Last year, MUSEXPO founder Sat Bisla told Music Week that the 25th instalment of the music business conference would be “the best ever”, and he certainly held true to his word.
Taking place between March 16 – 19 in LA, a host of the world’s top label and publishing executives, managers, songwriters and more descended upon Burbank’s Castaway venue for three days of big ideas, thought-provoking discussion and all the croissants you could eat.
As a partner on the event, Music Week was on hand for the whole thing as distinct themes started to come to the fore: AI (ooooh, it’s bad!), AI (actually, it’s good!), AI (you’re all wrong, it’s a mixed bag!), not to mention the quality of the talent pipeline right now, how to unlock different global markets, the evolution of artist management and more.
MUSEXPO also saw the return of its International Music Industry Awards with Michael Goldstone being presented with the Seymour Stein Global A&R Award, Steve Sessa claiming the Global Music & Entertainment Attorney Award, Emma Banks getting the Global Booking Agent Award and Mike Knoblock receiving the global Music & Media Executive Award. Jen Malone took home the Global Music Supervisor Award while, as a duo, Scott Cutler & Josh Abraham scored the Global Music Publisher Award and, last but certainly not least, Savan Kotecha won the Global Songwriter honour.
There was all of that and, yes, even one memorable Dawson’s Creek reference. Here we round up some of the best moments of discussion, debate and insight...
YOU CAN BANKS ON IT
Kick-starting the event proper was a keynote panel dissecting the state of the global music business. There was a distinct – and, truth be told, refreshing – mood of optimism in the air, both in terms of the new talent coming through, the lack of traditional gatekeepers to obstruct them, and also the opening up of new global territories for live performance.
CAA legend and Music Week Strat Award-winner Emma Banks – one of quite a few Atlantic-crossing execs on hand to represent a British viewpoint – was feeling largely positive about the state of play right now, but she was very quick to drive home one of the biggest challenges to the future of the business.
One of the huge challenges is grassroots music venues and how we can support them
Emma Banks
“There are massive, massive areas of growth,” said Banks. “But one of the huge challenges is grassroots music venues and how we can support them. In many cases, they're not really financially viable if you just look at a P&L, but it's [also the industry’s] R&D and we have to figure out a way of supporting those venues and the artists that play in them. I'm seeing more and more acts that are playing guitars, playing pianos, and they have to have somewhere to go and play. And I think that's really important. It's incumbent on the music industry as a whole to make sure that we have a plan as to how we keep that going.”
Music Week could practically hear Mark Davyd nodding in agreement from across the Atlantic.
Later in the week, Banks was awarded the 2025 Global Booking Agent honour and once again used her speech to reaffirm just how crucial it is for the worldwide business to support the under-funded breeding grounds for new talent. A standing ovation ensued.
If AI was a recurring debate on this panel (“It represents a unique threat across the spectrum” said Recording Academy president Panos A. Panay), remuneration was another. Laurent Hubert, CEO of Kobalt Music Group, for one was very clear on that. “Songwriters should be paid more than they are paid today,” he insisted.
“Our belief is if you have a few thousand fans, you should be able to earn an adequate living without having to work second or third jobs,” added Allan Klepfisz, chairman & CEO, FENIX360.
A&R 101
Also on the opening day was a granular look at A&R, breaking new talent and creating the next wave of global hits. Again, there was a lot of positivity in the air about the outlook for 2025.
“A hit can come from anywhere now and I love that,” said Kim Frankiewicz, EVP of Worldwide Creative at Concord's music publishing division. “It’s only a matter of time now before India explodes.” More on that later.
A hit can come from anywhere now and I love that
Kim Frankiewicz
Head of A&R at Graduation and Lionbear founder Rich Castillo, meanwhile, took time out to point to one major problem that is cropping up in A&R contracts, especially in an age where it is generally acknowledged that is taking longer for artists to break than ever before.
“I think in A&R, a lot of people's contracts are not as long as it takes to break the actual artist,” he said. “The challenge you've got when you're signing people is that a lot of A&R contracts are three years. And if you look at what it takes to break an artist, you're looking at maybe four-to-five. So, the point at which you’re finally [getting] somewhere, you've got to get it renewed. So what you'll find is A&Rs sign things that are already moving, and potentially overpaying a little bit to compensate for the timeline. I think that stuff doesn't get spoken about.”
