We are excited to bring to you our 3rd Annual Music Finance Forum. This virtual event will bring together driving forces in the music sector to discuss the digital landscape, live performances, new perspectives on upcoming trends - everything you could possibly want to know about the music industry.

ATTENDEES WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN FROM AND GAIN INSIGHT INTO THE MIND SET OF SOME OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL LEADERS IN THE BUSINESS. TOP INVESTORS, MUSIC EXECUTIVES, DEALMAKERS AND MORE WILL BE SPEAKING AT THIS YEAR’S FORUM, IT IS NOT ONE TO BE MISSED!

SPEAKING FACULTY:

Carlos Cruz
Executive Director, Technology, Media & Telecommunications Corporate & Investment Banking, Fifth Third Bank

Carlos Cruz is an Executive Director at Fifth Third Bank and has been financing middle market companies across a variety of sectors including:  Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT), Restaurant & Retail, Energy, and Commercial & Industrial. For the last 9 years, Carlos has focused solely on the TMT sectors, including:  film and television production and distribution, broadcast and cable television, music and new media (Ad-tech, Martech, and Ed-tech).  Carlos began his career in the Investment Banking Group at Merrill Lynch before moving to Jefferies’ Leveraged Finance Group.  Prior to Fifth Third Bank, Carlos spent 6 years at the CIT Group where he focused on media, entertainment and gaming transactions. Carlos holds a BA from Rutgers University and a MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Sherrese Clarke Soares
Founder and Managing Partner
HarbourView

Sherrese Clarke Soares is visionary 2-time Founder & CEO, Investor, Operator and Board Director with 20 years leading corporate finance, capital markets, investment banking, and private equity with a focus in Communications and Media & Entertainment. Sherrese brings a successful record building portfolios in capital markets that have delivered significant investor returns for Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), CIT Group (NYSE: CIT), and GE Capital. She provides companies and boards insights through evaluation, finance, investment, competitive analysis – asking the right questions and advising both nascent companies and those competing on the global stage.

Sherrese is now the Founder and Managing Partner at HarbourView, a global investment firm focused on esoteric investments opportunities that offer enduring value and deliver superior returns. The business is powered by an industrial sourcing platform, rigorous underwriting, global industrial strategic partners and optimizing investments to turbo charge returns. As a player in the entertainment and media industries and a seasoned investor, she has invested in and/or evaluated $3.3B+ and over 300 investment opportunities, with an investment record of purchasing assets at more attractive prices than her peers.

Sherrese founded Tempo Music and led as CEO and Board Director after partnering with Warner Music Group & and bringing on Providence Equity Partners to back the venture. During her tenure as CEO, she had significant achievements including investing in 12 assets, optimizing the balance sheet to support the growth of the business and scaling the team to 10 professionals.

Previously, Sherrese also led globally as Managing Director at Morgan Stanley for the Entertainment, Media, & Sports Structured Solutions Platform, devising a cross asset strategy focused on capital solutions for intellectual property. During her 10-year tenure, she managed the origination and execution of $85B+ in loan commitments for the firm and served as Deputy Chair of the Capital Commitment Committee. Sherrese also led two large strategic transactions, a $2B and a $3B divestiture that delivered significant returns.

Prior to Morgan Stanley, Sherrese was one of the three founding senior leaders to develop the Entertainment Practice at CIT Group, overseeing a $1B portfolio across entertainment companies. She provided advisory services and capital to prospective and existing clients in the Entertainment & Media industry seeking structured financial solutions, including the utilization of leverage finance and equity capital. Sherrese developed the business plan, investment rationale and criteria for investment in entertainment companies.

Sherrese received a B.S. in Finance from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She is a board member of Evoqua Holdings (NYSE: AQUA) and Planned Parenthood Federation of America where she serves as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee. She is also a board trustee at Carnegie Hall. She is a recipient of the Billboard 2021 Change Agent and Billboard 2020 Women in Music awards.

MrMoE
Founder and NFT Collector
RoyaltyBits

Maurice is a Grammy Award Winning Technical Engineer and Music Producer who, in 2015, positioned himself as the blockchain advocate for the entertainment sector.

A year earlier, Maurice began exploring blockchain technology and the impact on intellectual property; and became a Keynote Speaker on content & data. In that same year, he joined the Winston Baker team to produce Entertainment Finance Conferences around the world with one of the goals to increase awareness of blockchain applications, and to help bridge the next generation of companies focused on intellectual property and Digital Assets.

