Get Ahead in the Music Industry

As marketing manager with CBS Records (now Sony) he signed U2 to their first record contract. He also masterminded marketing campaigns for countless acts, including Abba, Christy Moore, REM, U2, Madonna and Bob Dylan. As a writer/director with Hot Press, he wrote several music-related books (Phil Lynott, Don Baker and Bob Dylan) and spoke at seminars in France, Spain, Germany, London and the USA. He served on the government’s Task Force on Irish music, and has lectured in virtually every Irish college and university. For his First Cuts column in Hot Press he reviewed over 2,000 emerging Irish artists, and in 2015 he was a writer-in-residence In Sweden as part of a project run by Stockholm University.

Nick Seymour began his career in Splitz Enz and was bassist with the hugely successful Crowded House. He set up Exchequer Studios in Dublin, alongside Brian Crosby and Phil Hayes – recent clients including Bell X1, Republic of Loose, Lisa Hannigan, Neil Hannon, Pugwash and Gavin Friday. Crowded House made a welcome return in 2007 and, since then, they have been touring extensively promoting their Time On Earth and Intriguer album. Nick has worked on numerous film soundtracks, including The Summit, and acted as a mentor on two series of RTÉ’s Jam. He played bass on Tarmac Adam’s album The History Effect, released last February.

Greg Fry is an International Social Media trainer who delivers regular Social Media, Social Customer Service and Social Business Strategy training and workshops. Gregalso works as a Social Business and Content Consultant and believes that, in order to make social media work for your business – you must identify the correct social media goals for your business, define and refine your strategic social media, plan and tactics, create outstanding content and make sure that everything you do is measurable. 
Greg sessions are packed with passion and are high energy affairs. You will not find a more engaging speaker in the Social Media space. Greg has worked with many top multinationals including: Ulster Bank, Microsoft, Fáilte Ireland, Virgin Media, Abbott Labs, Symantec and Coca Cola Hellenic. He also lectures for top institutions including the Digital Marketing Institute, SureSkills and the Digital Skills Academy.

Steve Lindsey began his career as bass–player with Deaf School and than The Planets. He subsquently moved into music publishing with Warner/Chappell and was later appointed general manager of Go! Disc Music. He joined Island Music as creative director working with The Beautiful South, Tricky and Massive Attack. In 1995 he became an independent music supervisor working on films such as Mission Impossible and Twin Town. In 2003, Steve founded Elevate Music Publishing. He also manages Autamata, looks after the publishing interests of Cathy Davey, Aslan, and Mundy, and is currently on the boards of both IMRO and MCPS (Ireland). Elevate have been working with various musicians on Standby, an Irish feature film starring Brian Gleeson and Mad Men star Jessica Pare.

Eileen O’Gorman is a partner in the law firm Gleeson McGrath Baldwin. She has a background in broadcasting and the media, and was Station Manager at the independent public service station Anna Livia (now Dublin City FM) from 1995 to 1999. But ultimately the lure of the law proved to be too strong and she has gone on to become one of the most senior legal advisers in the music, entertainment and media sphere in Ireland. A solicitor, Eileen is vastly experienced in the areas where business, intellectual property, media and related technology intersect. She has advised some of the biggest names in rock ’n’ roll and young, emerging artists alike – as well as managers, record companies, promoters and publishers. She has spoken at You Bloom on an IMRO panel on the business of music, and lectured at previous MIX courses; and has also addressed the American Bar Association Annual Conference. Eileen was appointed as an officer to the Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Committee of the prestigious International Bar Association. A keen runner, she has one child, Bébhinn Berube, with her long-term partner, PR guru and HamsandwicH manager, Stevo Berube.

Working at Spin Southwest for over 13 years as a Station Manager and Programme Director, Nessa McGann was the original programme director at the station start up in 2007. McGann is also Chairperson of Learning Waves, the industry training body. She is at the forefront of social media evolution and marketing campaign solutions, and is an authority on music radio programming and promotions. In 2016, she received the IMRO Award for Promotion of Irish Music on the Radio. She attended the University College Cork and the University of Limerick, receiving a Masters in Media Studies at the latter institution. She has previously worked as station manager for Wired FM and as a news reader on RTÉ Radio Cork, and a features reporter and freelancer for Live 95 and Lyric FM.

A senior staff member at the fabled Rough Trade Records – the renowned London based record label established in 1978, and home to acts such as The Strokes, Jarvis Cocker, SOAK, black midi, Lankum and more – Tom Travis knows the label business inside and out. After graduating from University College London in 2011, he went on to work in A&R at Rough Trade before becoming a Global Product Manager in 2017. He has also been a working DJ for over 14 years.

Edison Waters is MD and founder of Collective Mgmt & PR. Having started his career in retail with HMV, he then gained his first record company experience when he joined EMI in 2000. He then went onto set up Collective working with several Irish artists, including Laura Izibor (Atlantic US), Choice Music Prize Winners Royseven (Warner) and platinum selling Gavin James who’s streams have now exceed 1.5 Billion. Collective also offers full artist promotion services including PR, Radio, TV, Streaming and has a growing international client base including Freya Ridings, Razorlight, Ingrid Michaelson www.collectivemgmt.com

A founder member of legendary Dublin punk band The Radiators from Space, Steve now owns one of Ireland's leading graphic design companies, Averill Design Associates, whose clients include a wide variety of acts, including U2. He invented U2's name and has contributed to the design of nearly all of their album and single covers and a variety of impressively inventive promotional materials. His inventive design work was collected into the book Stealing Hearts At A Travelling Show.