The challenge you've got when you're signing people is that a lot of A&R contracts are three years. And if you look at what it takes to break an artist, you're looking at maybe four to five
Rich Castillo
MARK HIS WORDS
Winner of The Lifetime Achievement honour was one of the world’s most influential managers of producers and songwriters: Mark Beaven, co-founder & co-CEO, Advanced Alternative Media, Inc. (AAM, Inc.).
For a special keynote he was interviewed by Warner Records co-chairman & COO Tom Corson for a colourful look over his career, one that also took in the advice he would give to the next generation.
“One of the things that I think is really essential to remember is that all the businesses, all technologies, anything in music, is on a line between the fan and the artist. Anything that adds value to that will stay. If not, you're going to fall away. And also, remember that music itself bases everything on two things: a great song and a great artist. You can have a minute without one or the other, but it won't last long. You need both.”
“And career resilience is important, too: know you're going to get knocked down,” added Corson. “Someone's going to talk down something you thought was a sure bet. You’ve got to be resilient, you’ve got to come back the next day and the next day and the next day to do it all again.”
We don't really necessarily know how music is going to monetise itself as AI, so it's hard to create the model
Mark Beaven
As for the Lifetime Achievement Award winner’s take on the Pandora’s box of AI?
“There's always going to be concerns, there's always going to be opportunities,” Beaven said. “I think AI presents some very positive abilities for people who perhaps didn't always have a voice in music. I think it also leads us to a point where, when DSPs are noting that four out of five songs never get listened to, there wants to be some gateway between music generated for pleasure and music generated for commerce. There also has to be a framework where there is a compensation for the underlying elements that are used. Everything is trained on what came before. We don't really necessarily know how music is going to monetise itself as AI, so it's hard to create the model.”
ME, MYSELF & AI
As befitting for a panel looking at the future of music in the digital age – taking in tech innovations, social/streaming, AI and Web 3.0 – there was a lot of mind-blowing talk going on. No more so than Sankar Thiagasamudram – founder & CEO at Audeze, an award-winning headphone company based in California – enlightening the room on the AI-augmented noise-filtering headphones he’s developed.
There was much excitement but, as expected, also numerous notes of caution being sounded.
“AI freaks me out, I’m not gonna lie,” admitted Kylie Everitt, director of artist and label strategy at Stem. “I’m not a huge fan.” But possible solutions and ways forward were presented, too.
“Making sure that things are done ethically is super important, and it's core to how this industry is going to use AI in a way that matters, for artists specifically,” said Karan Bhatnagar, head of artist & creator strategy at Hook. “And if you look at the AI music we get on social media today, nearly 50% of those are remixes – that means it's sped up, it's slowed down or mashed up. So consumers are doing this anyway. It's about how you harness it and the technologies you put in place. Hook allows legally mixing of tracks to put structure and scalability on that process, but doing it by the rightsholders, doing it by the artists, and making sure music is licensed and that there's control. And doing that at scale makes it an ethical AI platform, which is completely different than other companies out there that are doing prompt-based AI.”
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
The art of star-making, the challenges around managing artists’ mental health, the role of major labels and data and more were dissected in a panel entitled The Management & Live Forum: Fans, Music & The Evolving Artist Experience. It featured insight from 724 Management’s Larry Rudolph and Jesse Peters, Malsons Media’s Shivam Malhotra, Wasserman Music’s Tom Windish and Sturdy/Range Media Partners Tyler Henry.
The digital era has created opportunity that has never existed before
Larry Rudolph
Rudolph and Peters dived straight into the question of what the biggest challenges and opportunities are right now.
“In the management space, one of the biggest opportunities is how fast everything moves and how the platforms are your oyster as an artist – how you can come from nothing to attention very quickly, a lot more than when we first started in the business,” offered Jesse Peters. “That also presents challenge, because things move so quickly, people's attention also moves quickly. So, how do you stay cohesive? How do you stay true to your artistic vision? How do you decide who you are as an artist, and how do you stick to that so you can create a career rather than a moment?”
“The digital era has created opportunity that has never existed before,” agreed Rudolph. “It's very democratic in one sense, it gives everyone the ability to potentially be heard, and it takes the power out of the hands of a very small number of people who were in control at one point. So, I think there's a tremendous opportunity there, especially for people who are good about getting heard, whether it's in the digital space or in the live space or some combination of the two. Those platforms are evolving by the minute these days and are very useful. There's a whole new world out there. I know that the majors are feeling it in a big way and trying to keep up with it in a big way. Obviously, that's sort of the old guard and they don’t want to be left behind so they’re trying to evolve. I don't know how that story will end. We'll see."
