Phil Brown has been with music tech company Nightlife Music for 12 years. He has been instrumental in positioning the company as the go-to option for venue operators looking for bespoke soundtracks as well as exploring new ways to add value to music in the out of home space. More recently Phil has helped drive the development and launch of Nightlife’s innovative crowdDJ app in partnership with Spotify, including coordinating large scale activations in public spaces. Phil owns a small bar in the Brisbane bayside suburb of Sandgate and is passionate about the role music plays in affecting our experience of a space – he can no longer enjoy a meal in a restaurant with his wife and children without obsessing over the song selections, sound system and acoustic design.

Nigel started as WAM’s Regional Officer in 2003, and since then has completed projects in every major centre in every region of WA. In 2012 Nigel was awarded a BHP Billiton Scholarship to complete a post-graduate certificate in Social Impact at UWA’s Business School. With extensive festival experience including site electrician to stage management, Nigel has managed the artist inner-sanctums for festivals, including Southbound, Laneway and West Coast Blues & Roots.
 He booked for The Grosvenor and Swan Hotel, and has been a DCA funding panelist since 2001. Nigel has remained active in several bands – playing small venues to festival stages.

Marie-Louise is State Manager for Creative Partnerships Australia (NSW/ACT). Creative Partnerships Australia promotes private sector support for arts and culture and builds the capacity of the arts, business and donors to connect. Previously, Marie-Louise worked as State Director for the Australia Business Arts Foundation, where she advised a wide range of arts organisations and artists on strategies to secure private sector support, and as National Relationship Manager for the Surf Life Saving Foundation where she managed a portfolio of partner and philanthropic relationships across Australia. A former lawyer with experience in the media sector, Marie-Louise enjoyed a three year statutory appointment as Senior Classifier on the Film and Literature Classification Board.

Andy Bennett is Professor of Cultural Sociology in the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science at Griffith University. A leading international figure in sociological studies of popular music and youth culture, he has written and edited numerous books including Popular Music and Youth Culture, Music, Style and Aging and Music Scenes (co-edited with Richard A. Peterson). He is a Faculty Fellow of the Yale Centre for Cultural Sociology, an International Research Fellow of the Finnish Youth Research Network, a founding member of the Consortium for Youth, Generations and Culture and a founding member of the Regional Music Research Group.

Dr Donna Weston is head of the popular music program at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. As a popular music educator, she is particularly interested in curriculum design which facilitates connections between students and the music industry.  An important outcome of this is the Conservatorium’s Seed series, which offers live music opportunities and networking support for around 30 students ever year, with a particular focus on engaging with and supporting the local live music scene.

Vanessa Picken has been at the coal face of the creative digital scene throughout her career. Vanessa has developed a wealth of knowledge for marketing strategies across technology, digital, retail and product divisions from her tenures at some of the world’s leading companies thus cementing her future in the creative industries digital sphere. Her modular services company ‘Comes With Fries’ taps into all facets of her experience to empower and enable artists and the industry as a whole. Vanessa also managers Sydney Nostalgic-Australiana Allan Smithy.

Dr Tim Weir currently leads the School of Creative Arts at Melbourne Polytechnic, having held academic leadership roles at Box Hill Institute, The University of Maine at Augusta and other institutes.  Dr. Weir holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from University of Miami and an MBA from Charles Sturt University. Tim’s industry experience has seen him perform in five continents in a diverse range of styles from orchestral to pop to jazz. These include performances at the Kennedy Centre (Washington), Sydney Opera House, Blue Note (NYC) and Symphony Hall (Boston).

Ben Godding is Marketing Director Australia for the world’s leading independent music services company, Kobalt Music Recordings. AWAL/Kobalt serves as a trusted partner to independent artists and labels globally, offering distribution and tools to help at every stage of their career. Ben has broad experience in UK and Australia (with EMI Music and Kobalt) having overseen successful marketing campaigns for artists such as Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Coldplay, Sigur Ros, and Angus and Julia Stone. Recently Ben led the Australian launch of the AWAL App; an “industry first” app that showcases streaming data for artists.

Evelyn Richardson has almost two decades’ experience in the entertainment and new media industries working in Government and the private sector. She is currently Chief Executive, Live Performance Australia (LPA), the peak body for Australia’s live entertainment and performing arts industry. She was formerly the President and CEO of the Game Developers’ Association of Australia, the peak body for game development studios in Australia. Prior to that she provided strategic and policy advice to government and not-for-profit companies; was General Manager of Grey Interactive; and Director, Industry and Community Development, Multimedia Victoria.

Elizabeth is a senior research psychologist at the National Acoustic Laboratories. She completed undergraduate studies in linguistics and psychology and a Ph.D. in infant speech perception. For the past eight years, she has worked in the area of hearing loss prevention. Her main areas of interest are leisure noise and its impact on overall noise exposure, noise exposure in the music and entertainment industry, and ways of motivating young adults to change their hearing health behaviour. She is also leading a large research project into behavioural and electrophysiological markers of noise-induced ‘hidden hearing loss.’