In 2016, he served as a producer with Winston Baker and helped launched the China/US Motion Picture Summit with former Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, Dick Cook and a stellar line up of keynote speakers which included; The President of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy Award Winner, Alfonso Cuaron, and Award Winning Disney Producer, Don Han. The summit ending in a $500 Million entertainment partnership with China’s Film Carnival and Dick Cook Studios as reported by Variety. Today, Maurice manages a network of 300+ active digital asset investors on the Bleeding Crypto Discord Group focusing on Digital Assets and continues to be a catalyst for evangelising the impact blockchain technology will have on fundamental industries such as art, finance, gaming and more. He has been at the helm of establishing Crypto Workshops with some of the leading blockchain projects such as: ENJIN, SingularDTV, and with social media influencers like Omar Bham (YouTube/Crypt0News). His Blockchain Keynotes at Entertainment Finance Forum in Los Angeles and at Content Capital in New York City have inspired producers to begin using the blockchain for their projects.

Sophia Dilley
Senior Vice President
Concord Originals

Dilley heads up the recently launched Concord Originals, the new narrative content creation division of prolific music rights company Concord. Concord Originals will develop and produce a slate of scripted and unscripted films, television shows and premium podcasts centered around artists and IP that Concord owns or represents.

Dilley is overseeing several major screen projects previously announced under parent company Concord, including two based on iconic musicals by Rodgers & Hammerstein: a TV series reimagining of Oklahoma!, which Concord Originals is producing alongside Skydance TV, and a remake of The King and I with Temple Hill at Paramount Pictures. The company has also partnered with Skydance and Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions to develop a slate of original projects based on Concord’s catalog of musicals.

Along with the already announced projects and partnerships, three new titles have been added to the Concord Originals slate: Flower Drum Song, a partnership with Daniel Dae Kim’s 3AD and Janet Yang Productions to re-imagine Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Tony Award-winning musical for screen; The Bluesman, an elevated genre film inspired by the music and mythology of the legendary Blues artist Robert Johnson written by Obie Award-winning playwright Aleshea Harris;and Peregrina, a premium scripted podcast that tells the love story inspired by the classic Mexican ballad, produced alongside the Grammy Award-winning production company Prodigal Entertainment, led by Arvind Ethan David.

Prior to joining Concord in 2018, Dilley oversaw production and development at Route One Entertainment, where she co-produced films including Tallulah, Colossal, Landline and The Circle. In addition, she served as an executive producer on the upcoming TV series Dope State and the film Palmer.

Vickie Nauman
Founder and CEO
CrossBorderWorks

Vickie Nauman specializes in the intersection between technology 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 been busy with 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 listed on LinkedIn.

Dr. Roy Salter
Financial and Strategic Advisor
FTI Consulting

Dr. Salter is a financial and strategic advisor who provides forecasting, valuation, financial opinion, and transaction support in a broad range of situations on behalf of a wide range of businesses, with a particular emphasis within entertainment, media, and broader intellectual property sectors. Roy is one of the leaders of FTI Consulting’s Valuation & Financial Advisory Services practice and the Media & Entertainment industry group, as well as a leader of the Fairness and Solvency Committee of FTI Capital Advisors, FTI Consulting’s wholly owned investment banking subsidiary. Since 1988, Roy has led or overseen the assessment of over 5,000 media and entertainment engagements representing combined values in excess of US$400 billion on behalf of, or in conjunction with nearly every major music company, many of the leading independent music labels and publishers, a majority of the leading music financiers, and many artists and their professional legal and management advisors. Roy received his doctorate in 2020 having drafted a dissertation titled “Reconciling Going Concern Business Valuation Indications Derived From Multiple Business Valuation Methods”, is a Clinical Research Professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles teaching a course titled “Introduction to Entertainment and Media Finance”, has served on several Boards and is active in a broad range of philanthropic initiatives.

Clare Nicholls
CFO
Songtradr

Clare Nicholls is the Chief Financial Officer of Songtradr, the world's largest music licensing platform. She is an award-winning Chartered Accountant and Senior Media Investment Banker (Salomon Brothers, UBS Warburg, ABN Amro), Clare has been working on the client side for over 10 years, owning and advising a variety of media and tech businesses. Clare has a wealth of experience within the financial, strategic and operational areas of the TMT sector, bringing a depth of expertise in M&A, private and public market fundraising, commercial strategy assessment and IP exploitation to high growth, disruptive businesses. A successful deal and decision-maker, negotiator, and strategic thinker, Clare has a proven track record in setting and executing insightful, robust growth and capitalisation strategies, delivering excellence, innovation and enhancing profitability and valuation across a variety of cultures and business models. She is an advocate for women pursuing careers in technology and leadership roles in business and politics.

