Fifth annual Ohio University Music Industry Summit announces keynotes with major artists and industry leaders like Talib Kweli and mxmtoon

Ohio University’s fifth annual Music Industry Summit returns on Wednesday, April 5, and Thursday, April 6, 2023, in Athens, Ohio, with both in-person and virtual attendance options. Registration is now open and free of charge.

The annual conference will again feature programming such as in-depth interviews, panel discussions, and keynote sessions from a diverse lineup of guests from various sectors of the music and tech industry–artists and creatives; industry leaders; music producers and mixers; innovators in marketing and technology; music supervisors; artist management and more.

Keynote artists for the 2023 Summit include hip-hop legend Talib Kweli and breakout indie pop sensation mxmtoon. mxmtoon will close the event with a concert at Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium on Thursday, April 6.

Other speakers and guests include Lysa Cárdenas, global music program manager at TikTok; Tariq Cherif, co-founder of Rolling Loud, the world’s largest hip-hop festival; Dani Deahl, head of communications and creator insights at BandLab; Marcella Aracia, award-winning engineer and mixer for Mariah Carey, DJ Khalid and more and co-founder of New Age Rock Stars [N.A.R.S] record label; Maggie Phillips, music supervisor for several hit TV shows and films; and a host of industry experts and innovators. The full list of speakers and schedule of programming can be found on the Summit website.

“Our team is really excited about this year’s program, welcoming artists and industry leaders from multitude of areas of the music industry,” said Josh Antonuccio, director of the conference. “We’ve worked really hard to expand programming for attendees to not only learn, but to engage  and network with our speakers and visiting guests. As such, we will be introducing new opportunities including specialized workshops and roundtable mentor sessions, as well as two exclusive networking parties.”

The Summit will host the expanded selection of exclusive workshops on both days giving attendees deeper insights into specific in-demand topics. Workshops include: Working with Synthesizers led by composer and modular synthesist Lisa Bella Donna and sponsored by Moog; Using Audio Tools to Capture Great Recordings and Mixing Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, both presented by Shure; The Art and Process of Songwriting led by Bloodshot Records artist Lydia Loveless; Understanding the Business of Commercial Radio led by OHIO alumnus Jon Zellner, president of programming operations and digital media at iHeart Media and more. The full schedule of workshops can be viewed online.

“The Summit gives an unmatched opportunity for attendees to go deeper into the trends and important developments in the industry,” said Paul Benedict, director of Ohio University’s Center for Entrepreneurship. “This is an opportunity you won’t find just anywhere–and certainly not as easily accessible.”

Another new addition to this year’s event is the opportunity for attendees to participate in small group mentoring roundtable sessions with 27 distinguished mentors. Featured mentors include a number of OHIO alumni such as Alex Malcolm, global music sync at Warner Media Group; Kara Oberholzer, director of global data services at Universal Music Publishing Group; Jarred Goldner, Director of SET at MAX and more. Other featured mentors include Chris Messina, producer and engineer for Bon Iver; Kate Kaltenabach Watson, senior manager industry relations at Country Music Association; JC Cárdenas, global licensing at Spotify and Vladislav Ginzburg, CEO of Blockparty. The full list of participating mentors can be viewed online.

“I am continually proud of the alumni from our college and Ohio University at large,” said Scott Titsworth, dean of Scripps College of Communication. “This year’s incredible lineup of over a dozen successful alumni who are working at top companies, along with other industry leaders, will bring another opportunity to educate and inspire the next generation of creative professionals.”

An opening night party presented by BandLab will be held at Stuart’s Opera House featuring DJ sets by A. Savage, co-frontman for Parquet Courts, and DJ/producer Dani Deahl. Summit registrants and the general public are invited to enjoy this free networking opportunity and accompanying performances. Registration is required to attend.

At the conclusion of the second day, Blockparty and CoMuse will host a Music+Tech Happy Hour networking event for speakers and attendees. Following this, mxmtoon will perform the closing night concert at Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium. Tickets for the concert are on sale now for the general public starting at $25.

The OHIO Music Industry Summit has been featured in Billboard and All Access and was named one of the “7 Essential Music Conferences” by Soundfly, along with conferences such as South by Southwest and Canadian Music Week. Last year’s conference was attended by over 1,000 registrants, in-person and online, from 38 states and 20 countries.  

All day programming will be held in the Baker University Center Theater. Virtual attendees will have access to general day programming through the dedicated Music Industry Summit app which also provides additional networking opportunities.

Registration is open to anyone and is free of charge thanks in large part to through the support of nearly 50 campus and industry sponsors including Haden DeRoberts Foundation, Revada Foundation, Shure, BandLab, Ohio Arts Council, Country Music Association.

The Summit is produced by Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communication, Performing Arts and Concert Series and the Center for Entrepreneurship, a partnership between the College of Business and Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service

For more information on registering, the full schedule of events, speaker biographies and more, please visit https://www.ohio.edu/music-industry-summit.