www.jonasgroup.com

Leslie “Tomasina” DiPiero is a dynamic leader in the music industry with over three decades of experience in music publishing, talent development, and industry innovation. As the President of Jonas Group Publishing, Leslie has been instrumental in curating a roster of highly acclaimed music creators including the catalog of JULIA MICHAELS, groundbreaking sync artist and songwriter, AMY STROUP hit mixer/sound engineer and songwriter, DAVID KALMUSKY, hit songwriter/producer JUSTIN EBACH and Hall of Fame songwriter, RHETT AKINS.  This incredible roster of talent will be followed by the next round of sought-after music catalog acquisitions and songwriter signings to be announced in the next few months. The current Jonas publishing roster includes: Artist/writer, FRANKLIN JONAS, Artist /songwriter, BAILEE MADISON , songwriter, TERRI JO BOX, THE BAND LIGHT and Artist/songwriter, DAN MARSHALL.

www.ascap.com

As a Native of Nashville, Duane Hobson always has a love for music…especially for Country Music. After graduating from Nashville State Community College with a degree in Music Technology Engineering, Hobson started his career in the music industry. He worked at Sony Music Nashville in A&R for 16 years, managed Independent artists at Edge Management, and worked at Big Loud Records as the South East Promotion Representative. Currently as the Associate Director of ASCAP, Hobson plays a key role in developing & cultivating ASCAP’s country community and helping to expand all genres of music.

www.bigmachinemusic.com

Upon graduation from Middle Tennessee State University and armed with a degree in Recording Industry Management, Tim started his own record label, Rhythm and Grooves Records. The label had strong initial success with a hit video on BET and a charted single on Billboard charts.  Ultimately, Hunze sold his interest in the company.  In 1993 Tim then took at job as archive manger at Great Cumberland Music Group (later renamed to Hamstein Music).  After a year as archive manager, Tim garnered his first cut with Giant Records artist, Clay Walker. This cut turn into Tim’s first single that peaked at # 14 on Billboard’s country music chart.  Hunze was promoted to creative director in 1995 and procured cuts with artist such as Tim McGraw, George Strait, Sugarland, John Michael Montgomery, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney.  In 2000, Hamstein sold to Mosaic Music group and then in 2005 sold to Stage Three Music Group.  Tim was appointed the General Manger.  Under Hunze’s tenure, Stage Three Music Group had over 15 #1’s including Jason Aldean’s “The Truth”, Sugarland’s’ “Want To”, “Already Gone”, and “It Happens”, Carrie Underwood’s, “Cowboy Casanova” and Kenny Chesney’s “Out Last Night”.  Stage Three Writer, Bobby Pinson won 2009 BMI Song Writer of The Year award and writer Brett James won 2010 ASCAP writer of the year. In July of 2011, Hunze started Parallel Music Publishing, a partnership with JP Williams of Parallel Entertainment. In their first five years they have scored five #1 singles including, “Mama’s Broken Heart” by Miranda Lambert, “Better Dig Two” By The Band Perry and “Love Me Like You Mean It” by Kelsea Ballerini.  In December of 2018, JP and Hunze sold Parallel to Anthem Entertainment Group (formerly ole). Hunze ran Anthem’s creative team in Nashville from 2019-2021. Under Hunze’s leadership, Anthem had multiple number 1’s including Jordan Davis’ “Take It from Me”, “Slow Dancing In A Parking Lot”,  Chris Janson’s “Good Vibes”, “Done”.  In spring 2021, Hunze joined Big Machine Music as a VP of Publishing.

www.lizrosemusic.com

Originally from Long Island, NY, Dave Pacula moved to Nashville in 1997 to attend Vanderbilt University. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies, he accepted a Paralegal position at Riley, Warnock & Jacobson, PLC, a Nashville law firm specializing in entertainment and copyright law. Going back to school in 2004, Dave earned an Audio Technology Diploma with Honors from SAE Institute of Technology. Internships with the RCA Records Radio Promotions department, MTV Networks 330 Post and BMG Music Publishing ultimately led to a catalogue management position at BMG in 2006. Dave became a Creative Manager at Universal Music Publishing Group the following year when the company purchased BMG. After 5 years with UMPG, he accepted a Creative Director position at Ten Ten Music Group. In 2014, Dave moved to Black River Entertainment and went on to serve as the company’s VP of Publishing. In 2019, Dave joined Liz Rose Music as the highly acclaimed independent publishing company’s Senior VP of Creative. Dave is a member of The Recording Academy, ACM, CMA and AIMP.

www.loeb.com

Megan Pekar is an entertainment lawyer whose practice focuses on the representation of songwriters in music catalog sales, music publishing and administration matters, and negotiating songwriter representation and other entertainment-related agreements. Megan Pekar moved to Nashville in 2012 to attend Belmont University, where she graduated with a double Bachelors of Business Administration in Music Business and Accounting. While attending Belmont, Megan began her music industry career as an intern at Big Loud Bucks and Round Hill Music. She went on to work in Copyright Administration at Round Hill, where she  handled mechanical licensing, copyright registration, counterclaims and proper registration for Round Hill’s Nashville catalog at the respective performing rights organizations in the US and Canada. In 2017, Megan attended Belmont University College of Law and graduated Cum Laude in 2020. While at Belmont Law, Megan clerked at Dickinson Wright, where she was exposed to the catalog sale process and various aspects of entertainment law. After graduating law school, Megan joined Loeb & Loeb’s entertainment department where she currently practices as a transactional entertainment attorney. Megan’s current practice includes drafting and negotiating various entertainment related agreements, as well as complex due diligence and catalog valuations, for her clients. These include music catalog acquisition agreements; major and independent label producer agreements; and exclusive songwriter, co-publishing and administration agreements.

www.concord.com

Melissa Spillman, VP of A&R at Concord Music Publishing. In her role, Spillman is responsible for signing and developing new and established songwriters and artists and placing songs with major recording artists. She started out her career at Dreamcatcher Entertainment which led to a 7-year stint in A&R at Capitol Records. After that she headed up renowned producer, Jay Joyce’s Neon Cross Music as Head of Publishing and Production. From there she started her own company, Freetown Music where she oversaw the creative development and management of artists, producers and songwriters until she was tapped by Concord Music Publishing to become their VP of A&R in 2021. Beyond her work in music, Spillman proudly started a non-profit organization called Wan Fambul Foundation which strives to support children and their families in Sierra Leone, West Africa, the birthplace of three of her sons.

Anna Thiel is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in Recording Industry Studies. Growing up a musician herself, Thiel developed a passion for the music business. She joined Eclipse Music Group as an intern in 2022 and has evolved into her current position as Creative Manager. Her responsibilities span over the administration, publishing, and label divisions. She oversees the catalog for Eclipse Music Group, all social media efforts for the company, assists with calendar management, song pitching, booking co-writes, and oversees all aspects of Eclipse’s label; Penumbra Records.