Exploring the Impact of the Blockchain on Music and the Arts
By: Steve Masur
Tracking Creative Digital Rights:
A Panel and Reception Exploring the Impact of the Blockchain on Music and the Arts
Join us on November 16 (7PM ET) at the Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand St. at Pitt St., Lower East Side, Manhattan) to learn about new paths for managing digital creative property with the emergence of the blockchain, a tamper-proof distributed record keeping system. This panel of experts will explore issues of artist, management, label, dealer, collector, customer control over licensing, royalties, attribution, sampling, provenance, copyright and transparency at this kickoff event to the Open Source Music Festival.
Panelists include: Ken Umezaki, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer, Dot Blockchain Music; Daniel Doubrovkine, Chief Technology Officer, Artsy; Jennie Rose Halperin, Communications Manager at Creative Commons; and Steven Masur, Senior Partner MG+. Isabel Walcott Draves, President of Creative Tech Week, is moderator.
About the Panelists:
Steven Masur has over two decades of experience advising emerging and established businesses on new opportunities and business challenges. He focuses his practice on corporate finance, M&A, intellectual property, entertainment, emerging businesses and strategic guidance. Steve brings a unique mix of legal, business, and strategic experience to bear on client matters. He has counseled enterprise level clients including Shazam, Virgin Mobile, Liberty Media, Yamaha, Nielsen Buzzmetrics, Bob Vila and Conde Nast Publications in corporate, digital media, and new business matters. He has also helped emerging businesses in a wide variety of sectors, and is especially knowledgeable in media, entertainment, advertising, consumer products, food and technology, including mobile, games, digital music, social media, augmented and virtual reality, software and hardware.
Ken Umezaki is an independent investor and business advisor for music startups and artists, through his company Digital Daruma, with a specific focus on artist facing music and media service companies. Digital Daruma has made select direct investments in music artists and songs, and has also co-founded Dot Blockchain Media, a public benefit corporation that has introduced a new music file technology architecture to modernize copyright management and the music supply chain fit for the digital music age. Ken currently is the Chief Business Officer of dotBC. His past experience includes 25 years in financial services trading, asset management and senior management positions. He is also an experienced musician, and currently plays bass in the band Fifth of Bourbon. Lastly, he is involved in a number of music foundations and academic organizations, including serving on the boards of Little Kids Rock, and Future of Music Coalition, as well as advisory board position for programs at New York University and Berklee College of Music.
Daniel Doubrovkine (aka dB.) is a seasoned entrepreneur, technologist, CTO at Artsy.net in New York, the largest online fine art marketplace and publication. Daniel graduated from University of Geneva in late 90s with a degree in Computer Science, and founded and sold Vestris Inc., an early stage technology start-up right after college. He joined Microsoft as Development Lead, was Director at Visible Path, then Architect and Development Manager at Application Security. Daniel is the creator and maintainer of many popular open-source projects and a lifetime artist.
Jennie Rose Halperin is the Communications Manager at Creative Commons. She makes the CC communications and brand sparkle and works with communities to tell their stories through a variety of media. As a freelance writer and editor, Jennie is currently working with MIT’s CoLab, where she is assisting in the creation of a book and multimedia series on social justice for SAGE Publishing and the SEIU. Before joining Creative Commons, Jennie worked for Safari Books Online/O’Reilly Media as the Product Engagement Manager where she managed community marketing and test-driven product growth with a mighty team of technologists dedicated to innovation in online learning. She was previously at Mozilla on the Community Building Team and earned her masters degree in Library Science.
Isabel Walcott Draves (moderator) is the founder of Leaders in Software and Art (LISA) and President of Creative Tech Week. She is an Internet entrepreneur with over two decades of experience organizing technology communities, conducting research and managing large projects. In 2015, she started Creative Tech Week to create a network of creative and business professionals originating new technology-driven content in media, entertainment, advertising, music and the arts. Since 2009, Draves has convened Leaders in Software and Art, bringing together cutting-edge software and electronic artists, curators, collectors, and coders to share their work in conferences, shows and salons. Draves founded the first website for teen girls, SmartGirl.com, from 1995-2001; managed content publishing systems at Bertelsmann and directed an elite think tank for cybersecurity executives at Gartner in the 00’s; and has provided expert consulting to dozens of startups and Fortune 100 companies nationwide.
Enjoy wine, beer and appetizers with speakers and guests after the panel discussion at an upstairs reception.
Programming provided by Leaders in Software and Art and Creative Tech Week.