Tyler Henry meanwhile drew laughs when he helpfully laid out precisely what he doesn’t want to hear when he’s being approached to take on an artist.
“I hate when people pitch an artist as a mix of two artists to me,” he said. “I want someone who feels different.”
After a lot of discussion about how managers can help artists through challenging periods, Tom Windish pointed out just how little support they get in return. “[As a a business] we don’t talk about people helping managers,” he said, to a big round of applause. It wasn’t the first time someone took pains to stress just how crucial – and often unsupported – today’s managers are in taking on bigger workloads than ever before.
And as to the idea of whether the industry needs to change the business model for managers?
“It already has,” said Shivam Malhotra. “The business model evolved from the commission business and moved into equity spaces with the artist, where we have skin in the game with not just music, but also branding, ventures, investments, and really just being a co-founder, and not just manager. It's more of a partnership now.”
THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN’
The International Music Person Of The Year recipient went to Mandar Thakur, CEO, Times Music Group (India), who in turn became the first person from South Asia to receive MUSEXPO's prestigious accolade.
In a keynote, he gave a masterclass on the Indian music market, and how to negotiate it. Or perhaps more specifically, how not to.
“I get asked a lot about opportunity in that part of the world, not just India,” he said. “And I think the one mistake people make is, well, have you heard of the term, ‘Only fools rush in?’ Rushing is the mistake people make. India is a market that really, in the media world, only one person has ever got right, and that was Rupert Murdoch. Most other Western companies try to create practices that just don’t make any sense. It already has a musical culture that is close to 200 years old, so it's not necessarily a market that is ready for import or waiting for import. What we call international music is anything that's outside. We don't differentiate between American music, English music, Australian music, it doesn't matter. It's all the same.”
Other territories were looked at across the conference, including Poland’s rich cinematic audiovisual history and the boundless possibilities for artists willing to really put the time into breaking Germany.
GOLD(STONE) MEDAL
The annual Seymour Stein Global A&R Award was bestowed upon legendary artist and repertoire executive Michael Goldstone, founder & co-owner, Mom+Pop Music. It recognised a career that has taken in signing the likes of Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine and more. His acceptance speech even included a fond memory of watching Rage Against The Machine perform a silent protest onstage. Without any clothes on.
In a keynote with his Mom + Pop partner-in-success Thaddeus Rudd, they covered a lot of ground. One notable part of it being what he looks for in an artist at this point in his career.
“The nuance of it is in their vision and the ability to show that they’re going to continue to work, thrive, create, write and release music with or without you,” he said of the drive he’s looking for. “For a company like ours, artists that aren’t sure what they want to do or where they want to go aren’t the most suited to us.”
As for the best advice he could pass on to the next generation?
“It’s about having direct and consistent communication with artists and managers and not having anyone live in a lack of clarity,” he offered. “You can’t guarantee success but you can guarantee experience and execution.”
WENDY & SAVAN BRING THE HOUSE DOWN
Another clear highlight from MUSEXPO 2025 was Republic Records legend Wendy Goldstein interviewing elite hitmaker Savan Kotecha.
Offering a brilliant and often hilarious run through his career, it charted his course from sleeping on people's floors to working with superstars like One Direction, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, the song parts he couldn’t crack, and why his “whole personality was basically shaped by Dawson Leery from Dawson’s Creek”.
“You know how Dawson was obsessed with Steven Spielberg?” he joked. “I was basically that with Babyface."
The chorus is holy, everything is there to serve the chorus
Savan Kotecha
Kotecha went on to tell the audience that he lives by one rule above all else.
“The chorus is holy,” he insisted. “Everything is there to serve the chorus. Once I have a special chorus, I don't ever want to give up on that. Like, if it doesn't feel as good once you have the verses in, then there's something wrong with the verses. It can be exhausting at times, but the results are the God Is A Woman's and the Side To Sides.”
The chat also probed their deep partnership together, especially with Ariana Grande and The Weeknd, taking in stories of classic hits and how proud they are that Grande’s Santa Tell Me has, year on year, morphed into one of the biggest Christmas songs ever. “Every year we try and take Mariah out,” quipped Wendy.
After all the inspirational talk of the possibilities of hitmaking, the sense was that many in the room were eager to get straight into the studio afterwards to try and add a few more holy choruses to their own repertoire.
Later in the week, Savan was presented with the Global Songwriter Award and, once again, left the crowd moved with an emotional story of an exchange with an Iraqi taxi driver that reminded him of just how much music means to people around the world and the divisions it can bridge. Endings don’t come much more powerful.
FOLLOW 
