Home / Industry Takeover 2023 / Monday

Monday

Monday Afternoon

14:00 – 16:30

The A&R Reality Check: What does artist success look like in 2023?  

With an all-star A&R focused panel lined-up, we’ll explore what artist success looks like in 2023 with Preye Crooks (A&R Robots & Humans /Sony UK & Founder of Strawberries and Cream Fest), Theolonious Oliver (Artist Manager & A&R at Pias), Davina Merchant (Artist manager & Senior Publishing A&R), Dani Sawyerr (A&R Universal Music Publishing UK) and Benson Udia (Senior Marketing Manager at EMI UK). Host Benjamin Tuner (Spit Game).

Dani Sawyerr, A&R at Universal Music Publishing UK.  

Davina Merchant, Artist Manager & Senior Publishing A&R 

Joy Warmann, Product Manager, Secretly Canadian  

Preye Crooks, A&R at Robots & Humans/Sony UK & Founder of Strawberries and Cream Festival 

Theolonious Oliver, Artist Manager & A&R at Pias 

Benson Udia – Senior Marketing Manager at EMI UK


Speakers

Davina Merchant – Artist Manager & Senior Publishing A&R

Joy Warman – Project Manager

Preye Crooks – Co-Head A&R – Robots & Humans, Strawberries & Creem Festival

Benson Udia – Senior Marketing Manager at EMI UK

Benjamin Turner – Founder, The Rap Club/ Spit Game

Dani Sawyerr, A&R at Universal Music Publishing UK

Monday Evening

18:00 – 20:30

0207 Def Jam: In Conversation with Alex & Alec Boateng – hosted by chi chi IZUNDU (bbc correspondEnt)

We go head-to-head with the twins, Alex and Alec Boateng, Co-President’s of 0207 Def Jam.  0207 Def Jam is a dynamic London-born label which endeavours to deliver high quality music alongside ground-breaking artist campaigns. Founded in 2020, by music executives and twin brothers, Alec & Alex Boateng, 0207 provides a space where impactful and unfiltered music can find its way to the world. 0207 Def Jam is also the UK home of the iconic Def Jam Recordings, the American label which has shaped and propelled cutting-edge hip hop culture around the world for over 35 years.

Chi Chi Izundu is a BBC News Correspondent. She started her journalistic career at the age of 17 as a regular columnist for Girl About Town magazine. A few years later she joined BBC London 94.9 as a researcher, before graduating to become a producer working on the Saturday Sport show, the Jon Gaunt show, Drive, Vanessa Feltz and other programmes. She then left to complete a Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism at City University. Afterwards, she worked at Virgin Radio on their entertainment news team. She also freelanced at Sky News and worked at ITN before returning to the BBC as a reporter for BBC Radio 1Xtra. She also presented their two hour news magazine show, TXU and was the entertainment presenter on the Trevor Nelson breakfast show. She then joined the BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat entertainment news team, presented entertainment news and the news as well as breaking a number of big stories, including doing a week long expose on the ticketing industry which contributed to Newsbeat winning a Sony Gold award. In 2016, she became part of the team on the Victoria Derbyshire show, breaking a number of big stories including on the police risk assessment form 696, before joining the national BBC correspondents desk where she won awards for pieces including her investigation into student mental health at universities. This year she was nominated for a prestigious Royal Television Society Journalism award and won a British Journalism Award for the Tim Westwood investigation.


Speakers

Chi Chi Izundu – BBC Correspondent

Alex Boateng – Co-President 0207 Def Jam

Alec Boateng – Co-President 0207 Def Jam