Edwin is the founder and CEO of GiggedIn – APAC’s first to market subscription service dedicated to live music and entertainment. GiggedIn has been featured in over 30 national publications including everything from The Australian Financial Review to Triple J, and was one of the original portfolio investments in the one of Australia’s largest technology incubators BlueChilli. Edwin has raised over $1M in capital for the company and led it through several pivots in order to land on the growing membership model in market today. GiggedIn now works alongside many of the industry’s leading agents, promoters and venues to help fill up rooms by making going out and discovering shows a part of every young Aussie’s weekly routine.

Lisa has worked for 20 years in the private, public & not-for-profit sectors across industries including tourism, events, transport, retail, health, film/TV and the arts. She has held leadership roles in government and holds a Bachelor of Economics (Accounting) and a Graduate Diploma in Management (Arts). Lisa has 20 years experience as a Company Director and sits on the board of the Adelaide Fringe, Centennial Park Cemetery and the Australian Music Industry Network. Lisa is currently the General Manager of Music SA, a charitable company with a mandate to champion original contemporary South Australian music. Lisa performs as a vocalist in an Adelaide band and is a short film producer.

Andrew Jenkins is President for Australia and Asia Pacific Region for Universal Music Publishing Group. He is responsible for UMPG’s activities in Asia, Africa, India, The Middle East and Australasia as well as for society and industry matters around the world. Prior to the acquisition of BMG Music Publishing by UMPG, he served as President of International for BMG and was responsible for signings such as the Bee Gees, Alanis Morissette, Pete Townshend, Pete Waterman, The Cure, Robert Plant, Iron Maiden, Boz Scaggs and Tom Waits. At one time or another he managed most of BMGMP’s offices outside the Americas, as well as managing creative staff in New York and LA. Andrew started his career in the record business in the UK, spending almost 12 years at Polygram. Most notably he was General Manager at Polydor Records where he worked with The Bee Gees, The Cure, The Who, Freddie Mercury, Level 42, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Paul Weller,  Andrew Lloyd Webber and  Van Morrison among others. Andrew stepped down recently as Chairman of ICMP, the global organisation representing music publishers, large and small, around the world. After a life spent in the music business he is passionate about the rights of songwriters and those who invest in their talent.

Councillor Jess Scully was elected to the City of Sydney Council in September 2016. In her role as a Councillor, Jess Scully is drawing upon her experience a creative industries expert, event director and public art curator, with over fifteen years’ experience in publishing, events, policy and cultural strategy. Through her projects, she uses creativity and the arts to engage communities in our knowledge economy, and with the public realm.

Kat Dopper is a Senior Event Producer specialising in the music and youth market and has over a decade of experience across agency and freelance for brands such as Junkee, Electronic Music Conference, Red Bull Sound Select, Splendour in the grass, Semi Permanent & FBi Radio. She is also the Founder and Director of Heaps Gay, an all-inclusive community who throw art and music events in Sydney and surrounds. Kat is on the Board of Directors for the Sydney Mardi Gras and is also a fortnightly guest presenter on FBi Radio.

Bow Campbell is Director of the Musicians section of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA). Bow came to MEAA after five years with the Community & Public Sector Union, working primarily with public broadcasters ABC and SBS. He previously worked at the Australia Council for the Arts, where he managed market development initiatives for the Australian contemporary music sector, and spent eight years in various positions at Australian music copyright agency APRA-AMCOS. Bow is an ARIA award winning musician and has been composing, performing, recording and touring original music for 25 years.

As Manager, Artist & Label Services, for Spotify Australia & New Zealand, Tom is responsible for working with record labels, industry bodies, managers and the creator community on marketing music releases to consumers, both on and off Spotify’s platform. Tom previously worked at Universal Music Australia and Warner Music Australia in digital marketing and label management roles, and has ten years experience in digital marketing, digital account management and label management in recorded music; festival production and marketing, live production and audio engineering.

Stephen Phillips is the CEO of Mawson Ventures, an Australian tech firm investing in AI, materials and renewable energy. Stephen is a software engineer with decades of entrepreneurial experience. He was leader of the popular music website WeAreHunted.com he sold to Twitter in 2012. Stephen worked at Twitter in San Francisco for three years before returning to Australia in 2016. His new music company Popgun is teaching an AI how to play musical instruments. Popgun recently graduated from the first Techstars Music program in Los Angeles.

For over twenty years, Ruth Hazleton has been active in the independent, folk and traditional sectors of the Australian music industry; as a multi award-winning singer and instrumentalist (touring nationally and internationally), as an agent for international touring artists and in event management. She is also an arts advocate and activist. In late 2016, Ruth initiated the #saveRNmusic campaign to protest cuts to ABC Radio National music programming. A folklorist by trade, Ruth also works as a freelance writer and blogger, and is currently employed by the National Library of Australia.

