MONDO 2020 REIMAGINED

MONDO.NYC 2020 LIVE VIRTUAL EVENT WELCOMED INDUSTRY, ARTISTS & FANS TO ITS FIFTH ANNUAL MUSIC, ARTS & TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
& SHOWCASE FESTIVAL

NYC’S LEADING ARTS, MUSIC AND MEDIA EVENT HOSTED MUSIC, TECH AND POLICY LEADERS & CREATIVES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

MONDO 2021 DATES ANNOUNCED: OCTOBER 12-15, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: New York, NY October 22, 2020 – Celebrating its fifth anniversary, Mondo.NYC 2020 was held October 13-16 as an immersive, connective and inspiring live virtual event with panels, roundtables and one-on-one conversations featuring over 250 leading music, arts, media and tech executives and entrepreneurs, a three-day film festival, a curated showcase music festival and much more.

This year’s panels ranged from livestreaming, production, branding, radio, management, songwriting and law to social justice, racism, politics and the survival of independent venues and return to live music – and what role industry, artists, media and government play in all of it. Binta Niambi Brown, Founder of omalilly projects, came together with Friends at Work Founder and CEO Ty Stiklorius for a keynote conversation about race, the impact of the pandemic, and the music industry, among many other topics.

The RIAA returned for its fifth annual “Everything You Need to Know About Music Policy in About an Hour,” featuring representatives from BMAC, The MLC, Music Artists Coalition, Music Business Association, NIVA and the U.S. Copyright Office, followed by a roundtable discussion with DJ Cassidy and Fab Five Freddy.

Recording Academy Chair and Interim President/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. had a broad ranging and personally introspective discussion with recording artist Aloe Blacc during their keynote conversation, concluding with a special rendition of “Wake Me Up,” the global megahit co-written by Avicii and Blacc.

Jason Flom, CEO, Lava Records discussed with Rolling Stone’s Alex Morris his personal commitment and continued advocacy on behalf of The Innocence Project and his insights into the current state of our criminal justice system.

In "The Future of Streaming – A Virtual Happy Hour” with RIAA Chairman & CEO Mitch Glazier and DiMA President & CEO Garrett Levin, the two industry heads addressed the current state of streaming specifically and the future of the industry more generally, focusing on how stakeholders in the music community have rallied around the critical need to protect the many facets of the music business suffering in the pandemic.

Michael Huppe, CEO and President of SoundExchange, discussed with Billboard’s Rob Levine implementing changes in the industry geared towards the betterment of artists, and provided insight into and solutions for current systematic elements of the business in need to change including National Treatment and the AM/FM royalty loophole.

The Guild of Music Supervisors hosted its third annual NYC Education Event & Film Festival at Mondo.NYC 2020, with panel participants such as Bryan Cosgrove, head of creative music licensing for TikTok, and Sam Hayflich from Viacom and +1 The Vote. 2020’s debut GMS Mondo Film Festival included music-oriented full-length documentaries Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President, Mr. SOUL! and Long Live Rock...Celebrate The Chaos.

Panels presented by the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) took a deep dive into music, politics, race and policy, with speakers including 50/50 Music Group CEO and BMAC Co-Founder Prophet, Cortez Bryant, CEO, The BLUEPRINT GROUP, Naima Cochrane, Friends at Work, and Culture Collective Founder & CEO Jonathan Azu.

The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) presented a double panel track highlighting the battle for survival that nearly all US independent venues are waging combined with the critical place these venues hold in their communities, not only as hubs of live music but as home base for broader local culture, activism and support.

Compassionate Muse presented “Mindfulness in Music,” a day-long immersive content track concentrating on the toll that months of pandemic-related stress and anxiety – as well as social and economic upheaval – has taken on wellness and mental health, and pathways to address it. Vans Warped Tour and 320 Festival Founder Kevin Lyman offered a keynote conversation.

Mondo welcomed producer Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis (Justin Bieber, Wyclef Jean, Mary J. Blige, Shakira), BMG EVP John Loeffler and songwriter/vocalist extraordinaire Rufus Wainwright for a roundtable conversation on the biz and the music, past, present and future.

Qobuz head of US Dan Mackta helmed “Listening's New Frontier: How Advances in Audio Quality Inspire Creators and Reward Music Fans,” with GRAMMY award-winning bassist/composer and NPR host Christian McBride, legendary producer, engineer and mixer Ron Saint Germain and noted audio preservation specialist and engineer Jessica Thompson.

