PANEL - Direct Fan Engagement & Monetization Strategies
As engagement rates within social media, editorial playlists, and traditional press channels continually decrease, artist revenues are increasingly dependent on whether a team directly can engage and communicate with their fans and community. Artist teams' ownership and access to fan contact information and other data has been a continually-growing service offered by marketing tech companies and an emerging standard offered by points of sale—especially in the contexts of merchandise and ticketing. As part of MMF-US’ mission to promote excellence in companies’ cooperation with artist teams, we are pleased to highlight two companies whose tools and services facilitate and build upon direct connection between artists and their fans. Join Direct Fan Engagement & Monetization Strategies for a conversation around strategies and platforms for best unleashing the power of fandoms.
Featured Speakers:
Stacey Bedford, CEO of Bandzoogle
Named a 2023 Billboard International Power Player, Stacey Bedford was hired as Bandzoogle’s very first support technician in 2008. She rose to the position of CEO in September 2018, and has since taken the company beyond website-building to make it the definitive direct-to-fan platform for musicians. Based out of Ottawa and now in its 20th year of operation, Bandzoogle has powered websites for over 110,000 artists in 213 countries/territories, and its members recently crossed $100M in commission-free sales of music, merch, and tickets. A mother of three, Stacey lives in Ottawa with her family, and holds a BA in Economics from Carleton University. She’s also an avid guitar player, beekeeper, and karaoke singer.
Jarred Goldner, Director of SET.live
As Director of SET at MAX, Jarred Goldner helps artists and their teams work smarter (not harder) to deliver better fan experiences, execute more efficient tours, better understand their fans, and even secure their own brand sponsorships. SET is a suite of innovative artist tools that support and empower artists, managers, and labels with practical strategies that center the artist-fan relationship.
Jarred and his team are passionate about helping artists take ownership of the relationship with their fans by eliminating gatekeepers to focus on a direct relationship.
Before heading up the SET team, Jarred served as Director of Artist Relations at MAX, where he ran the team responsible for sourcing artists for branded promotional programs. He has spoken at SXSW, A3C Music Festival, and MusicBiz and has contributed to publications like Music Connection, BandsInTown for Artists, Hypebot, and ANA (Association of National Advertisers).
Moderator: Emily White, Partner of Collective Entertainment & Founder of #iVoted Festival
Emily White is a Partner at Collective Entertainment and the Founder of #iVoted Festival. She is the author of the Amazon #1 best-selling How to Build a Sustainable Music Career and Collect All Revenue Streams and hosts the book’s accompanying podcast of the same name. The podcast is the #1 Music Business podcast globally, charting on six continents with listeners in 140+ countries. An in-demand speaker and consultant due to her expertise within the modern music and sports industries, artist development and beyond, White has been on the cover of Pollstar Magazine with her name also gracing the cover of Billboard magazine. Her work has been additionally profiled in Variety, Fast Company, Forbes, Bloomberg, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Alternative Press, Brooklyn Vegan, The Fader, Stereogum, Relix, CNN, Vox, The Huffington Post, ESPN and more. In addition, White has proudly served on the boards of Well-Dunn, Future of Music, CASH Music, SXSW, The David Lynch Foundation Live while additionally serving on The Grammys’ Education Committee and Pandora’s Artist Advisory Council. She was named to Billboard’s 2020 Women in Music Executives of the Year list.