Rob Amir
Partner
Vine Alternative Investments

Rob is a Partner and Head of Transaction Analytics and heads up the Music practice at Vine Alternative Investments.  Rob has over ten years of experience in investment banking and five years of operating experience in the entertainment sector. Rob began his career at KPMG Peat Marwick where he worked in the Corporate Transactions Group.  He then joined BT Alex. Brown, where he was responsible for underwriting transactions for the Real Estate Investment Banking group.  Rob then transitioned to the origination side of the business, joining JP Morgan Chase’s Real Estate Structured Finance group in 1999 and then Banc of America Securities’ Real Estate Structured Finance group in 2001. After that, he worked at Sony Pictures Entertainment from 2005 to 2010 where he was primarily responsible for greenlighting films, raising capital and structuring distribution deals and strategic initiatives. Immediately, prior to joining Vine, Rob was a Managing Director at Rizvi Traverse Management focused on capital raising and evaluating and structuring investments for content owners, distributors and investors worldwide. Rob is based in Los Angeles and is currently focused on Vine’s origination efforts to be a source of long term creative capital for the music sector leveraging off of Vine’s long dated expertise in structured transactions in the entertainment space.

Rob holds a B.A. in Economics from University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Wesley Adams
Director of Development & Production
Concord Originals

Wesley is a Los Angeles native and graduate of University of Southern California. She began her career at Creative Artists Agency working in the music touring division under Jeff Frasco. Following her time at CAA, Wesley transitioned to Universal Music Publishing Group where she supported Marc Cimino and Jody Gerson prior to joining Concord in 2018 under Sophia Dilley’s leadership. Wesley serves as a Director of Development & Production for Concord Originals.

Charles Hopkins
Director of Development & Production
Concord Originals

Charles moved to Los Angeles from Australia after completing his Arts: Media & Communications undergraduate and Juris Doctor at the University of Melbourne. Following brief stints at Roar Talent Management and Ideate Media, Charles started at independent film sales and production company, Shoreline Entertainment, where he worked as an acquisitions and development executive for several years. Charles joined Concord Originals in 2019 and now serves as a Director of Development & Production.  

John Rudolph
Principal
1.618 Industries, Inc

John Rudolph is the CEO of 1.618 Industries, Inc. (formerly Music Analytics, Inc.) based in Nashville, Tennessee.  John has been actively involved in global media and technology for over 25 years, known as a “business builder”, and leading music publisher.  Through that time, he has guided content and digital companies’ growth within the backdrop of the accelerating digital/social shift, disruptive consumer behavior and landmark financial events.

For the last 10 years, he has advised artists/songwriters, businesses, private equity and banks, including the exclusive advisor to Imagine Dragons (2020), The Killers (2020) and members of Journey (2019/2020) in their  record setting transactions. In 2018, as chairman, he sold Elias Arts Holdings to Universal Music.  From 2006 to 2011, he was the CEO of Bug Music, Inc., a leading global independent music publisher and innovator in music business services that he successfully guided to its sale for over $300M+ in October 2011 to BMG Rights.   From 1998 to 2001, he also served as the CFO of Windswept Pacific Music Publishing, a subsidiary of Fuji TV, and engineered its sale to EMI for $200M+.    He serves as an advisor to companies from digital start-ups to established businesses ranging from productivity on-the-go to worldwide rights organizations.  He has served as a board member for the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and HFA (Harry Fox Agency).

In 2001 he found Music Analytics, Inc. (now 1.618 Industries, Inc.) and grew it into a recognized leader in the music strategy advisory with experience in over $3.1 billion in recorded music and music publishing music transactions before taking the CEO at Bug Music. Clients included Warner Music Group, SESAC, Eldridge Industries, Vine Alternative Investments, Dreamworks Music Publishing, Ryko, Leiber & Stoller, Saban Music Group, Edward Holland, Windswept Holdings/Hitco Music, Bug Music, Savoy Label Group/ZelnickMedia, Six Degrees Records, Dominion Capital/Compendia, Carlin America, technology companies, various estates, artists, private equity and legal firms, among others.  Career events have included corporate finance at IBM, a CPA (inactive) with BDO, a publisher with Stiff Shirt Music and in 2000, founded and led one of the first social network technology firms (“Viral Trust-Circle Market Research Tools” (USPTO 60/180,700”).