Dropping all notions of living out the corporate life (having graduated in Law from Monash University), Rick Chazan was quick to follow intuitions and venture out on his own. Through some wild twists and turns in his early career, including making THOSE glow in the dark stars in the late 80s, a brief Snickers ad cameo, several gift, toy and natural health enterprises, and a foray into leadership development consulting , Rick finally worked out what he wanted to do when he grew up. In 2001, Rick began managing seminary Brisbane indie pop band The Boat People, from which his Ground Control Music Management business stemmed. Now in its 17th year, Ground Control manages The Boat People, The Church, Darling James, Emma Louise, Morning Harvey and Robbie Miller. In addition to artist management, Rick also sat on the QMusic board for 6 years and is currently co-chair of the AAM, Australia’s peak body for music managers.

Richard’s love of and passion for working at APRA AMCOS, defending the rights of creators, and making money for songwriters and music publishers for 21 years, is only bettered by his love of and passion for music, which is now approaching 54 years.

Zan Rowe has worked as a music journalist for over fifteen years, beginning in Melbourne’s vibrant community radio community before joining triple j in 2005. In addition to a daily radio show, Zan is the weekly music news correspondent for ABC News Breakfast, interviews for ABC arts program ‘The Mix’, and is co-host of the BANG ON podcast with Myf Warhurst. While not on air, Zan can be found chairing conversations at Vivid Live, Big Sound, All About Women, TEDx and Face The Music, and DJ-ing at the Falls Festival, Meredith Music Festival, Adelaide Festival and mates parties.

Lars Brandle has reported at the frontline of the international music industry for almost 20 years. A former musician, Lars joined the American music trade “bible” Billboard in 2000 and went on to serve as Global News Editor, based in London. Now Billboard’s Australia correspondent and “overnight editor” for Billboard.com, Lars’ voice has been heard on CNN, the BBC and ABC, American Public Media’s Marketplace and South Africa’s EastCoast Radio, and he has spoken at Midem in Cannes, Popkomm in Berlin, Amsterdam Dance Event and London’s City Showcase.

Jon Perring is the current licensee and co–owner of live music venues Bar Open and The Tote Hotel, and the former licensee and co-owner of Pony, Yah Yah’s, Melbourne Spanish Club and The Marquis of Lorne Hotel. He is the current music industry representative on the EPA reform advisory group for SEPP N1 and N2 and a former Vice President and Board Member  for Music Victoria.

Tony’s portfolios reflect his lifelong commitments; to modern multicultural Australia, to the environment, and to the arts. In Government Tony Burke was responsible for resolving 100 years of conflict in the Murray-Darling Basin, placing Tasmania’s forests on the World Heritage list, implementing the comprehensive Creative Australia arts and culture policy, and making the second-largest conservation decision in the history of the planet by protecting our oceans. He has led the fight against racial hate speech with the iconic Walk for Respect in the heart of his community in Lakemba.

Poppy Reid is the Managing Editor of Australia’s fastest-growing music media company, Seventh Street Media, which includes Tone Deaf, The Brag, The Industry Observer and numerous other publications under its umbrella. She is the former Editor at The Music Network and a journalist who has been published in various publications including Rolling Stone, The Edge and Red Bull Music. When not writing about music, Poppy is binge-watching Netflix series’ with badass female protagonists.

Jacqui Louez Schoorl is the CEO and Co-Founder of Jaxsta Enterprise and a budding entrepreneur. Jacqui’s career spans two decades across film and music, encompassing roles in project development, physical production, post production, film distribution and marketing, for the likes of Channel 9, IF Magazine, George Lucas and Rick McCallum on ‘Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones’, JJ Town Films, Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin on their ‘Chanel No. 5’ campaign and EMI Music. For the past three years, Jacqui has been working solely on her biggest project to date, an app and website for the music industry: Jaxsta.  After beta testing in early 2017, the platform is currently under construction ready for a global launch later this year. Jacqui also spends her time working as the proud founder of Women In Music Sydney, a non-profit organisation bringing together a dynamic group of dedicated music professionals to network, and she is a Dementia Advocate for Alzheimer’s Australia.

Shaad D’Souza is a freelance writer from Melbourne. He has written on music and culture for Noisey, The Guardian, Junkee, i-D and Billboard, among others. Shaad is the Social Media Coordinator at The Push Inc and Executive Producer of BalconyTV Melbourne. He is currently completing a double major in Gender Studies and Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne.

Associate Professor David Cashman is the Head of Creative Arts for CQUniversity.  This course, with majors in popular music, acting, dance, and visual arts, runs in Cairns, Townsville, and Rockhampton. His research examines popular music scenes in regional areas as well as the role of sound in tourism. Together with Professor Andy Bennett and Dr Natalie Lewandowski from Griffith University, he is a founding member of the Regional Music Research Group.

