Welcome & Introduction - The MMF-US
Featured Speakers:
Sharon Tapper - Executive Director, MMF-US
The Music Managers Forum-US is the leading trade association for artist managers and self-managed artists in the U.S. Since joining in 2022, the organization has grown by over 600%, expanding from its LA and NY roots to new chapters in Miami, Chicago, Nashville, Austin, Boston, and most recently, Atlanta. MMF-US provides vital education, advocacy, and global connections through its partnership with the International Music Managers Forum (IMMF)—supporting music managers and self-managed artists across the country.
With a background in artist management, music publishing, and studio operations, Tapper has held leadership roles at Kobalt and Razor & Tie and worked with artists including The Cranberries, Slash, George Michael, and Seal.
A longtime member of the Recording Academy’s New York Chapter, Tapper served 14 years as Governor and Secretary of the Executive Committee, including six consecutive terms as Co-Chair of its Advocacy Committee. She also served four years on the New York Board of the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) and co-founded NYC3, a network created to champion and support New York City’s creative professionals.
A’Harrah and his colleagues are recipients of the Grand Clio Award for music marketing—the highest honor in marketing—awarded to his team for two years running from 2020–2021.
Previously, A’Harrah ran the consulting and educational arm of B2B services firm and trade magazine Music Ally, from which position he began driving record label and artist management teams around the world to build vertically; transformed music business department curriculum at the most prestigious universities; and worked to expand the originally UK-based company into the US, Japan, China, the Nordics, Latin America, and Africa.
Outside the music and tech industries A’Harrah and his friends run CaracolLabs, a multidisciplinary residency program for artists, researchers, and experts of different backgrounds to collaborate with each other on projects relating to art, being, education and sustainability, and EGG, a high-engagement art, philosophy, and book club.
He holds an M.A. in Global Entertainment and Music Business from Berklee College of Music.
Wesley T. A’Harrah - VP of Membership & Education, MMF-US
For nearly a decade Wesley T. A’Harrah has been working to help creatives and the teams around them have better lives. He primarily does this from his role as VP of Education at the Music Managers Forum-US and as a longtime leading consultant across digital and strategic innovation spanning entertainment and tech.
A’Harrah has trained teams at, run campaigns with, and developed products + GTMs across companies such as Meta, Snap, Google, Spotify, Red Bull, Universal, Warner, Sony, and most major independent record labels in 40+ countries, along with their agencies of record, primary marketing/tech partners, and startup investment properties; and has worked to improve and build teams behind artists including Tyla, Phoebe Bridgers, Cigarettes After Sex, The Script, Charli XCX, and many more.
He has also been selected as a Billboard Indie Power Player (2021), Worth Magazine Worthy 100 (2022), and Memphis Magazine Power Player (2020-24) among other honors.
Mr. Alexander is a magna cum laude graduate of Morehouse College. He also holds both Master of Science and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He has been married to his best friend, Dr. Gwendolyn Alexander for thirty years and they have three children, eighteen-year-old Natalie, sixteen-year-old Philip and fourteen-year-old Memphis Paige and reside in Memphis, TN.
Tony Alexander – President AIMP Atlanta Chapter & President and Managing Director MIME
Tony D. Alexander is co-founder, President & Managing Director of Made in Memphis Entertainment LLC (MIME), a full-service entertainment group comprising MIME Publishing, an independent music publishing company that handles the copyrights of some of the most sought-after young producers in hip-hop and R&B; Heavy Hitters Music, a film, TV, and ad sync company with an all-female creative team and Emmy-winning music catalog; Beatroot Music, a leading independent music distributor, as well as its subsidiary Beatroot Africa; and 4U Recording, a state-of-the-art recording studio brand with locations in Memphis and Atlanta. MIME is dedicated to developing and empowering diverse talent on both the creative and business sides of the industry.
Mr. Alexander is a proud member of the Leadership Music Class of 2023 and also serves on the Boards of the Music Business Association (Music Biz), the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) as Treasurer and is President of the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) Atlanta Chapter. He has been featured in publications such as Billboard, Wired, Music Ally, Music Week, Pitchfork, and Memphis Business Journal.