New for 2020, Mondo was proud to launch an intensive four-panel track focusing on music publishing and songwriting. GRAMMY-nominated songwriter Shelly Peiken moderated a panel on “Songwriters Staying Productive During Crazy Times,” featuring Adam Anders, Stephen Bray, Autumn Rowe and Simon Wilcox. AIMP & SONA presented “Metadata Best Practices for Songwriters” followed by an AIMP-presented panel about music publishers pivoting during COVID moderated by AIMP National Chair & Los Angeles Chapter President Teri Nelson Carpenter, and a “Songwriters Coffee House Live Carousel” with Brooke Eden, Porcelan and Twysted Genius, moderated by Angry Mob Music CEO & Co-Founder Marc Caruso.

Mondo partner Roland co-hosted “Successfully Executing Virtual Performances: The Right Gear meets The Right Strategy,” moderated by Global Vice President of Artist & Influencer Relations, Brian Alli and featuring Kerry Brown, Rolling Live Studios CEO/Founder among others, a deep dive into best practices for live streaming and related virtual performances and events.

The final day of Mondo 2020 featured “Business As Unusual” Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Music & Tech Law Symposium powered by Michelman & Robinson LLP and Covington & Burling LLP and sponsored by Recording Artists Project (RAP) at Harvard Law School, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and Moses & Singer LLP. The all-day entertainment law seminar had top music lawyers and thought leaders exploring key legal developments affecting the music industry, from recent court decisions upending fundamental issues and the re-imagining of key policy matters to how multiple aspects of the industry are being affected by – and forced to adapt to – a post-COVID world

Mondo and RAP@Harvard Law School presented their second annual Pro Bono program, geared towards helping address legal issues important to up-and-coming artists.

New for 2020, Mondo teamed up with Covington to present a three panel program track on the intersection of Video Games, Esports & Music – and how this triumvirate has exploded during COVID – featuring Matteo Stronati, Audio Director, Riot Games; Jarred Kennedy, COO, Wave; Davis S. Bennahum, CEO, The Ready Games and; Ayush Sharma, Founder & CEO, MotoJeannie, among others.

Additional key panels included:

• Off the Beaten Track: Before & After COVID in Central Eastern Europe featuring representatives from A38, Budapest Showcase Hub, Sziget Festival, SoundCzech and Eastaste Music
• How the Music Industry Is Coping With the Pandemic, moderated by Variety’s Jem Aswad and featuring Glassnote Music Founder & President Daniel Glass among others
• Game Changing Tech for Artists: Discover New Ways to Create, Monetize and Experience Music Presented by Audible Reality with moderator DEV Advisors’ Dick Wingate and Audible Reality CEO & Co-Founder Matt Boerum
• The Producers Panel moderated by LANDR’s Daniel Rowland with Tom Kahre (Kanye West), Jairus “J.Mo” Mozee (Prince, Kendrick Lamar) and more
• Immersive Audio and its Potential in Art and Commerce with pro audio leaders from Dolby, Sennheiser, the Recording Academy, Lurssen Mastering and Coast Mastering
• Soundfly Presents Strategies for Artists to Become Self-Guided Learners
• Radio, Live Transmission WFMU’s Todd Abramson moderated a stellar panel of radio leaders from KCRW, KEXP, WFUV, WNYU and The Current in an important analysis of the future of this vital medium

In addition to four packed conference days, Mondo.NYC presented more than 55 artists showcasing over four nights, a diverse and dazzling array of emerging artist talent from 22 countries from all corners of the globe including Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Palestine, Sierra Leone, South Korea and, of course, Brooklyn.

There were three featured highlight showcases:

• Carpathian Peaks with Apey (Hungary), Ficture (Slovakia), IV-IN (Romania) and OIEE (Hungary) co-presented by Hungarian Cultural Center New York & Budapest Showcase Hub

• Swiss Live Talents Showcase with Veronica Fusaro, Shana Pearson, Pat Burgener and Alejandro Reyes

• BMG x Mondo with Brother Hawk (Atlanta), Roanoke (Nashville), Sophie Auster (Brooklyn) and The Suitcase Junket (Amherst, MA)

This year’s lineup also featured artists from Uzbekistan (NEEDSHES), London (Beans on Toast) and Portugal (Surma), as well as homegrown NYC talent such as Gangstagrass and Farrow plus dozens more.

Mondo.NYC returns as a hybrid physical and virtual event to Brooklyn October 12-15, 2021. To learn more about Mondo.NYC, visit https://www.mondo.nyc/.

Marketing, sponsorship, partnership and business opportunities, please contact Bobby Haber bobby@mondo.nyc
Media inquiries: please contact Dawn Kamerling dawn@thepresshouse.com
Video production: Rolling Live Studios, Los Angeles https://rollinglivestudios.com

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About Mondo.NYC

Mondo.NYC is a festival and global business summit of music and tech industry insiders and innovators, emerging artists and their fans. Mondo connects fans and creators in a shared mission of empowering artists and advancing ideas in an ever-changing music business and technology landscape. For more information please visit https://mondo.nyc.


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