Maria Amato is the General Manager for the Australian Independent Record Labels Association. With over 25 years in the Arts and Entertainment industries specialising in finance management and leadership, Maria was formally Treasurer for Music Victoria and CEO for the Melbourne International Film Festival.

Tim Dalton has 38 years international music industry experience as an audio engineer, record producer, A&R Consultant, studio owner, artist manger and record company executive. Tim has worked with Faith No More, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Primus, David Bowie, Sir Paul McCartney, Simple Minds and Atomic Kitten. Over the past 25 years, in parallel, Tim has worked in the higher education sector in music and creative arts in the UK, Europe and Australia. Tim was one of the founders of Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) and has conceptualised, written and validated a number of undergraduate and post-graduate music degrees. Over the past decade, Tim has been an external examiner in the UK and Europe for the Higher Education Funding Council. Tim relocated to Melbourne in 2013 where he has been an active writer and advisor for music education policy and currently works at SAE Creative Media Institute.

Sue Savage is currently the Manager of Community Cultural and Economic Development at Wollongong City Council.  In her role at Council Sue facilitated the Wollongong Live Music Taskforce.  The outcomes of this group resulted in the development of the Live Music Action Plan forming part of the Cultural Plan 2014-2018. Sue is an active advocate for cultural and creative development in the city and has just recently completed a PhD investigating the role of local government in enhancing community liveability via the creative industries.

Simon Cahill leads the digital architecture for the business at Warner Music, opening up the data driving fans to engage and consume to benefit their artists. He has worked in A&R, brand partnerships, marketing and sales.  Focused on fans, audiences and customers, he is obsessed by data, insights, and action.  Cahill has previously worked at Sony Music, The Sound Campaign, BMG and lectured from time to time at the Australian Institute of Music.

Michael’s career in the music business spans more than 25 years and across five continents as former Global Chief Operations Officer of Sony BMG, Asia Pacific Head for BMG, and Managing Director of Polygram and rooArt in Australia. As COO for BMG worldwide, he directed the company through some turbulent years and was an integral part of negotiating and implementing the merger with Sony Music. He was appointed COO of Sony BMG in 2004 before leaving in 2005 to return to Australia. Until the end of 2008, he was President of Media Development, Asia Pacific for German media giant Bertelsmann. He is an investor, adviser and board member to a number of start-up creative businesses in Australia and the United States.

Linda has been a PhD student in arts education at the University of Sydney, undertaking case study research into teachers’ perception of change through the new Australian Arts Curriculum. Her tertiary qualifications encompass linguistics, opera, drama, theatre and education. She is a determined vocalist and educator. Having taught drama, music, English and voice in schools, she was Head of Education for Bell Shakespeare for five years and has dedicated five years at ACARA working on the development of Australian Arts curriculum. She has tutored  and lecture at the Universities of Sydney and Western Sydney. In 2015 Linda took up the position of Director Learning & Engagement for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Jeff is a speaker, songwriter and music producer with 100 composition, production credits in commercial music and music for Television.  Some of his music was heard underscoring the 2000 Sydney Olympics and he even has some tracks that currently fly around the world on a major airline. He has worked as a music and arts educator and is now the founder and director of Zebra Collective, a company that assists those in the creative industries and businesses to develop not just creativity but longevity. He is co-author of the independently published best selling book Living With A Creative Mind and is a principal consultant in the field of creativity for a breadth of organizations in Australia and New Zealand on issues of managing environments that foster innovation and managing creative people. He is currently conducting doctoral research into the scope and incidence of toxicity in the contemporary music industry at UTS.

Frank is from Brisbane. He was a musician during the late 80’s and early 90’s before he sold out and got himself a science degree, a haircut and a government job. He spent most of the last thirty years working in local government environment, health, planning and policy areas. These days Frank’s expertise is in noise and planning. Between 2002 and 2006 Frank worked with government, music industry and residents to develop and implement the Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct, Australia’s first officially designated entertainment precinct. The precinct was a paradigm shift from the “way things are always done” and has been successful in managing the impacts of noise upon residents while maintaining the Valley’s vibrancy and the viability of the Valley’s music scene. The research, analysis, legal drafting and negotiation undertaken by Frank in developing the precinct has led to significant changes in noise management and planning approaches in Queensland. Frank was a member of the working group for the Sydney Live Music Taskforce and he continues to play a lead role in the management of entertainment and mixed use precincts across Brisbane.

A Fellow on the ‘Making Music Work: Sustainable portfolio careers for Australian musicians’ ARC Linkage, Christina has a solid background in the music, media and arts sectors, with particularly strong experience in print journalism and community radio. Her research broadly examines the relationship between music and place, including aspects such as creative and cultural capital, business and career development, popular music culture and policy, and creative and cultural clusters. Christina is a general member of the West Australian Music Council, and the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (Australian New Zealand chapter), while also being a former student researcher and ECR/PhD subcommittee member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation.

