29th Annual
CUTTING EDGE CE CONFERENCES AND EVENTS
August 25 – 28, 2021
New Orleans
InterContinental New Orleans Hotel
Music Business Sessions
Wednesday, August 25
2:00 – 5:00 PM Roots Music Gathering sessions on:
Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar New Orleans Festival, January 2022
Panel Discussion: Sustaining Culture in the Urban Gentrification Era at the New Orleans Jazz Museum
Interview with Jerome Smith, Freedom Rider, Founder, Director of Tambourine and Fan organization the originator
Interview Sharon Martin, New Orleans’ premier vocalist on whatever she wants to talk about!!!
Thursday, August 26
10:00 – 11:15 Best Practices to a Productive Recording Session – Recording engineers, producers, and studio owners will discuss best practices to have in the recording studio.
Speakers:
Dave Villalta, Engineer, General Manager, Louisiana Red Hot Records, New Orleans, LA
Thomas Barsoe, OC Hit Factory, Tustin, CA
Lars Halvor Jensen, Producer, Engineer
John Maximillion, Engineer, Producer, Power504
11:30 – 1:00 PM Songwriters Bootcamp with Michele Vice-Maslin – Spend three days de-mystifying the world of music licensing with songwriter/producer and licensing expert Michele Vice-Maslin. This immersive workshop intensive will introduce participants to many layers of the tools, expectations, and principles involved with licensing their own music, or that of clients. The session will round off with an overview of basic licensing and royalties definitions and resources that all content providers should be familiar with (Publishing, PROs, deal memos, cue sheets, etc.). Each participant will leave the intensive having practiced researching and submitting songs for licensing opportunities, developing a sense of how to jump in to this essential music industry arena.
Day One – Session I will review song submissions written “to spec” (provided pre-conference) and introduce the process, tools, and best practices for researching unsolicited submissions. Participants should bring their best-produced track.
Presenters:
Michele Vice-Maslin, Emmy Winner, #1 hit Arranger, Songwriter, Producer
Lilli Lewis, Songwriter, Producer, VP Louisiana Red Hot Records
1:15 – 2:30 PM Music Business: Publishing, Copyright Essentials – Obtaining rights to use songs for or in recording, mixtapes, commercials, venues, films plays, and video games
Speakers
Navarro W. Gray, Esq., The Gray Law Firm, Hackensack, NJ
Daniel R. Friedman, Esq., St. Louis, MO
Thomas Barsoe, OC Hit Factory, Tustin, CA
Lars Halvor Jensen, Producer, Engineer, Publisher
Ryan Block, Independent Ear Music Group, We, The Collective (Moderator)
2:45 – 3:45 PM TV and Film Production and Distribution in doing music programming and documentaries: Perspectives on opportunities and struggles in getting your project completed, markets, and aired. What are essential items to have on your checklist?
Speakers:
Megan Koza Mitchell, Development Director, New Orleans Film Society
Whitney Vann, Former TV Host, Producer, The Whitney Vann Show
Diedra Meredith, Filmmaker, New Orleans Four Project
Rob Tovar, Director of the Hangar Film Stage, 2112 Creative Industry Incubator
Dr. Lucas Fry, General Manager, WLTF TV
4:00 – 5:00 PM “Tips & Tricks for writing and recording songs that get licensed into Film and TV” – Barry Coffing has written hundreds of tracks that has licensed as well as placing thousands of other people’s songs into award-winning high-profile projects. He will be joined by veteran producer, engineer Rick Garcia for a rousing discussion
Speakers:
Barry Coffing, CEO, Music Supervisor, Inc
Michele Vice-Maslin, Emmy Winner, #1 hit Arranger, Songwriter, Producer
Friday, August 27
10:00 – 11:30 AM Songwriters Bootcamp with Michele Vice-Maslin – Spend three days de-mystifying the world of music licensing with songwriter/producer and licensing expert Michele Vice-Maslin. This immersive workshop intensive will introduce participants to many layers of the tools, expectations, and principles involved with licensing their own music, or that of clients. The session will round off with an overview of basic licensing and royalties definitions and resources that all content providers should be familiar with (Publishing, PROs, deal memos, cue sheets, etc.). Each participant will leave the intensive having practiced researching and submitting songs for licensing opportunities, developing a sense of how to jump in to this essential music industry arena.
Day Two – Session II will review artist biographies and metadata / track formatting, while introducing participants to the principles of a good pitch.
Presenter:
Michele Vice-Maslin, Emmy Winner, #1 hit Arranger, Songwriter, Producer ,
Lilli Lewis, Songwriter, Producer, VP Louisiana Red Hot Records
11:40 – 12:20 PM CLE Keynote Interview – Alex Heiche, CEO, Sound Royalties
Interviewed by Edgar “Dino” Gankendorff, Esq.
11:45 – 1:00 PM Publicity: Working the Media for Artists and Events. Maintaining Control of Your Message – Publicists, managers and promoters discuss media strategy using traditional and social media.
Speakers:
Ryan Block, Independent Ear Media
Lou Plaia, EVP, ReverbNation
Kenetta Piper, The Birthing Point (
Marcia Groff, Entertainment Enterprises
Marcus K. Dowling, Award-winning Music Journalist
Linda Septien, Septien Entertainment Group (Moderator)
1: 15 – 2:30 PM Artist Development and the Next step for Artists. What is Parallel Play – Experience artists development professionals discuss, artistic technique, management strategy, must attend events.
