​​A passionate and enthusiastic advocate for the music community, Al Parkinson has worked in the music industry for over 10 years. Beginning as a songwriter, she has continued to develop her own career as an artist whilst simultaneously working across various other fields; including tour management, community radio, event management, teaching, photography, and for 2 years at state music representative body, Music Victoria. She has been working in artist management for 5 years and currently co-manages Liz Stringer and is Day-to-Day manager of The Teskey Brothers at Applejack Music.

Andy Irvine is a digital music distribution specialist, GYROstream and DistroDirect founding partner and CEO. With a 20 year career in the music industry in supply chain and operations at Universal Music and more recently at Australian independent labels Dew Process and Create Control, Andy has been involved in all aspects of the release cycle for thousands of major music releases. He also plays a mean bass guitar.

Formed in 2001, Onelove Music Group has grown to become one of Australia’s most successful fully independent artist labels, event promoter & management companies. In the last 12 months, Onelove artists have made a significant impact on international, UK & US charts and streaming market share – including over a billion streams across DSPs, multiple UK Top 20 OCC spots, placements in the Spotify Top 50, Gold, Platinum and Diamond certifications in over 35 countries (including the USA), #1 Billboard Dance Radio and Airplay charts, and Top 3 Shazamed globally hits.

A distinguished record executive, Ashley Gay has been instrumental in the rise of Australia’s electronic dance music scene.

Starting his career in the mid-1990s, Ashley has worked closely with countless dance and electronic music artists, and hundreds of labels.

A former radio DJ and music director for dance radio in his hometown of Melbourne, Ashley entered the record business with the prestigious dance labels Pro-DJ (1995-2000) and Central Station Records (2000-2007).

In late 2007, Ashley combined his expertise in IT and computer science with his A&R skill set for the launch of Xelon Entertainment, which today represents over 500 labels in all genres.

Today, he heads up Xelon Entertainment, Australia’s premier digital music distributor, boasting offices in various countries. Remarkably for the space, Xelon remains 100% independent and completely Australian owned.

As the director of Maximillian Brown, Ben is a curator, composer and artist manager. He currently represent Papua New Guinean singer songwriter Ngaiire, non-binary hiphop artist Jamaica Moana, celebrated queer composer Nick Wales, indie songwriter/producer Elizabeth Drummond and electro-jazz artist Wallace. Along with advising queer performance artists and DJs The Dollar Bin Darlings.

With over 12 years’ experience in the music industry, having worked with record labels Sony Music, Universal Music, EMI, Inertia and Comes With Fries.

As Director of Artist and Label Distribution Services for Australia and New Zealand at Inertia Music, I’m a passionate enthusiast of the ever-evolving music landscape and huge supporter of independent artists and labels.

BIO COMING SOON

Betty Fink is the Digital and New Media Manager at Spinning Top Music, an artist management and record label with offices in Fremantle, Sydney, and Los Angeles. Spinning Top Music manages artists such as Tame Impala, Pond, Haiku Hands, and Automatic.

Raised in Northern Virginia, Betty moved to California in 2017 to attend college and stayed to pursue a career in the music industry, landing her first job as a booking agency assistant. It was here where she met Jodie Regan, Spinning Top’s Founder and CEO, who would later go on to become her boss and mentor in February 2020.

Betty became interested in the intersection between Tech and Music after she attended her first SXSW in 2018 and since has been combining her love of creative writing and new media to foster a healthy and beneficial relationship between Artists and their digital spaces.

In her spare time, Betty can be found in the dark room, on the hiking trails with her dog Pepper, or drinking a very dirty martini with extra olives at a Hollywood bar.

Jess Keeley has been working in the music industry for the past 20 years. After gaining experience in publicity and record label marketing Jess made the decision in 2010 to relocate to London, taking a position as International Marketing Manager with Warner Music.

After working on campaigns through Europe and the US her close relationships with artists lead to the natural progression of artist management. Leaving Warner in 2011 to manage her first client, Lykke Li, Jess partnered with Scott Rodger (Quest/Maverick) and has been managing the international careers of award winning songwriters and musicians ever since. Jess has been instrumental in the management of developing artists, established names and absolute icons including Shania Twain, MARINA and Arcade Fire.

Her international industry experience in London and LA has given Jess an extensive knowledge of launching a global career. She has returned to Sydney to launch her management company Music She Wrote, a company focused on building sustainable international careers for Australian talent – with a roster including Jaguar Jonze, Isabella Manfredi and Clea.

She is also currently acting General Manager of label Dew Process.

Kristie McCarthy is a Melbourne-based artist manager at Lemon Tree Music where she works with The Cat Empire, Riley Pearce, Death by Denim and Andy Lawson. Lemon Tree Music’s roster also includes the likes of Tash Sultana, Tones and I, Budjerah, Pierce Brothers and more.

Kristie begun her artist management journey in 2018, joining Lemon Tree Music as a Day to Day Manager working with Tash Sultana, Riley Pearce, Garrett Kato, Maddy Jane and Willow Beats. During this time she gained experience in tour management and booking shows nationally.

