribution, and consequently, maximizing publishing revenues. Speakers:
• Born and raised in L.A, Yvonne Drazan has been in the music industry for over 30 years. She is currently the VP Latin Division at peermusic, where she began in 2003 as Creative Manager. She represents many writer/artists including Gloria Trevi, Mala Rodriguez, Molotov, Sofia Reyes, De La Ghetto, Chiquis, and Chayanne, among others. Her experience includes Label Manager for Gustavo Santaolalla’s imprint Surco/Universal, (Juanes, Molotov, Bajo Fondo) coordinated his film scoring work (Amores Perros, Motorcycle Diaries) and productions (Café Tacuva, Kronos Quartet). She worked PR at Rhino Records (Los Lobos, Ramones, The Cars, Devo), was a road manager for various Latin Rock artists and began her career at EMI Latin (Selena Quintanilla, Jon Secada).
• Vickie Nauman specializes in the intersection between t?h=echnology and music, focused on licensing, relationships and music rights; helping grow companies from point A to point B; and global strategic development. She is Founder and CEO of the boutique consulting and advisory firm CrossBorderWorks and has an ambitious portfolio of forward-thinking companies in gaming, tech, consumer electronics, finance and music since 2014. A digital music pioneer, Nauman worked on licensing and product for one of the first legal digital services MusicNet (RealNetworks JV), led strategic partnerships for connected device company Sonos, started and ran the US business for global music platform 7digital, and did digital music business in Europe and China as a consultant. She built one of the first DMCA-compliant services at taste-making Seattle station KEXP and has an MBA through the London School of Economics, NYU-Stern, and HEC-Paris, in the executive program TRIUM. She is an advisor to companies in M&A, strategic growth, and early-stage startups in music/tech. Client base includes Beat Saber/Oculus, AimLab, SoundExchange, Downtown Holdings, Spotify, Warner Music Group, and more listed on LinkedIn.
• Poo Bear is an American songwriter, singer, and music producer. He is best known for being one of Justin Bieber’s main collaborators, having co-written many of Bieber’s hits (including “Despacito (Remix)”, “Where Are Ü Now”, “What Do You Mean?”, “PYD”, “Hold Tight” and “All That Matters”), and for co-writing the song “Caught Up” from Usher’s diamond-certified album Confessions. Poo Bear has a number of records written, produced and sung on his own label, including Bearthday Music, Hard 2 Face Reality, and Beats 2 Make Love 2.
• Autumn Rowe is a Grammy award winning Singer/Songwriter/Producer/DJ from New York. Growing up in the South Bronx, she applied her musical talents in a range of roles, from band leader to session singer. Later, she became a sought-after songwriter, working with some of the world’s biggest artists and record labels. She wrote the dance anthem behind the 2011 FIFA World Cup “Happiness” featuring Alexis Jordan, and has worked with Diana Ross, Dua Lipa, Tori Kelly, Ava Max, Jon Batiste, Naia Izumi, Jax Jones, Big Freedia, MK, Avicci, Zedd, Alesso, AfroJack, Deadmau5, Alex Newell, Leona Lewis, Digital Farm Animals, Boy George, Jon Bellion, The Knocks, Nick Jonas, Kali Uchis, Kacy Hill, Fifth Harmony, One Direction, Sinead Harnett, Fka Twigs, Lindsey, Stirling, Becky G, and Macy Gray, among many other artists. She is currently signed to Stellar/Sony ATV. Autumn is also a celebrated vocal coach. She appeared on season 2 of The X Factor, and as the only vocal coach on America’s Got Talent for five years, between the show’s eight and twelfth seasons. She has coached artists including America’s Got Talent winner Grace VanderWaal, Fifth Harmony, Bea Miller, Carly Rose Sonenclar and Diamond White. Currently living in Los Angeles, Autumn continues to write and mentor both established and emerging artists. She most recently collaborated with Jon Batiste, and Diana Ross while continuing to work on her own projects as an artist and producer.
Moderator:
• Abby North, President, North Music Group, LLC & LA Chapter Board Member
Branding experts and music industry leaders Joe Belliotti and Rebecca Jolly provide insider strategies, frameworks and principles to help brands utilize music as their most powerful marketing asset. We will talk to them about these strategies and dig deeper into how as independent publishers and songwriters we can be a part of this conversation.
Speakers
• Joe Bellioti
• Rebecca Jolly
Moderator
• Mayra Vargas
