BPI announces its latest Wisdom Wednesday member event for 2020

UK record labels association the BPI is delighted to announce the return of its acclaimed “Wisdom Wednesdays” member event for 2020, with the first session confirmed for March 18^th at Gibson Brands, 61-62 Eastcastle Street, Fitzrovia, London W1W 8NQ.

The discussion in the session will focus on Music Roles Outside the Music Industry, and will afford BPI members the opportunity to engage with a panel and Q&A session, and network with fellow members and industry colleagues, followed by pizza and drinks.

Moderated by Music Week’s Ben Homewood, the panel will consist of Ariel Sommer, Head of Music, Publishing, & Copyright at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Ollie Oshodi, Head of Entertainment at Fuse, Richard Clarke, Head of Music at War Child, and Vanessa Bakewell, Global Client Partner, Entertainment, Facebook.

With broad experience from inside and outside the music industry, each of our fantastic speakers have carved impressive careers in fields as diverse as brand partnerships, digital/social media, politics and public policy, and charity, whilst keeping music at the heart of their roles. In this panel we will look to uncover the paths they have travelled and understand what has motivated their career choices, whilst also learning about the highlights and challenges of their roles, and what excites them – hopefully leaving us all that bit more inspired to think about the broad world that lies at the intersection of music, business and the greater good.

Previous Wisdom Wednesdays events have hosted a diverse range of speakers from Abbey Road, AEI, Barbican, BMG, Concord Music, Dirty Hit, Downtown Music, Glassnote UK, Kobalt/AWAL, Lewis Silkin, Machine Management, Merky, PIAS, Remote Control Agency, Sony Music, Warner Music and Yes Please. Tickets normally sell-out fast, so members are asked to ensure they book their free place in advance here.

Speakers:

Ariel Sommer – Head of Music, Publishing & Copyright, DCMS

Ariel has had a much travelled and eclectic path in the music industry. He started off as an assistant to the VP of European Marketing at PolyGram which then became Universal. He was then promoted to product manager looking after the releases and marketing campaigns of MCA signed artists including Mary J Blige, Blink 182, and Shaggy. He then spent 3 years in Milan at Universal Music Italy, as label manager for Polydor, Motown, and Interscope working with artists like Ronan Keating, Marylin Manson, and Erykah Badu.  Having spent 6 years in music marketing, he spent 2 years in San Francisco studying for his MBA at UC Berkeley. He then worked for 5 years at Sony Music in Digital strategy and Sales roles in New York and London. Having always had a passion for music and film, he then set himself up as a freelance music supervisor with his agency synch2it working across advertising, TV, and Film. In 2018, his career took an unexpected turn and using his broad experience, understanding, and passion for the music industry, he took on a Head of Music and Copyright Policy role in Government at DCMS where he works closely with the industry on identifying areas where The Government can justifiably get involved to ensure the continued growth of one the UK's most successful and influential industries. He still finds time to music supervise which includes work on the film "The Windermere Children" which aired on BBC2 at the end of January.

Ollie Oshodi – Head of Entertainment, Fuse

Ollie Oshodi is Head of Entertainment at Fuse, a marketing agency which creates partnerships and experiences that make a difference to the people who share in them and the brands that benefit from them. These include Tuborg, Lipton and Pepsi for whom Fuse have worked alongside for the last 3 years to identify and secure globally renowned artists including Dua Lipa and Imagine Dragons to perform at the Opening Ceremony of the UEFA Champions League Finals. Following work experience and internships with the likes of Sony, NME and the BBC while at school and Manchester University, Ollie began her professional career in traditional marketing agencies on brands such as Cadbury, Dove and Guinness. She soon brought skills learnt in this integrated marketing environment to music and entertainment-led campaigns at FRUKT. With over 15 years' experience connecting brands with music, culture and fans, Ollie is expert at creating partnerships with artists and culture through events, content, social media and PR. Previously Managing Director of The FADER / Cornerstone UK, Ollie has led teams to deliver multi award-winning campaigns and activations for the likes of Converse, Sonos, Diageo, Topman, Nike and more.

Richard Clarke – Head of Music, War Child

Richard started his journey at EMI Music, where he changed careers from the Finance team to Artist Relations - and he's stayed in that field ever since, first rising through the ranks at EMI, where he spent a total of 10 years, and then moving to Warner Music as an Artist Relations Manager. There he project managed album launch parties, showcases and other bespoke, innovative events across the rosters of ADA, Atlantic, Parlophone, Rhino & Warner Brothers, as well as led international promo schedules for major artists visiting the UK. In 2016 he joined the prestigious charity War Child in the Music & Entertainment team - and has been appointed Head of Music in 2019, where he is spearheading large scale partnerships such as the BRITs Week concert series, the Heavy Music Awards, as well as Safe and Sound - a new initiative featuring the best new, alternative and leftfield artists helping them reach fresh audiences to represent the breadth of talent in the industry, whilst raising more money for children affected by war. 

Vanessa Bakewell – Global Client Partner, Entertainment, Facebook

Vanessa graduated in 2001 from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) with a First-Class Degree in Performing Arts. She then moved to London to an internship at M&C Saatchi.  Then onto EMAP (now Bauer Media) where she worked across Music and Lifestyle press including Q, Mojo, Arena, Kerrang!, Smash Hits, The Face and Empire Magazine, and  led commercial partnerships with major and indie record labels, film studios and music retailers such as HMV and Virgin.  Vanessa also partnered with Glastonbury to lead the sponsorship and production of the Q Glastonbury Paper Guide each year. In 2007, Vanessa moved to Google just post-listing of the company on the Stock Exchange, where she started to build out their specialist Entertainment Team, leading global partnerships with film studios, gaming and music.  She then continued to YouTube in 2008 when Google acquired the platform. In 2011, Vanessa joined Facebook Inc. prior to its listing on the Stock Exchange to lead Retail Sector partnerships, and in 2012, setting up the first Entertainment Vertical team where she continues to drive fundamental evolution and change as a Global Client Partner in how film and music industries globally market their releases and events on Facebook via the explosion of video consumption on mobile across Facebook and Instagram. Vanessa is also on the Board of Trustees for The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; has founded ‘The Wed Network’ (Women in Entertainment and Digital), a supportive network of 1500 women in arts and entertainment sectors; was named one of the Alternative Power 100 Music List 2019 with She Said So and one of top 200 women redefining the Creative Industry in the UK in 2018 by The Dots.