Music Business Association Names 2024 Presidential & Impact Award Recipients, Finalists For Crowd-Sourced Bizzy Awards

Winners will be announced during 3rd Annual Bizzy Awards Dinner on May 15th in Nashville

March 19, 2024 — The Music Business Association today announces that Cameo Carlson of mtheory will receive its 2024 Presidential Award for Outstanding Executive Achievement, and The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) will receive its 2024 Impact Award for Technological Excellence. Recipients will be honored at the organization’s third annual Bizzy Awards dinner, happening Wednesday, May 15 at the JW Marriott Nashville as part of the Music Biz 2024 Conference. 

The Association also announced the finalists for the additional seven crowd-nominated award categories to be presented at the Dinner, which will be hosted by Gina Miller, SVP & GM of MNRK Music Group, and feature a special performance by Angie K that will showcase her hard-hitting Country style with a nod to her Latin roots. Additional performances and special guests will be announced in the coming weeks.

About Our 2024 Presidential Award Winner
Cameo Carlson is the CEO of manager and artist services company mtheory, which provides global marketing and strategic support for artists and artist managers. Her professional background spans a broad spectrum of industry sectors, genres, and locations, with work experience across radio, DSPs, record labels, and artist management. In April 2022, Carlson spearheaded mtheory’s Equal Access Development initiative, an mtheory program in partnership with CMT that gives artists and managers from underrepresented demographics (BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women) the resources, training, and networking opportunities they are not always afforded in Country music. Carlson also co-created the Nashville Music Equality group and Digital Divas mentoring group, currently serves on the Academy of Country Music Diversity & Inclusion Task Force, and is a former board member of the Music Business Association, NIVA, and the Women’s Music Business Association.

About Our 2024 Impact Award Winner
Since the passing of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) of 2018, which led to The MLC’s designation in 2019 and its full operationalization in 2021, The MLC has fully cemented itself as an essential part of the U.S. music industry’s royalty payments structure. It has built a public database of over 33 million unique works, which can be used free of charge to help artists and rightsholders verify ownership; collected and distributed over $1.7 billion in royalties to songwriters, music publishers, and other rightsholders via blanket mechanical licenses issued to DSPs; and has reached a current match rate of over 90% for all usage. In addition, The MLC has developed a world-class support team and suite of tools within its online portal to help its more than 37,000 members claim and register their works and get paid their mechanical royalties.

“My heartfelt congratulations to everyone up for Bizzy Awards this year, especially my friend Cameo and the team at The MLC!” said Music Biz President Portia Sabin. “This year’s class of finalists has given us a lot to be excited about for the future of our industry — from their hard work promoting their artists’ latest releases to actively making this industry a better place to work — and I can’t wait to celebrate them for it!”

The Association has also shared the finalists for its remaining seven crowd-nominated award categories. Details on each award and a list of finalists can be found below:

Leading Light Award — For a company or executive that has supported their staff via internal initiatives aimed at improving mental health & wellbeing and work/life balance.

• Tiffanie DeBartolo, Chief Executive Super Goddess, Bright Antenna Records
• Leah Ducey, Senior Director of Digital Marketing, Universal Music Group Nashville
• Andreea Gleeson, Chief Executive Officer, TuneCore
• Joel T. Jordan, Founder & President, Synchtank

Agent of Change Award — For a company that exemplifies a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in their hiring practices, executive development, and promotion structure.

• ATL Collective
• The Beatport Group
• Keychange U.S.
• The Right Productions

#NEXTGEN_NOW One To Watch Award — For an executive under 40 whose work (professional and/or volunteer) has been exceptional, innovative, and stands out as a contribution to the industry.

• Andrew Batey, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Beatdapp
• Jorge Brea, Founder & CEO, Symphonic
• Alex Mas Cepero, Marketing Director, TIDAL
• Morgan McKnight, Executive Director, Production Music Association

Maestro of Metadata Award — For a company or executive who has made a significant impact in the area of data processing, credit clarification, streamlining or otherwise promoting clean data and best practices.

• BMAT Music Innovators
• Dae Bogan, Head of Third Party Partnerships, Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC)
• Arthur Fitzgibbon, Brazil Director, ONErpm
• OpenPlay

Frontline Innovator Award — For a retail store who showed exceptional inventiveness and ingenuity in their practices during the past year in their interactions with consumers.

