Welcome & Introduction - MMF-US
Featured Speakers:
Neeta Ragoowansi - President of MMF-US,
Women in Music Global Co-Chair, ABA Forum of Enter-
tainment & Sports Industries Diversity & Inclusion Chair
Neeta Ragoowansi has been a music business professional and entertainment attorney for 30+ years, serving as a strategic advisor, business development resource, and legal counsel to entertainment and tech industry clients. She is President of Music Managers Forum – US (MMF-US), Co-Founder of NPREX (National Performing Rights Exchange), a Global Co-Chair for Women in Music and Chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Task Force of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Entertainment & Sports Industries. Neeta serves on the advisory boards of IMMF (International Music Managers Forum), Gritty in Pink, and All About Music Conference (India).
Neeta was Executive Director of Folk Alliance International, Senior Counsel, Legal & Business Affairs for Global Citizen, founding head of artist-label relations and legal counsel for SoundExchange, Vice President of Business Development & Legal Affairs for Tunesat, Assistant General Counsel for The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and National Symphony Orchestra Association, and a former board governor for 10+ years for The Recording Academy (New York and DC Chapters). Neeta has served as a speaker at over 400 music industry conferences re: the global music business, artist management, new licensing models, legal and copyright topics, as well as diversity and women’s leadership and empowerment.
Wesley T. A’Harrah - VP of Membership & Education, MMF-US
Wesley T. A’Harrah, 30, is an artist manager, marketing-tech consultant, and investor. Wesley is the founder of Hits Differently, an artist-management company whose clients include iAmTheGENIUS, Maty Noyes, Kristian Kostov, Lil Bird, Ellis Miah, and more; and Hyper Orange, a consultancy focused on helping entertainment companies, brands, and agencies build and activate the best marketing stacks. Wesley is business partners with Atlanta-based entrepreneur, rapper, and DJ, iAmTheGENIUS, in Mixtape Monopoly, a marketing agency; Monopoly Distribution, a distribution and label services company; and
RARE Sound, a record label, where he and GENIUS have spent years independently operating with K CAMP—whose song Lottery (Renegade) held as the biggest song ever in TikTok for seven months and was the first song in the world to pass 15, 20, 30, and 35 million videos created with it. RARE Sound, Mixtape Monopoly, and Hyper Orange are the only independent labels and connected marketing agencies to have been honored with the Grand Clio for Music in 2020, where they were awarded for the campaign behind Lottery (Renegade). Wesley serves as the Vice President of Membership and Education of the Music Managers Forum-US, the 501(c) (6) trade association for artist managers and self-managed artists. He holds an M.A. in Global Entertainment and Music Business from Berklee College of Music.
Sharon Tapper - Executive Director, MMF-US
Sharon Tapper is the Executive Director of the Music Managers Forum-US, the leading trade association for artist managers and self-managed artists in the United States. Serving the music community by providing educational resources, networking opportunities and advocacy efforts on behalf of managers, self-managed artists, and the music community at large that supports them. The MMF-US is part of a larger global network, the International Music Managers Forum (IMMF) – an organization that connects more than sixty-five Music Manager Forums around the world (inc. Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand).
Prior to joining the MMF-US Tapper worked in London as the Assistant Manager at Sarm West Studios, before relocating to the U.S. where in Los Angeles she worked at both Left Bank Management and Gallin Morey Management. Shortly after moving to New York, she transitioned into music publishing becoming the third U.S. employee at Kobalt Music Publishing and their VP Creative for eight years. Following that she was hired to be the SVP Music Publishing at Razor & Tie Music Publishing. Tapper was elected to serve multiple terms totaling fourteen years as Governor & Secretary of the NY Chapter of the GRAMMYs, serving six consecutive terms as Co-Chair of their Advocacy Committee, on which she continues to diligently serve. She also served four years on the NY Chapter of the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP). For ten years she Co-Funded and ran the New York City Creative Community (NYC3)