PANEL - The Business Behind the Artist: Infrastructure & the Modern Team
Behind every successful artist is a business built to support their growth. As artists’ careers become more complex, how can managers build the systems, workflows and teams needed to scale effectively? Featuring representatives from Artist Growth, Linktree, Rise and Fandation, this panel explores practical approaches to strengthening operations, streamlining day-to-day workflows, deepening fan engagement and unlocking new revenue streams. From choosing the right tools to coordinating a modern artist team, panelists will share insights to help managers work more efficiently and build sustainable businesses that support their artists’ creative ambitions.
Matt Urmy, CEO & Founder, Artist Growth
Matt Urmy is a multi-faceted entrepreneur, musician, poet, and healer whose journey spans diverse creative and business landscapes. Born in New York City, Matt moved to Nashville at age 4, where his early immersion in the music industry sparked a lifelong passion for songwriting and performance. His artistic development continued through high school, expanding to include poetry alongside his musical pursuits.
After initially majoring in poetry at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Matt took time away from formal education to travel and focus on music before returning to complete his degree in creative writing. His quest for knowledge and spiritual growth led him to New Zealand, where he lived among and studied with indigenous Maori healers—an experience he describes as deeply transformative. Upon returning to Knoxville, which served as his home base while touring as a musician, Matt furthered his formal education by earning an MFA from Spalding University.
Matt's entrepreneurial spirit emerged prominently with the founding of Artist Growth, a platform created to help artists and creators manage their careers. Under his leadership, the company evolved into a leading enterprise roster management system serving the music and media industries.
Sammy Kaufman, Head of Music Partnerships, Linktree
Sammy is a seasoned music and entertainment professional based in Los Angeles, CA. Currently leading Linktree’s music partnerships, she’s fostered relationships with over 300 industry partners and onboarding 200+ artists, including top talents like Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan. Most recently, she collaborated with Ariana Grande and Olivia Rodrgio for the release of their latest albums, crafting bespoke Linktree themes accessible to Linkers worldwide, totaling over 70 million users.
Prior to Linktree, Kaufman led Industry Relations at Scooter Braun’s music-tech investment company, Raised In Space, where she connected and educated the music industry on technology through events, partnerships, communication strategy, and talent relationship development. With a background spanning additional roles at Soho House running membership and at CAA within their music touring department she brings a unique perspective and expertise to drive impactful results for both the Linktree brand and the artists she partners with.
Tim Jack is an American entrepreneur, Emmy-winning filmmaker, and investor. He is the current Founder and CEO at Rise, an automated marketing platform, Tout, a music discovery and media brand, and author of forthcoming book “Make A Move”. Previously, he served as CEO at JACKTV producing projects with Live Nation, Daimler-Benz, Razor, and many more.
Andy Blair, Founder & CEO, Fandation
Andy Blair is the founder and CEO of Fandation. A widely-respected voice on data issues in the music industry, Andy spent 9 years as Chief Privacy Officer at Universal Music Group where he advised on complex data issues across every part of the company and around the world, resulting in a deep understanding of how data is generated, collected, used, and shared throughout the music industry. Andy is also founder and Managing Director of Reverb Data PLLC, the music industry’s only data-focused law firm.
Fandation provides the tools and services needed for artists to transform fan data into a durable asset that stays with them through every change in their career. Privacy policies, terms of service, and giveaway rules designed for the nuances of artist careers remove the uncertainty and burden of fan data control. Fandation can also help with administrative and compliance support and offers documents designed for the unique needs of management companies, labels, and merch companies. Fandation is the only scalable and accessible solution for artists to establish real and durable control of their fan data.
Moderator: Glenn Peoples, Co-Founder, Sound Money
Glenn is the co-founder of the soon-to-launch Sound Money, a music business publication from Ankler Media. Glenn started in music distribution and ran a blog, Coolfer, before attending business school at Vanderbilt University and becoming an editorial analyst for Billboard. He enjoys moderating industry panels and has appeared at SXSW, Music Biz, Ireland Music Week, AmericanFest and Eurosonic Noorderslag, among other events.
