On Wednesday, May 9th from 11:00 AM- 11:50 AM in the Osgoode Ballroom West, Steven Masur (MG+) is moderating a panel discussing blockchain music applications and business models in Toronto for Canadian Music Week.
An incorruptible digital ledger of transactions, blockchain has tracked nearly $10 billion of online value, as its useful applications grow exponentially. In part one of this eye-opening session, Billboard correspondent and cryptocurrency enthusiast Karen Bliss interviews ex I Mother Earth frontman Brian Byrne about using exchanges, wallet buying, selling and more. In part two, an expert panel goes deep to look at the potential for revolutionary tracking – via blockchain – of music play and rights revenue down to the last micro-payment.
Steven Masur has over 24 years of experience advising emerging and established businesses on new opportunities and business challenges, most recently blockchain and cryptocurrency regulation. He focuses his practice on corporate finance, M&A, intellectual property, entertainment, emerging businesses and strategic guidance. Steve has extensive experience in angel and venture capital finance, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and cross-border transactions in Europe and Asia. He is passionate about helping new businesses plan a path to success and helping older businesses bridge the gap to new markets.
Dino Celotti is the COO of European independent distribution and label services company, Membran Entertainment Group Gmbh. In 2016 Dino founded Membran Entertainment Canada to focus on giving Canadian music a direct route to international markets through Membran’s existing worldwide Artist and Label services infrastructure. Shortly after falling down the blockchain rabbit hole, Dino founded “Membran Labs”, an internal R&D division exploring how blockchain might provide solutions for the music industry. Membran Labs is currently working on three projects spanning the ticket industry (“TrebleKey”), payment processing (“Hyperstate”), and artist rewards programs (“Harvest”), on both public and permissioned blockchains.
Jason Robert is co-founder and CEO of HelloSugoi. He launched the world’s first blockchain powered event ticketing platform. He co-founded the popular “Real World Blockchain” meetup and is the founding instructor at Product School’s “Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies” course. Jason has facilitated numerous public speaking engagements on the topic of blockchain and the entertainment industry, including appearances at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, BlockCon, SF Music Tech Summit, XLIVE, and SXSW.
Jesse Grushack is a graduate of Union College with a dual degree in Computer Science and Economics. Jesse entered the music industry at ID&T North America where he spent two months as the managing director of marketing for TomorrowWorld and then as the managing director of Cashless payments at SFX Entertainment conducting research into the future of visitor event identification. At the beginning of 2015, Jesse joined ConsenSys and started working on Ujo Music. Jesse has spoken at conferences and events around the world including SXSW, The Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan, Blockchain Valley in Switzerland, and more. Additionally, Jesse is also a co-creator of Ethereal as he understands the importance of bridging the digital/physical boundaries and providing meaningful experiences.
Ritesh Patel is the Founder and CEO of Ticket Fairy. The Ticket Fairy is a full-stack marketing and analytics solution that helps events companies to increase revenue through greater reach, more data and lowered operational costs.
Brian Byrne is the co-founder and Head of Artist Relations for Musiconomi. Brian has been as a collaborator, founder, speaker and adviser in the blockchain space for the past 3 years. Brian is also known for his work as the ex-lead singer for the multi-platinum Canadian Rock band I Mother Earth.
Karen Bliss is the Canadian correspondent for Billboard and a long-time music trade journalist. Since her teens, her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Pollstar, Melody Maker, NME, Time, The Toronto Star, and many more. She has interviewed thousands of artists, including Kurt Cobain, Eminem, Eddie Vedder, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Justin Timberlake, Pete Townshend, Liam and Noel Gallagher, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Britney Spears, P!nk, Christina Aguilera, 50 Cent, Shania Twain, Rob Halford, Michael Bublé Bruce Dickinson, and Bryan Adams. In 2013, she was named Music Journalist of the Year at the Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards. Karen is also the founder of the music-heavy online magazine Samaritanmag.com, an anti-tabloid, if you will, about good people trying to change bad things. Among her other ventures, she co-authored the book Music From Far and Wide: Celebrating 40 Years of the JUNO Awards and co-produced the music documentary Chasing Fortune, about JD Fortune, which aired on Super Channel and CBC’s documentary channel.
MGA