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2021 Board Nominations

09 June 2021

The MMF Board Nominees 2021

We are once again delighted to have such a diverse and experienced group of managers nominated for the 2020 Board. All five nominees will attend our Virtual Board Hustings event on Wednesday 24th June 2021 – to attend please e-mail lovisa@themmf.net. The Board will be confirmed at the virtual AGM on the 1st of July through a vote.

The Board nominees include; Adenike DurosaroKwame Kwaten (currently a board member & Vice Chair), Ross Patel, Sandy Dworniak and Karl Nielsen.

Adenike Durosaro

Management company: Big Drum Entertainment

Roster: Shakka, Komenz

I have been a manager for 10 years now, initially juggling this alongside a full-time job and then in February 2018 I felt the time was right to jump into it full-time. I manage Grammy Award winning writer and platinum selling artist Shakka, alongside new and exciting London based producer Komenz.

I believe that the music manager plays such an important and unique role in the lives of artists, bands, songwriters and producers, yet there is still not enough support available to them and not enough recognition of all that they bring to the table and the value they add to the economy. 

The MMF does incredible work in championing managers and I’ve learnt so much from being a member and from being a participant on their first ever Accelerator Programme which they launched in partnership with Youtube in 2019. Up until that point I had been purely self taught and so really appreciated the career development opportunity and being part of a wider family of managers.

The music industry is facing huge challenges at the moment with the global pandemic and the MMF is now more important than ever.  I’d love to help with their efforts and hopefully provide some unique insights as an independent black female manager under 40.

Kwame Kwaten

Management company: Ferocious Talent

Roster: www.ferocioustalent.com

Having been with the MMF for some years now – I still enjoy each and every board meet. I am re applying. I want to still be involved and still enjoy the activities involved in being Vice Chair of the MMF. My Background is that I was a member of Brit Soul band D-Influence My writing and production work within D-Influence Productions include work for Mick Jagger, Tom Jones, Ultra Nate, Seal, Mark Morrison, Ladysmith Black Mambazo Daryl Hall. Co-produced D-Influence productions classic pop hits like ‘Wishing On A Star’ for Jay Z, and ‘You Might Need Somebody’ for Shola Ama. Remixed Mark Morrison’s Return of the Mack/Crazy/ Let’s get down.Diana Ross Lighthouse Family, D-influence productions Total sales go well over 10,000,000.

I’m a Manager who has experience as a Musician, a Producer – a Music industry Consultant – as a trustee of The Brits Trust ,as Co-Chair of Brits Diversity Committee EJAG – As Vice Chair of Music Managers Forum and im also member of The BMC Black Music Coalition. I also named & started a debate platform for Black  Music within the MMF UNITE with Paul Bonham Paul Craig Annabella Coldrick.

I’m MD of Ferocious Talent – An Artist Services Company covering, Artist Management, Label Services , Music Consultancy, in-house production, which manages acts such as  – George Ogilvie , Blue Lab Beats – Jodie Abacus – Caitlyn Scarlett – Steve Brown (Laura Mvula/Rumer producer co-writer) Writer-producer Jack Gourlay (Jess Glynne/Tom O’dell/Jack Garrett) The Collier Sarah Walk. I understand that I do a lot – and that can be tricky but it also means I can join different groups of people really easily. It’s in this capacity that I feel really useful to the MMF. I also feel that I have a fairly unique perspective having been in many of the areas of then industry…

Ross Patel

Management company: www.wholeent.com

Roster: Elder Island, Billy Lockett, Tomi Saario, Demi Riquisimo, Waves Rush In, Talk Show

I have been an MMF member for a couple of years but only really engaged with the community in Jan 2021. Annabella reached out to me following an op-ed piece I did for Music Week on the impact of EU/Brexit on Touring in relation to my artists Elder Island and Billy Lockett. 

I joined the MMF where, for the first time, I realised the strength and warmth of the MMF community. Having operated within the confines of my own ‘bubble’ for 4.5 years since founding Whole Entertainment id never had such access to amazing managers. The sharing of experiences, ideas, knowledge and expertise has been inspiring and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed contributing my 2 pence to it all while learning from all the other participants.

The calls and those that attend them have been a life line for me during the last few months. Through the struggles of pandemic/brexit, it’s reassuring to know that the MMF are fighting our corner. This has brought huge value to me as a member and is something I would appreciate being able to give back to.

One area that holds significance for me is climate action. I have taken big steps as Whole Entertainment this year to reduce my emissions and commit to being a carbon neutral company by 2030 in line with the UK’s SME Climate Hub and the UN Race To Zero initiatives.

I have been building out a strategy to engage all corners of the music industry in the climate conversation as part of an activation for a company I am a director of (UMA Group, Earth Aid Live / Hero), and hope that my work with the MMF and other industry bodies / climate focussed working groups will be able to collaborate and support one an other in this vital drive for joined-up climate action through education, engagement, knowledge sharing and partnerships. I also hope to use the skills and experience I have learned through building a creative marketing agency (Sweetshop Media) to help amplify the MMF’s key messages, initiatives and campaigns.

Sandy Dworniak

Management company: This Much Talent / Twisted Talent

Roster: www.thismuchtalent.co.uk & www.twistedtalent.uk

I’ve been in music management for nearly 30 years, so I’ve seen a great many changes in our industry and weathered many storms! Right from the beginning I have been very interested in the mechanics of what we all do as management behind the scenes with regard to the business side, and am probably well known for fighting for fairer deals for all our clients, often in the face of adversity! I would love to be a considered for a position on the MMF board, as it would be great to be part of a group that has a real voice within our industry, that advocates for better / fairer situations for the talent we work with. Most importantly I’d like be a member of a group that has the power to implement change, for the better.

Karl Nielsen

Management company: Karl Nielsen

Roster: William Orbit, Maeve and until recently Goldie

With over 30 years of experience in all aspects of the music industry and having created a number of successful music ventures moist recently AEI Media home to a number of labels, music brands & live events including Drum & Bass Arena, UKF, SubSoul etc… Prior to that I was a founder of the Video Interactive TV group that was home to Fizz TV and the celebrated Channel U. I’m also fortunate to have held senior positions in working for two major brands (the only jobs I have had outside music) in marketing for British Airways and I was the global marketing communications director at Dr. Martens so I have a really good understanding of how brands and music can create powerful and effective partnerships. My management experience is a relatively new venture and began with managing Goldie who we reintroduced to the world with three new albums, a UK tour and a series of live performances of Timeless with a sixty-four piece orchestra. At present I  represent two incredible artists one is William Orbit and the other Maeve and what is so exciting is that I am dealing with all the aspects that come with managing an artist at the very start of a career and one who is recognised as one of the leading music artists in the world and they both bring exciting challenges everyday. Having gained such a rich and diverse range of challenges, with all the joy and pain that brings I now feel confident and comfortable in being able to pass on the knowledge that I have attained and truly believe that as managers we are the most important link in the chain between the artist/talent and how they want their art to be best represented. I also sit on the MEGS board.

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