In 2020 Kristie signed her first artist to the company – indie quartet Death by Denim and was recognised as a winner of The Music Network’s 30 Under 30 Awards in the Artist Management category. She released their fully independent album in 2021 with strong national radio support and sold out their national tour.

In 2022 Kristie signed The Cat Empire and producer Andy Lawson to management with Lemon Tree Music (yet to be publicly announced). In her current role Kristie works closely with labels, booking agents and publicists around the globe to further the careers of her artists.

SLuke Woods has a long history working in the Australian music industry, from booking bands at Wollongong UniBar as a Student, through to leading Media and Marketing for the likes of ARIA and PPCA, Sydney Opera House (Vivid LIVE) and Universal Music (ABC Music).

In 2019, Luke launched the Thirroul Music Festival with Aaron Curnow of Spunk Records. In 2021 the duo launched Cheatin’ Hearts Records (a sub-label of Spunk Records), run out of Thirroul on the South Coast of NSW.

Matthew Rogers is the Chief Operating Officer of UNIFIED Music Group, the fastest growing Australian independent music company that includes a global artist management group, a suite of online merchandise stores, a record label group an award-winning boutique publishing catalogue and an events business that promotes tours and festivals.

Mat is a member of the board of the Australian Independent Record Label Association (AIR) and is a previous member of the PPCA Board and Vice President of the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN Council). Mat’s passion for artists, music and the independent community is stronger than ever as he works with Australian artists both locally and internationally.

Maria Amato is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Independent Record Labels Association and runs its Women in Music mentor program aimed at empowering women in the Australian Music Industry to progress their career and leadership aspirations.

Maria has worked in the Arts and not-for-profit sector for over 25 years specialising in finance and business management through her own consultancy firm, Results Management.

Maria holds the position of the Chair of the board for the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), and is also a board member of the Adelaide City of Music and Anchor board for the Reeperbahn Festival.

Maria has held former positions as Chair of the Creative Industry Advisory Board and member of the board of directors for the Australian Institute of Music, CEO/CFO of the Melbourne International Film Festival and board member and treasurer for Music Victoria.

Fortunate enough to grow up in the Australian Music Industry Michael Chase has worked in his family music company for over 17 years and is now running and overseeing a major part Metropolitan Groove Merchants (MGM Distribution), one of Australians international leading independent music companies. MGM began in 1998, and since then we have enabled thousands of Australian artists to release their music internationally, allowing them to combine their artistic freedom with financial and creative control.

Michael has worked across multiple platinum selling albums also well as numerous ARIA #1 selling albums also singles with some of Australians most successful iconic act’s releasing records for John Butler Trio, Lime Cordial, The Waifs, Stella Donnelly, Birds Of Tokyo, Sons Of The East, C.W. Stonking, Gurrumul, Sheppard to name a few of the rich history.

Handling the label side of things at Mushroom Label Group for the US.

Butterworth joins ONErpm as Director of Business Development for Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. Bringing over 20 years of experience in international and digital marketing to ONErpm, Butterworth continues to be a driving force behind the evolution and expansion of digital platforms in the market, with a focus that extends internationally.

Butterworth began his career at independent label Shock Records, before founding and running Stubble Records and Dinner For Wolves. Butterworth honed his international marketing skills with The Orchard, where he opened their first international office and developed their presence in the Southeast Asian market.

Most recently, Butterworth spent 8 years as a Business Development Consultant with Ingrooves Music Group. During his time with Ingrooves, Butterworth signed and worked with EDM label OneLove (Shouse), Common Folk Records (Ziggy Alberts), New Zealand reggae legends Katachfire, The Chats, The Screaming Jets, and more.

Sian Walden has experience across a variety of areas in the music industry. Founder of artist services business Little Acorn Music, where she manages global music careers, booking international tours and travel to various parts of the globe. Focused on steering sustainable creative careers, building capacity and strategy with art central to the commerce.

Little Acorn’s management roster currently includes a range of artists located in Australia and the US, currently guiding the careers of Wanderers, Youth In A Roman Field, Alfalfa and Marlon X Rulla. Whilst juggling the challenges of the pandemic area, Walden took the opportunity to commence her masters in Creative Industries and reassess the ever evolving involvement of management in the recorded music sector, launching her own boutique record label.

Most recently Walden has started working remotely as the label manager for Brooklyn, NY based indie label, Better Company. Bringing with it a new phase to Walden’s professional career, adding to the ever growing networks internationally that will enable her to build and guide global careers.

Viv Mellish is a founding partner and Director at independent, Queensland-based digital music distribution companies, GYROstream and DistroDirect. Viv oversees GYROstream and DistroDirect’s global marketing and A&R strategy as well as the wider artist promotions team across DSPs, PR and Digital Marketing. Viv has previously held PR and marketing roles in a range of sectors including music, the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, politics, theatre and film.