The Business of Music: Celebrating 10 Years
Music & Tech Conference & Showcase Festival
October 14-17, 2025
Mondo.NYC Speaker
Darryl Ballantyne
Founder & CEO, LyricFind
Darryl Ballantyne originally conceived LyricFind in 2000 with Mohamed Moutadayne and Chris Book at Ontario’s University of Waterloo to be the largest, most accurate destination for lyrics on the Internet. Officially launched in 2004, the company pioneered the licensed digital lyrics space, successfully negotiating the first-ever mass lyrics licensing deal with EMI Music Publishing in 2005. Since then, Darryl has grown LyricFind to be the largest licensed lyrics database in the world, servicing top clients across multiple industries. LyricFind has also established long standing licensing relationships with over 6,000 music publishers, The Harry Fox Agency, APRA/AMCOS, CSDEM, APEM and many more.
The company delivers services to online platforms and music services including Google, YouTube, Deezer, Pandora, Amazon, SoundHound, SongMeanings, iHeartRadio and many more.
As an authority on licensing and digital content, Darryl has spoken at industry events including SF Music Tech, Canadian Music Week, Music Matters, Digital Music Forum, Music & Media Finland, CMJ, MIDEM, SXSW and more.
Before launching LyricFind, Darryl was Manager of Digital Development & Distribution at EMI Music in Los Angeles, where he was involved in deals with companies such as MusicMatch, Napster and iTunes. Darryl earned a Bachelor of Mathematics with a Business minor from the University of Waterloo.
Music Models for the Roaring ‘20s
10/12/21, 6:00 PM
Looking past hi-res audio and playlists at their fingertips, the music fan is currently enjoying a plethora of new discovery, experience and ownership tools and offerings, while the industry focuses on crafting solid financial models to insure their viability. We’ll address the following questions: What does a decentralized streaming platform look like? Will AR transform music discovery through sunglasses? Will blockchain protocols and NFTs provide artists with enhanced financial security or end up being as transitional as ringtones? The digital music industry continues to find its footing in an ever-shifting terrain – we will be sharing our views on where we feel it will land.
Be Present Everywhere: International Marketing & Development Connections
10/13/20, 6:00 PM
This will be a unique opportunity to virtually meet many of the main international collaborators around the globe. They are all dedicated to the music community and have developed music conferences, export and indie music offices, platforms, companies and organizations for fans, artists and related industry execs. Learn what they do, who they are and how to connect with them and their networks in order to forward your mission and to be present everywhere. Vote!