Speakers:
Linda Septien, Septien Entertainment Group (Moderator)
Henry Turner, Jr., Artist, Promoter, Venue Owner
John Tovar, Manager
Thomas Bascoe, OC Hit Factory
Barry Coffing, MusicSupervisor.com
2:35 – 3:00 PM SXSW Update – What’s new, What lessons learned – The return of the world largest music industry event and its cultural importance on the American music landscape.
Presenter:
Amin Simms, Registration Director, SXSW
Kenetta Piper, The Birthing Point
Ryan Block, Independent Ear Music Group, We, The Collective (Moderator)
3:00 – 5:00 PM Events Information Session: Sponsored by New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund
Lilli Lewis, Artist, Producer, VP Louisiana Red Hot Records (Moderator)
3:00 – 3:30 New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund – Information on the important funding program for visitor and cultural events.
Presenter:
Lisa Alexis, President, CEO, New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund
3:40 – 4:10 Black Opry Festival – Opry not Opera, representing the Black experience, demographics and history of Black performers and audience in Country, Americana, folk and related genres.
Presenters:
Marcus K. Dowling, Award-winning Music Journalist
Jett Holden, Artist
Holly G, Music Journalist, Artist Manager
4:20 – 5:00 New Orleans Music Economy (NOME) – The programs and strategies for the revitalization of New Orleans music infrastructure.
Presenters:
Reid Wick, Sr. Membership/Project Manager, Recording Academy
Rachel Shields, Public Policy Manager, GNO, Inc.
Jasmine Brown, Public Policy Manager, GNO, Inc
5:00 – 6:30 PM Reception
Saturday, August 27
10:00 – 11:30 AM Songwriters Bootcamp with Michele Vice-Maslin – Spend three days de-mystifying the world of music licensing with songwriter/producer and licensing expert Michele Vice-Maslin. This immersive workshop intensive will introduce participants to many layers of the tools, expectations, and principles involved with licensing their own music, or that of clients. The session will round off with an overview of basic licensing and royalties definitions and resources that all content providers should be familiar with (Publishing, PROs, deal memos, cue sheets, etc.). Each participant will leave the intensive having practiced researching and submitting songs for licensing opportunities, developing a sense of how to jump in to this essential music industry arena.
Day Three – Session III will review sample pitches, and offer discussion around different licensing platforms content providers can pursue (TV, Film, Music Libraries, etc.)
Presenters:
Michele Vice-Maslin, Emmy Winner, #1 hit Arranger, Songwriter, Producer
Lilli Lewis, Songwriter, Producer, VP Louisiana Red Hot Records
10:00 – 11:00 Educators Panel
11:45 – 1:00 PM Talent Buyers, Booking Agents, Event Managers and Managers: The importance of resuming activities after the pandemic and their suggestions about what to do. Is it time to reassess?
Speakers:
Kerry Brown, Talent Buyer, Gretna Festival
John Tovar, Artist Manager, TMG Music Group
Dorian Francis, Production Manager, Gechar, Inc
Amin Simms, Director of Registration, SXSW (Moderator)
Holly G, Artists Manager
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM Management: Perspectives on modern artists management – John Tovar Interviewed
- Abid Hussain, Esq., Attorney, Engineer
- AJ Smith, Musician
- Ake Lundstrom, Director, Live At Heart, Sweden
- Alison Sieh, Music Supervisor for Aspect Ratio – Trailer House
- Barry Coffing, Founder/CEO, MusicSupervisor.com
- Bridget Fleury, Executive Entertainment Management
- Bug Gigabyte, Musician, Founder, Southern Electronic Conference
- Chip Herter, Music Director, Deutsch Advertising
- Cindy D’Adamo, LadyLake PR
- Debra Russell, Debra Russell Coaching
- Drew Young, Good and Plenty Records,
- Ed Bicknell, Manager, London, UK
- Edgar “Dino” Gankendorff, Esq., Provosty & Gankendoff, LLC, NOLA
- Henry Turner, Jr., Musician, Promoter
- Jan Ramsey, Founder, Publisher OffBeat Music Magazine
- Jim McCormick #1 Hit Songwriter
- John J. Maxmillion, Jr., Engineer, Producer, Studio Owner
- Justin “Bumper” Reeve, Founder and CEO of Hidden Track Music, LLC
- Kevin George, Musician, Composer, Delgado Community College
- Lilli Lewis, Musician, Label Manager, Louisiana Red Hot Records
- Mark S. Berry, Chairman, Producer, AMG, Sony
- Martin Atkins, Cultural Entrepreneurial
- Mat Devine, Head of Music Partnership at Cameo
- Maximilliano De la Fuente, GrooveList, Santiago Chile,
- Michele Vice-Maslin, Emmy winning Songwriter, Producer
- Monica Corton, CEO Go to Eleven Entertainment (Moderator)
- Paul Diaz, Owner, TreeSound Recording Studio
- Paul K. Saunders, Co-Founder of Lightwork Digital and New Music Lives
- Peter Cho, Executive Dean Delgado Community College Westbank Campus
- Rich Goldman, RIPTIDE MUSIC GROUP (Moderator)
- Ryan Block, IndependentEar Music Group (Moderator)
- Scott Keniley, Esq. Keniley Kumar, Atlanta, GA
- SINthetik Messiah, Engineer, DJ
- Stephen White, CEO of StageIt
- Steve Marks, CEO of RoadNation
- Tony Moore, Right Here with Tony Moore, London, UK,
- Tony Skratchere, Owner, New Orleans DJ School