• Grimey’s Music, Nashville, TN
• Electric Fetus, Minneapolis, MN
• Rough Trade, New York, NY
• The Sound Garden, Baltimore, MD

Marketing Superstar Award — For a marketing campaign that was innovative and thought provoking. Candidates can be from any sector of the industry, and campaigns can be physical or virtual.

• Elsewhere’s Club Membership Program
• Barbie The Album Early Listening Events, WMX & Atlantic Records
• De La Soul, A.O.I. LLC, distributed by Chrysalis Records & Reservoir
• Eric Nam – House on a Hill, The Orchard

Music Business Educator of the Year Award — Celebrates a music business educator who inspires students to enter the music business.

• Larry Miller, Clinical Professor & Director, NYU Steinhardt Music Business Program, New York University
• Jessica Muñiz-Collado, Assistant Professor of Music Business, University of North Texas
• Joe Rapolla, Chair, Music & Theatre Department & Director, Music Industry Program, Monmouth University
• Patricia Rivera MacMurray, Lecturer, Escuela de Derecho Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico

About Music Biz 2024
Music Biz 2024 is set to take place May 13 — 16, 2024 at the JW Marriott Nashville. This marks the 10th year the Music Business Association has hosted its flagship four-day conference in Nashville, bringing together more than 2,100 global music professionals for industry-defining conversations and connections to help shape the future of the music business and best serve the needs of all music professionals. This year’s event marks the debut of all-new summits on timely topics for the industry, including Artificial Intelligence; Concrete Results: Music’s Next Uncharted Frontier; Glocals Only: Music Marketing For A Borderless World; The Greatest Good: Social Impact Is Good For Business; and Changing The Game: Music & Gaming’s Unique Synergies. These join new editions of attendee-favorite programs such as the #NEXTGEN_NOW young professionals summit, Let’s Talk Physical, Music & Money, and the 13th annual Metadata Summit. Visit musicbiz2024.com for an up-to-date conference agenda, event registration & lodging information, and more.

About The Music Business Association
The Music Business Association (Music Biz) is a not-for-profit membership organization that advances, promotes, and invests in the future of the music business by providing a trusted forum where ideas and cooperation flourish. Through events, education, and engagement, the Association brings together the full breadth of the industry for unparalleled access to networking, resources, and thought leadership. 

About Angie K
Angie K is shaking up Nashville with her fresh blend of hard-hitting Country with a nod to her Latin roots. Her first bilingual single, “Real Talk,” catapulted her on the Country scene by making her a “Highway Find” on SiriusXM the Highway. Since then, she has accumulated over 20 million streams, more than 500,000 followers, and was the only independent artist to play on the Nissan Stadium stage during the 2022 CMA Fest. She was recently named to the 2023 class of CMT’s Next Women of Country and their “Listen Up” class of 2024. After making the cover of Spotify’s “Country Latino” playlist, Angie was featured in Good Morning America along with her hit single “Laredo.” The success of the past year helped invite Angie into the prestigious Whippoorwill Arts Fellowship for 2024. Angie has shared the stage with artists like Big & Rich, Tanya Tucker, Sammy Kershaw, Trace Adkins, Melissa Etherige, Jake Owen, and more.

About Gina Miller
Having spent nearly two decades with MNRK Music Group (formerly Entertainment One), Miller’s current role as the label’s SVP and General Manager for Nashville has her overseeing day-to-day operations and creative output for Nashville, including MNRK subsidiaries Light Records and IndieBlu Music. Throughout her career, she has used her platform and voice to both improve the ways the music business operates and create opportunities for those who are marginalized in our industry. Miller is a Governor of the Recording Academy’s Nashville Chapter, is Chair of the Music Business Association Board of Directors, and serves on the boards of Nashville Music Equality (which she helped found), The National Association of Black Female Executives in Media & Entertainment™ (NABFEME), The Americana Music Association, Creatives Day, and Harmonic South. She most recently received Music Biz’s 2023 Presidential Award for Outstanding Executive Achievement, and was also named to Leadership Music Nashville’s Class of 2022, Billboard’s Women in Music executive class in 2018 and 2020, and the Nashville Business Journal’s Women Of Influence 2021 Class.


Music Biz Media Contacts
Nicole Hennessey, VP, Music Business Association — nicole.hennessey@musicbiz.orgLaurie Jakobsen, Jaybird Communications — laurie@jaybirdcom.com