Meet The People Who Will Be Helping Educate You
Aurelia J. Schultz
Miss Schultz has over a decade of experience working on intellectual property issues in Africa. She currently serves as Counsel in the Office of Policy & International Affairs at the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the Office, she worked on copyright and trademark issues in private practice and was a member of the in-house counsel team at Creative Commons, where she also served as the first Africa Regional Manager. While earning her Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt Law School, she interned with the Nigerian Copyright Commission in Abuja, Nigeria. Miss Schultz served as a Peace Corps Volunteer near Monze, Zambia, and her career was inspired by her favourite Zambian hip hop artist. She enjoys a variety of music and is currently most fond of exploring kasahare.
WISEMAN QINANI Ngubo
Wiseman Qinani Ngubo is an experienced executive who is currently heads the Chief Operations Officer at Africa's fastest-growing collective management organisation. As part of his role, he has been involved in ensuring the initiation and sustained growth of broadcast and digital licensing on the continent. Through this experience, Wiseman has obtained crucial technical expertise relating to the licensing of content on both traditional broadcast mediums as well as in the digital environment. Wiseman has led teams that have seen the successful mutli-territorial licensing of services such as Apple Music, YouTube, Spotify, Facebook, MultiChoice, Netflix etc. Such licenses have seen the growth of subscription services across various parts of the African continent.
Mutsai Musa
Mutsai has been running the creative incubator, Quiet Riot Media for 15 years. Based in Johannesburg with private and corporate clients on 3 continents, he has consulted with and curated campaigns for emerging African artists and large entertainment companies alike. From strategic planning and deal negotiation, content curation and management systems, Mutsai has covered a wide range of music business capabilities with strong creative business development acumen and focus on growth.
Stephen Budd
Stephen Budd Music represents some of the most influential producers, songwriters, mixers, engineers on the planet, alongside a selection of the best up-and-coming creative studio and writing talent.
For over 20 years, our producer and songwriter clients have worked with the most successful and creative artists in the world and have won numerous Grammy and Brit awards.
Adam Tiran
Through his work with Africori as Head of Operations, Adam has worked with some of Africa's foremost independent artists and record labels including Sho Madjozi, Sauti Sol and Cassper Nyovest. Exploring his deep-lying heritage rooted in the warmer climes of South Africa over the past few years, Adam has since become embedded in the electrifying digital music industry on the African continent.
Charles Houdart
Charles Houdart has worked at the French Cultural Center in Damascus and the Alliance Française in Nairobi. He also managed the Alliance Française in Harare from 2009 to 2014, before leading a European project that included training in cultural professions and support for music festivals in Africa, on behalf of UNESCO’s International Music Council. In 2014 he founded a record label called Nyami Nyami Records, specializing in music from Southern Africa, which he continues to manage while carrying out his CCI role at AFD.
Phiona Okumu
Phiona Okumu has her finger on the pulse of youth culture. As the artist and label marketing manager for Africa at Spotify and a former editor in music media who’s created content for some of the most influential entities (AfriPOP, The Fader, Apple), the Ugandan music industry professional has developed a knack for sniffing out the next big trend while amplifying the global profile of several African artists. It’s a gift, really, one that draws on her background in editorial, an “innate A&R instinct and a consummate passion for the artists,” she tells OkayAfrica. In this condensed interview, she talks all things youth culture, equality in music and her wish for a female pan-continental pop star.
Game “Zeus” Bantsi
Game Goabaone Bantsi has 11 years of experience performing and recording, primarily through his own company, Do It Yourself Entertainment, as well as major labels, including Universal Music South Africa. He possesses a BA Honors in Motion Picture, Film and TV, majoring in Producing, as a way of expanding the catalogue of creative products that the Botswanan and African creative industries offer, and to tap into wider markets. He is the co-founder and co-director of an events business called Jam For Brunch, which hosts monthly lifestyle events in Gaborone. He is looking to leverage the strength of the growing brand. Strategy, creativity, synergy, and innovation are some of his favourite words.