Brendan Gallagher is a music all rounder – singer, multi instrumentalist, songwriter, performer, producer, composer & author.  He is best known as singer/songwriter with Karma County. Since 1995 the band have released six albums and toured around Australia and the world. Over the last ten years he has released three solo albums and in 2016 an EP Sonofobituary. Brendan has produced records for indigenous luminaries LJ Hill, Emma Donovan, Kutcha Edwards and Oz music icons Doc Neeson (Angels), Jeremy Oxley, (Sunnyboys), Dave Mason (The Reels), Bernie Hayes and more, including two ARIA award winners – the late, great Jimmy Little’s instant Australian classic Messenger, (1999) and Karma County’s Into The Land Of Promise (2000).  His distinctive guitar playing can be heard on recordings for artists like David Bowie, Jimmy Little and Kylie Minogue.  A prolific songwriter, his songs have appeared in feature films like Somersault, Clubland & The Boys Are Back and TV shows like Sea Change & City Homicide. He has composed for short films by Rachel Perkins and Warwick Thornton and documentaries for ABC and SBS TV. In 2009 he composed the score for Aussie feature film Subdivision.  He has also conducted open tune/slide guitar master classes in Australia, UK & Italy and songwriting master classes at APRA’s bi-annual Song Summit Sydney. He maintains an active live performance schedule in Australia and in recent years has built a live following in Europe.  Currently he is MD for Buried Country, the live adaptation of Clinton Walker’s groundbreaking book, film and album of the same name about the untold story of Aboriginal country music.  For over thirty years Brendan has maintained a comprehensive career as an independent artist in the music business. An APRA Ambassador since 2010 he was elected as a Writer/Director of the APRA Board in 2014. In 2016 he became Vice Chair of the Asia Pacific Music Creators Alliance.

Kate Duncan is the Creative Producer of Victorian youth music organisation The Push Inc. Within this position, Kate oversees the management of a range of youth music programs and events held across the state, targeted towards young people aged 12-25 who are looking to further their careers in the contemporary music industry. Kate is also the recently appointed Conference Director of Victoria’s annual music industry summit Face The Music. Prior to working with The Push Inc, Kate worked for several years in local government delivering youth music projects, as well as within the Victorian Government Office for Youth, managing the National Youth Week grants program. Kate is currently an Advisory Council Member of the ABC and an Advisory Panel Member for Creative Victoria and Music Australia.

John Wardle is the Policy Director for the Live Music Office. John works closely with the live music sector and state, territory and local governments throughout Australia to develop coordinated venue based live music policy.
These include strategic plans for states and territories, capital cities and regional centres, delivering better regulation across liquor licensing, planning, EPA and building codes, as well as research and advocacy.”

Kim Tran is Director, Policy & Programs at Live Performance Australia. In her role, she advises LPA members on ticketing related matters (e.g. ticketing complaints, credit card surcharging, secondary ticket market) as well as other issues that affect the industry (e.g. child safety, privacy). Kim also oversees LPA’s research program, including the annual Ticket Attendance and Revenue survey. Prior to joining LPA, Kim worked in consulting and held various policy roles within the Victorian government.

Leanne de Souza has over 25 years’ experience in the Australian music industry, working in artist management and events, representing various high profile, award winning contemporary musicians. Currently the Executive Director of the Association of Artist Managers and a board member on the Queensland Performing Arts Trust. Leanne is a sought-after consultant and facilitator, working nationally across the creative sector and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Chris is the recently appointed Head Of Music for ABC Radio, encompassing all seven ABC Radio music networks, including triple j, Double J, triple j Unearthed, Classic FM, Classic 2, ABC Jazz and ABC Country.  Prior to this, Chris was the Manager of the triple j network and launched both Double J and triple j Unearthed as new digital radio stations.  Chris oversaw the steady expansion of triple j onto digital media, TV, live events, mobile, social media and on-demand video.  He has worked with music content and young audiences for his entire 20 year media career, beginning as an Australian music producer and presenter on community radio.

Ed St John started in music in 1977 as a critic and writer for Rolling Stone Magazine, spending a decade documenting the halcyon days of Australian rock in the company of artists such as INXS, Midnight Oil and Cold Chisel. From the mid-80s Ed added TV writing and production, working on Rock Around the World (SBS), Edge of the Wedge (ABC), Saturday Morning Live (Seven) and Tonight Live with Steve Vizard (Seven). In 1993 Ed shifted to music marketing as Director of Marketing at Columbia Records Australia for four years, then Director of Marketing at BMG Australia. After two years, he was appointed Managing Director, and in 2005 became President and CEO of Warner Music Australia until 2010. Ed has served on the boards of the PPCA and ARIA, been ARIA chair for one year and Chairman of the ARIA Awards for a decade. More recently Ed has worked in consulting roles including casting judges for The Voice and X Factor. He is currently Executive General Manager of The Ethics Centre and Chairman of Valleyarm Digital.