PROGRAM:

WELCOMING ADDRESS
10:00am – 10:05am PT

AMY BAKER  - CEO and Co-Founder, Winston Baker

STATE OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY: Global Trends and Growth Strategies
10:05am – 11:00am PT

In this interactive discussion, we will dive into the State of the current Music Industry compared with last year. 
With both live performances and synchronization revenue streams suffering from the pandemic, we will also discuss how artists are using social media to livestream their performances and how sustainable that business model is. What role will social media play as the world begins to open back up?
Hear from our panel of elite speakers on all this and more!

Moderator:
CARLOS CRUZ - Executive Director, Technology, Media & Telecommunications Corporate & Investment Banking, Fifth Third Bank

Panelists:
SHERRESE CLARKE SOARES - Founder and Managing Partner, HarbourView 
DR. ROY SALTER - Financial and Strategic Advisor, FTI Consulting

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Royalties Disrupted 
11:00am – 11:30am PT

Presented by: 
MRMOE - Founder & NFT Collector, RoyaltyBits

- What is an NFT
- Use Cases for Intellectual Properties
- Market Places & Music Royalties 
- Why NFTs are a game changer for Musicians

PANEL PRESENTATION: Market Trends, Music & IP Rights and M&A Activity
11:30am – 12:15pm PT

What a year in terms of buying and selling of music companies, despite the uncertainty and turmoil! Whole portfolios of music rights and entire companies have been rapidly being bought and sold. What will be the drivers for funding and acquisitions in the future? How are these acquisitions changing the music industry?  We will discuss the basics behind how catalogues are valued,  the importance of owning your own IP, and trends in global music finance.   

Moderator: 
VICKIE NAUMAN - Founder and CEO, CrossBorderWorks 

Panelists: 
CLARE NICHOLLS - CFO, Songtradr
JOHN RUDOLPH - Principal, 1.618 Industries Inc
ROB AMIR - Partner, Vine Alternative Investments

FIRESIDE CHAT: Highlighting the New Developments at Recently Launched, Concord Originals.
12:15pm – 1:00pm PT

- What the Originals content focus is on and how it fits into the overall Concord strategy

- Where do they see the future of IP generated narratives heading

- How to find and source ideas

- And more!

Moderator:
AMY BAKER - CEO and Co-Founder, Winston Baker

Panelists:
SOPHIA DILLEY - Senior Vice President, Concord Originals
CHARLES HOPKINS - Director of Production and Development, Concord Originals
WESLEY ADAMS - Director of Production and Development, Concord Originals

FORUM CONCLUDES
1:00pm PT

**SPECIAL BONUS SESSION/WORKSHOP**
1:00 - 1:30 PT
”CREATING AN NFT”
Mr.Moe will walk us through the steps as he creates an NFT for Winston Baker!

ngagement with documentaries, untold stories, and local language content from around the world. 

It is the time to explore new facets of the industry and further explore the use of multi-purpose platforms. We will hear from our elite speakers on their thoughts about all the new and exciting trends to look forward to in 2021 and beyond.

HOSTED BY:

Amy Baker
Co-Founder and CEo
WINSTON | BAKER

As Co-Founder and CEO of WINSTON | BAKER, Amy Baker oversees the company’s global strategic planning, editorial programming, event production, business development and vendor relationships. Amy co-founded the FILM FINANCE FORUM® SERIES, a series of conferences across the globe dedicated to bringing film and finance executives together.

Prior to establishing Winston Baker, she successfully directed B2B and B2C business development efforts for over 10 years by leveraging innovative sponsorship methods to engage business professionals. At ALM, as Vice President of Business Development, she provided finance executives and marketers with targeted channels for reaching decision-makers within the legal, entertainment, healthcare and tech sectors. In her previous position, Director of Business Development at RPMC, she worked with entertainment, music, and sports companies, creating event marketing programs, travel incentive services, sweepstakes, and media promotions.

Amy received a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with honors from New York University and is proud to be a member of the National Board of Advisors for the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.
Amy is also a Certified COVID-19 Compliance Officer.

For more information please email:

Special Thanks to Our Partners