This event is sponsored by Finessed Media, Inc. & hosted by Kayla Perez and Miya Asobo.

RSVP to attend.

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Have you ever rolled your eyes as someone said, “just release your music, it isn’t that hard”? While releasing music may seem simple, there are critical steps to take and it may be difficult to know where to start. There’s pre and post production, split sheets, engineering, creating a marketing plan, building hype, music videos… you get the idea.

This weekend, we will be discussing what processes are involved in releasing music as an independent artist, tips for marketing and distribution, helpful social media techniques to keep your artist image on point, targeting audience demographics, and much more!

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Speakers:

Brian Arkin – Catalog Ingestion Coordinator at Warner Music Group

Esther Bilson – day-to-day manager of Amaarae

Lauren Gaspard – Label Marketing Executive

Angela Galli – Lead Copyright Agent at TuneCore

Agenda:

12 – 12:10pm Introductions

12:10 – 12:45pm Panel Discussion

12:45 – 1pm Audience Q&A

1 – 1:30pm Networking Session

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Brian Arkin is a music industry professional based in Nashville, Tennessee. He works on the Catalog Acquisition and Ingestion team at Warner Music Group. He graduated from SUNY Oneonta back in 2018 with a degree in music business.

Along with his work at Warner, he volunteers as the Nashville Community Curator for The Digilogue and the Co-head of Business Development for Gen Admissions.

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Esther Bilson is an Executive/Day-To-Day Organizational Manager providing administrative support to the sensational Ghanaian – American artist Amaarae. Her time in the music industry began with Amaarae and has for the past 3 years contributed to the artist’s consistent growth and global success. Esther’s skills in music business administration, organizing, coordinating and logistics has made her a central part of Team Amaarae.

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A native of South Central Los Angeles, Lauren Gaspard has continued to strive above and beyond in the world of urban entertainment and communications. Lauren graduated from Howard University in July 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism – Public Relations with a minor of African American Studies. From this point, she’s set her sights high with a number of opportunities.

With an undying passion for the music and entertainment industry, Lauren catapulted into her first career job in the industry with 42 West Public Relations as a talent assistant to the top Publicist in the company. With her relentless work ethic and determination, Lauren landed a full time position with Ne-Yo’s Compound Entertainment and liaised and managed all operations of the joint venture with Motown Records. Lauren’s primary focus lied within the A&R and Creative Realms while taking on some artist management duties. She received her first credit on Ne-Yo’s 6th album “Nonfiction” released in February 2015. Her second round of credits came from her work with soundtrack from the hit show “Empire”.

In between, she transitioned to the live music and brand partnership, working with Burrell Communications and Cashmere Agency with experiential campaigns and music strategy. A bulk of her successes came from the development and brokering partnerships for culture shifting events such as A3C, Afropunk, Broccoli City, Essence, CIAA, Lollapalooza, and others. Lauren has managed experiential and digital campaigns with the likes of Lance Gross, Lisa Leslie, Kevin Hart, Janelle Monae, DeAndre Jordan, Sonny Digital, Netflix, Adidas, Nike, TNT, NBA, Youtube and more. In full circle, Lauren served as ASCAP’s Associate Director of Rhythm & Soul (Urban) here in Los Angeles. After 2.5 years, Lauren has pivoted to a role with a notable record label with an emphasis on strategic marketing.

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Angela Galli is a Lead Copyright Agent at TuneCore, the world’s leading digital music aggregator. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Angela attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and studied instrumental performance. She went on to attend SUNY Purchase, where she graduated with a degree in Arts Management and Economics.

During her time at Purchase, Angela interned at well-known music organizations, such as Jazz at Lincoln Center and Blue Note Entertainment Group. Currently in her role at TuneCore, she closely follows and educates clients on DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) policies in the music industry.

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Finessed Media is a New York City based start-up focused on developing content in all things music entrepreneurship and creation. The company was founded in January 2020 with the mission to provide resources for a worldwide audience interested in making it in the music industry in any capacity.

Our contributors spotlight music and stories of artists, A&R reps, DJs, music tech executives, radio hosts, and more to speak on their experiences and share insight for others to learn from. These stories are provided via videos, online lessons, news updates, and events.

The Finessed community has grown into a global audience for its work in promoting all genres and for providing a platform for all aspiring music industry entrepreneurs.

Join our community at Finessed Media.

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