Matt Rule has been entrenched in Sydney’s live music scene since the year 2000, when he and his brother purchased the iconic Sydney live music venue the Annandale Hotel which they owned and operated for13 years. In 2014 Matt started the Music and Booze Company, a business which specialises in developing music strategies for music venues and pubs, and works with music festival directors to curate and book line-ups for festival with capacities from 3,000 – 14, 000. The Music and Booze Company also develops its own music and event concepts, starting the highly acclaimed King Street Crawl in 2015 and most recently the BAD FRIDAY street festival in Marrickville, Sydney.

Dan has spent his career at the intersection of the creative industries and technology working in roles as an executive, policy maker, lawyer, and artist. As CEO of ARIA and PPCA, the two peak bodies for the Australian recorded music industry, he has led the organisations through a period of significant digital disruption. Prior to this role, Dan was based in New York working at KIT Digital, a digital media company he helped take from start-up to NASDAQ listing. Before leaving for the US, Dan worked as an Advisor to the Federal Minister of Communications and the Arts, and started his career as a lawyer with Minter Ellison, specialising in media and tech clients. As a musician, Dan won Triple J Unearthed and has toured throughout the US and Australia. He is a passionate voice for creativity in an era of disruption as a Board member of Creative Partnerships Australia, former Chair of the NSW Creative Industries Taskforce and member of the Victorian Government’s Creative Victoria Taskforce.

As the Dean of Collarts, Ben O’Hara provides leadership and oversees the academic and operational running of the The Australian College of the Arts, Melbourne.  Ben has taught music industry business at a number of institutions across Australia, including the Sydney Institute of TAFE Ultimo, The University of Tasmania, EORA College, and JMC Academy in Sydney and Melbourne.  His was also the Head of Higher Education (Music Business) at Box Hill Institute in Melbourne. Ben has a broad range of experience in the music industry, having worked in music publishing and licensing as well as event and artist management. He has also been a performer for over 15 years, and runs his own booking agency. Ben also runs thebiz.com.au, an online music business resource centre and has published six textbooks on the music industry. Ben holds a Bachelor of Arts in contemporary music (Honors) from Southern Cross University and a Masters of Business in Arts and Cultural Management from The University of South Australia. He is also currently completing a PhD at Monash University.

Hugh Nichols is the City of Sydney’s Strategy Advisor for Live Music and Performance.  He was the project manager of the City’s Live Music and Performance Taskforce, and co-authored the resulting Live Music and Performance Action Plan. In his current role, he provides guidance to the sector on regulatory and governance matters, and is responsible for internal process reform, strategic research, sector development projects and advocacy to other levels of government. Outside of his work at the City of Sydney Hugh has been a freelance arts and music writer with work published in Un Magazine, Ampersand, Kill Your Darlings and others. He was also Chair of Accessible Arts’ Supported Studio Network and an Editor at Das Platforms. He is also a board member of Brand X.

Lindy Morrison OAM played drums with The Go-Betweens and Cleopatra Wong from 1980–1993. Since then, Lindy worked as a community musician throughout Australia, performing in or directing shows. She now works at the Bondi Pavilion. She has been the elected (by artist members), Artist Director of PPCA since 1993. Lindy is committed to artists’ rights issues and development of policies increasing income to recording artists. She lectures on Copyright in VET and tertiary level arts/music courses. Lindy is the National Welfare Coordinator for Support Act the charity for professionals in music in need.

Melbourne-based Richard – Rich to his friends ­– got his first job booking bands in pubs at 17, when, legally, he couldn’t even be in them. His band played the back room at a Melbourne venue on a Wednesday night to 82 payers. Feeling pretty chuffed that he’d got so many people to a mid-week show, Rich got in touch with a friend – another booker – borrowed his phone book and started making calls. The next day, he went back to the pub, told the owner he wanted the job booking bands, the owner said “OK mate”, and the rest is history.Until recently, Rich booked several Melbourne pubs and clubs, including:Evelyn Hotel, Punters Club, Corner Hotel, Public Bar, Northcote Social Club, East Brunswick Club, Shebeen, 170 Russell and Newtown Social Club (NSW).In the early 2000s, he started booking and programming festivals, which include:
St Kilda Festival, Queenscliff, Falls, Southbound, Pushover, Groovin’ the Moo, Parklife, West Coast Blues & Roots, Northwest Festival, Splendour and The Plot. Rich has booked early tours for the White Stripes, Blink-182, QOTSA and Beck at venues, including the first ever Australian show by The Pixies; at festivals he has booked Kings of Leon, Lorde, the Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, Vampire Weekend, Weird Al Yankovic, The Strokes, The Roots, Public Enemy, TV on the Radio, Black Keys, Alt-J, Arctic Monkeys and many more.In addition to being an active presence in Melbourne’s music community, Rich has busied himself with a bunch of other music-related stuff over the years: – Wrote and edited Form Guide, a monthly 60-page magazine featuring interviews, album reviews and a gig guide, Founded Way Over There, an artist-run record label (distributed via Shock) that released 65 full-length albums from artists such as Machine Translations, The Dead Salesmen, Gersey, Mississippi Barry and Blue Grassy Knoll, Hosted Triple R drive-time radio show ‘Incoming’ for 15 years, showcasing new Australian and New Zealand music ,Arranged music, sorted publishing and booked bands to appear on Channel Nine’s Mick Molloy Show, Most of the work Rich has done – from booking bands in pubs, to programming festivals, to self-publishing magazines – has started out on a voluntary basis.

