Music industry professionals share what it’s like to work in this evolving industry and the challenges that come along with it. With many routes into the biz, find out what skills you need to break into this dynamic industry.
Presented with the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and BRIC
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
The Center's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
RICHARD BARONE, RECORDING ARTIST, PERFORMER, PRODUCER, AND AUTHOR
Richard Barone is a recording artist, performer, producer, professor, and author. Since pioneering the indie rock scene in Hoboken, NJ as frontman of The Bongos, Barone has worked with artists in every musical genre including Donovan, Lou Reed, and folk legend Pete Seeger. He has produced concert events at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and SummerStage in Central Park. His new book, Music + Revolution: Greenwich Village in the 1960s is a musical history of the New York neighborhood where Barone lives. He currently teaches at The New School’s School of Jazz & Contemporary Music, serves on the Advisory Board of Anthology Film Archives, has served on the Board of Governors of The Recording Academy (GRAMMYs), and currently hosts the "Folk Radio" show on WBAI New York.
VIVIANA M. BENITEZ, PERFORMING ARTS PRODUCER, BRIC
Viviana Benitez is a performing arts producer and curator. Viviana’s work over the past decade within the performing arts and music industry has included roles from artist manager, record producer and festival producer. Viviana got her start in 2010 as the manager and agent of M.A.K.U Soundsystem and in 2015 transitioned to Associate Producer at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Over the years At LCPA she helped develop, curate and produce over 500 weekly public and free events; she served as a founding member on the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council at Lincoln Center.
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In this time Viviana was invited to the 2016 cohort of Emerging Leaders Institute by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters; was the recipient of the Cultural Exchange Fund for travels to Medellin Colombia; has served as a jury member or speaker for acclaimed conferences and organizations including Association of Performing Arts Presenters, National Endowment for the Arts, India Center Foundation, Arts Midwest, New England Foundation for the Arts, and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and Women Of Color in the Arts where she is an active member. She is the producer and co-curator of BRIC's flagship events, Celebrate Brooklyn and JazzFest.
XAVIER “X” JERNIGAN, THE VOICE OF SPOTIFY; HEAD OF CULTURAL PARTNERSHIPS, SPOTIFY
Xavier “X” Jernigan is the Voice of Spotify… literally. X is the voice and personality behind the world’s first AI DJ, Spotify’s newly launched feature that’s already changing the way the world listens to music. X is also a Spotify executive and Spotify’s go-to host for internal and external Spotify events around the world.
X has interviewed the biggest celebrities in the world including Brad Pitt, Bad Bunny, Trevor Noah, BTS, JLo, Lin Manuel Miranda, Margot Robbie, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Ariana DeBose, Billy Porter, Kevin Bacon, Hans Zimmer, Jonathan Majors, and Sheryl Lee Ralph to name a few; and X brought Spotify to the Oscars and AMAs red carpet for the very first time.
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A Founding Member of The Kennedy Center Hip-Hop Culture Council, X brings Hip-Hop programming to our nation’s performing arts center. X is also Lincoln Center’s Guest Curator for Hip-Hop, curating the Hip-Hop 50th Anniversary concerts.
Additionally, Xavier serves on Burberry’s Cultural Advisory Council advising Burberry on culture, diversity, and inclusion.
The Daytona Beach, FL native is a proud MBA graduate of FAMU, graduated NYU as Valedictorian (MA; Music Business), and serves on the NYU Steinhardt Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board, but X is most proud to serve as a Deacon at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Brooklyn, NY.
MICHELLE MARTINEZ, AGENT, CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY
Michelle Martinez is a music agent at Creative Artists Agency where she works with a diverse roster of established and up and coming artists as well as servicing the entire department roster for college bookings in the Eastern half of the country. After graduating from Penn State in 2016, Michelle took a digital marketing internship at Atlantic Records, which then led to a full time position in the publicity department. From there, she joined ICM Partners where she began her career on the agency side as an assistant to Mark Siegel, Head of Worldwide Concerts. She continued to grow at the agency and was promoted to Agent in the beginning of 2021. Michelle then joined CAA in June of 2022.
MODERATOR: DJ REKHA, DJ, PRODUCER, CURATOR, AND EDUCATOR
DJ Rekha (born Rekha Malhotra) is a DJ, producer, curator, and educator. They have shared the stage with AR Rahman, Yoko Ono, the Roots, and performed in spaces across the globe including the inaugural Women’s March and Obama’s White House. While teaching at Clive Davis Institute, they established a DJ Masterclass and taught Bollywood, Bhangra and Beyond. Rekha has done remixes for artists that range from Meredith Monk to Priyanka Chopra. They have done sound design on Broadway and NPR, produced music for film and television, and curated events for Celebrate Brooklyn and Central Park SummerStage. They live in Jackson Heights, New York and with notice will gladly give you a food tour of their favorite spots.