As Executive Producer of SOUNDS AUSTRALIA, Millie is responsible for the roll out and representation of the Australian music industry at key international music events, including; SXSW, The Great Escape, Canadian Music Week, MIDEM, CMJ, FAI, Americana and Music Matters. She has been instrumental in the growth of SOUNDS AUSTRALIA worldwide, having overseen the marketing, networking and showcasing activity undertaken at 55 different international events (many multiple times), in 56 cities, across 20 countries since 2009. Prior to SOUNDS AUSTRALIA, Millie held executive positions with both MusicNSW and the AAM (Association of Artist Managers Australia), in addition to over a decade’s worth of experience in artist management and venue booking (The Hopetoun Hotel, The Annandale Hotel, Macquarie University Union). In 2012 Millie was honoured by Sydney’s FBi Radio Station with the “SMAC of Year” Award, in recognition of her efforts with Australian musicians internationally, was inducted into the Yearly Music Conference Awards, UK (YMCA) Hall of Fame for Outstanding Achievement: Music Export and has placed in the AMID ‘POWER 50’ list for the last five years, since its inception in 2012.

Matthew Lazarus-Hall is the Managing Director and Founder of Uncommon Cord Pty Ltd, a dynamic innovative Australian consultancy focused on creating amazing interactions through extraordinary experiences in the world of big live celebrations. Matthew is a dynamic entertainment executive with over 25 years in live entertainment. Matthew held the role of CEO of Chugg Entertainment for 12 years, Australia’s number one entertainment touring company. Under Matthew’s leadership, Chugg was the fourth biggest promoter in the world in 2010. A well-respected individual, Matthew has promoted over 500 concerts and 100 Festivals and sold as a promoter over 25 million tickets. Matthew has developed two of Australia’s biggest festivals from the ground up, now both more than 10 years old. Prior to Chugg, Matthew held highly successful leadership roles at Ticketek, Australia’s largest ticketing agency, where he was the Operations Director, overseeing marquee major events such as the Sydney Olympic Games, Rugby World Cup and many theatrical concerts

Associate Professor Shane Homan teaches media studies at Monash University. He has conducted commissioned reports on the Australian music industries for the Australia Council, City of Melbourne and the City of Sydney. His most recent book, co-authored with Martin Cloonan and Jen Cattermole, is Popular Music Industries and the State: Policy Notes (Routledge, 2016). He is currently project leader on the Australian Research Council grant Interrogating the Music City: pop and the cultural economy of Melbourne at Monash University; and a project member on the Australian Research Council grant, The economic and cultural value of Australian music exports at Newcastle University.

Vicki Gordon has worked as a Musician, Festival & Music Director, Creative Producer, Artistic Director, Artist Manager, Marketing and A&R Director, Record Label Manager, Artist Mentor, Chair of the Australian Music Development Initiative & ARIA Board Director. She has been an outspoken advocate for Women in the Australian Music Industry her entire career and awarded a Human Rights commendation, Community Cultural Development Award & Women in the Arts Fellowship in recognition of her contribution to industry. As founding President for Australian Women’s Contemporary Music Inc (AWCM) she produced Australia’s first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Contemporary Music Festival; first training program for female DJ’s, first All Girl Rock Festival and first fanzine for female musicians. As Director of Independent record label Transistor Music she was integral to the success of Vanessa Amorosi’s 5 x platinum debut album The Power. She has been Manager to Indigenous singer/songwriters Brenda Webb, Emma Donovan & Ursula Yovich producing Webb’s ARIA nominated debut single Little Black Girl and producer for the internationally acclaimed Barefoot Divas touring the company to North America, Canada, Hawaii in 2014 & selling out the Hong Kong Concert Hall in 2015. She is currently Founding President & Executive Director for the inaugural Australian Women in Music Awards (Cicada International Inc.) to be launched in 2017. Her papers are held with the NSW Library in Sydney.

Harley is the CEO and owner of moshtix with 20 years’ experience in ticketing and events having previously worked with Ticketek, Fulham Football Club, and the Dainty Group. Harley is a former board member of Music Victoria, and a long-time advocate of championing the interests of music fans, with moshtix providing continued support to music bodies nationally, including Music Victoria, Music SA, WAM, and now, Music Australia.

Joel is a Brisbane-bred musician engaged in a life-long exploration of the role music can play in meaningful social, economic, political and spiritual change. After completing his undergraduate studies at Griffith University, Joel was awarded the Scotland Scholarship by the British Council. He completed his Masters in Music in the Community at the University of Edinburgh. During this time he won numerous awards for his design of innovative musical instruments for children with developmental disorders. In recent years, Joel has further developed his skills as a creative change facilitator, implementing strategic reform across the not-for-profit and local government sectors. Joel was also a founding director of the Red Hill DIY venue Hangar, and its artist-run label, LoFly Records. He joined QMusic as the Executive Officer in January 2015.

Patrick Donovan is the CEO of Music Victoria, the chairman of the Australian Music Industry Network and singer of punk rock band Cowsmuff. He sits on numerous boards and councils including Arts Industry Council of Victoria and the City of Melbourne Music Committee, is a patron of the Australian Music Prize and a Melbourne Music Prize judge. He tour managed Iggy Pop in 1998 and was Chief Music Writer for the Age Newspaper for 12 years, where he started the Sticky Carpet column, started the Age EG Awards (now Age Music Victoria Awards) and the campaign to name a lane after AC/DC.

The Live Music Office works to increase opportunities for live music in Australia by identifying and advocating for better policy, regulation and strategy. Established by the Federal Government, in partnership with APRA AMCOS, the Live Music Office was set up to review the impact of policy frameworks on the Australian live music sector. Our scope includes planning, licensing and regulatory policies, as well as cultural, audience and market development strategies.Damian’s background is across all aspects of the live music and touring industry with over twelve years’ experience in the Australian music industry. He has a strong focus on the business aspects of the live performance industry with broad knowledge in booking venues & music festivals, touring domestic and international artists, ticketing, marketing and promotion, e-commerce and new technologies. As Sector and Audience Development Director for the Live Music Office, he works across the live industry and government developing and delivering strategies and projects to enhance opportunities for artists, businesses and audiences across all areas of Australia. Damian has worked as a booking agent and in logistics for festivals including the Big Day Out, Splendour in the Grass, Peats Ridge, Surry Hills Festival and the Newtown Festival. He also runs his own live music services company Elastic Entertainment. Over the years, he has handled tour support for Lorde, A Tribe Called Red, Jon Cleary and The Good Lovelies.

Brett Cottle is the Chief Executive of APRA AMCOS, a position he has held since 1990. APRA AMCOS has more than 90,000 members who are songwriters, composers and music publishers. Brett is Vice-Chair of the CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) Board of Directors and has previously held the position of Chair. Brett is a past director of both the Australian Copyright Council and the Copyright Law Review Committee and has served as Chair of the Board of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Limited. In the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Brett was awarded a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia “for service to the performing arts, particularly to songwriters, composers and publishers, through executive roles with copyright protection organisations and to the community.”

Joanna has over 20 years CEO experience in charity and not-for-profit organisations in the UK and Australia. She holds a BA (Hons) in Fine Art, a Postgraduate Diploma in International Copyright Law and is a graduate of the British Prime Minister’s Leadership Programme. In 2013, Jo was appointed as Support Act’s first Chief Executive. Support Act is a charity, unique in Australia, providing crisis relief services for artists and music workers.

Grainne Brunsdon is Director Engagement, Partnerships and Development at Create NSW and has more than 20 years’ experience working in the creative industries. She previously worked at Screen NSW, where she was instrumental in the introduction of the 50:50 by 2020 initiative addressing gender parity in the screen industry, and Screenability NSW addressing opportunities for practitioners with disability in the screen sector. Prior to this she worked at Arts NSW and in leadership positions in international cultural relations with the British Council, with arts organisations in Sydney and worked in design studies at tertiary level.

An experienced music lawyer and formerly at Simpsons Solicitors, Marianna has also held senior legal and business affairs roles at major record labels and music publishers including BMG in New York and EMI Australia. She is currently head of ABC Music Publishing, Deputy Chair of the AMCOS board and a director of the APRA board. Marianna has presented at many music industry forums including Fuse Festival, Big Sound, WAMI, AWME, musicNSW, Bondi Wave and at the Australian Institute of Music.

Tracee Hutchison is a broadcaster, journalist, producer, author and educator with 30 years experience in Australian and International media. From Triple J & launching the national network, to ‘7.30 Report’ and longterm presenter & Program Director at Melbourne’s iconic 3RRR.FM, Tracee’s interviewees include: Nick Cave, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Neil Young, Chrissy Amphlett, Daniel Johns, Archie Roach, Ruby Hunter and Paul Kelly. TV production credits include: Executive Producer ‘Australia Network’, ‘Rockwiz’ and ‘nomad’, where she discovered ‘silverchair’ in a national demo comp. Tracee is currently Head of Journalism at Collarts and Music Victoria Board Member.

Matthew has been the General Manager of AMPAL since January 2016, and has also been the Company Secretary of AMPAL since 2012.  Prior to AMPAL, Matthew practised as a lawyer in Sydney.  AMPAL represents Australian and New Zealand music publishers, and has over 50 members representing more than 90% of the economic value of the music publishing sector.

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