Byta Presents:
#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation with Saidah Blount
“Transforming Audio Culture: Elevating the Art of Music Discovery”
November 1st: 12PM EST / 5pm BST / 7pm EAT
Live online via Zoom
Free registration here: https://byta.co/hwl-live-saidah-blount
“Creativity and being around creative people has been my drive”
Saidah Blount is a New York City-based brand and marketing executive known for her focus on music culture. A Senior Manager and Executive Producer at Sonos, she has helped to establish and develop new sonic and cultural platforms for the company. This includes Sonos Radio, positioning the company as an emerging leader in the music and content space.
In the past, Saidah has worked with a number of innovative and influential media outlets and brands. Notalbly NPR Music, The Fader, Adidas, Punchdrunk, Spotify, and Topshop. How does a music fan go from mid-west America to curating SONOS Radio in New York City?
SONOS, perhaps most well known for wireless speakers, has chosen to develop a radio and streaming service. Saidah Blount comes up with new ways to engage listeners to listen. Hers is a unique path through the music ecosystem with a lot of familiar touchstones. College radio led to a trip to New York City. Time at graduate school allowed Saidah to take full advantage of New York City’s nightlife. The result of this was a realization that music is what Saidah really wanted to immerse herself in. She began making connections. Today Saidah’s role at SONOS has her fully immersed in music.
Sonos Radio is committed to elevating the art of music discovery. It is striving to remind people about how epic music can be, and how it deserves to be an integral part of your life.
#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation is a monthly online event that will be presented in two parts:
- A workshop: Tips & insights for tomorrow’s artists & music industry leaders with Byta founder Marc Brown.
- An in-depth interview with Saidah Blount: She will talk about her experiences entering the music industry and what it means to curate Sonos Radio.
About the Event
This series is designed to deliver the knowledge to enable tomorrow’s artists and industry leaders to better manoeuvre their way through the music ecosystem. Providing fun and insightful Q&A along the way!
#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation is hosted by Byta’s founder, Marc Brown, whose deep music business background and digital audio knowledge have helped him deliver unique insights to audiences from Tallinn to Toronto. Marc is a former label owner, A&R, manager and radio plugger.
Key takeaways:
- How do you engage an audience in music discovery?
- What is the future of radio?
- How to find a mentor and put yourself out there?
- The difference between a playlist and a curated channel?
- How do artists and their teams access SONOS music curators?
- The future of music and culture.
- The future of audio: consumer behaviour, tech and file formats.
Event Format
#HowWeListen Live (part 1):
The workshop will introduce industry insights that Marc has picked up from his work in A&R departments, running his own radio promotion company, plus years of experience managing artists and significant large-scale projects. Some of the topics he will touch on include artists’ teams, timelines and connecting the web of the music industry. Plus, most importantly, tips on what you can do yourself to better increase the chances of your success.
#HowWeListen In Conversation (part 2):
Each event features an in-depth one-to-one conversation. At this event, our guest is Saidah Blount – Executive Producer @ Sonos Radio & Sonos Sound System. She will discuss her side of the music industry and how she is developing a modern-day listening culture in the age of streaming, playlists and TikTok. How to elevate and re-engage the art of music discovery.
About Byta
Byta (“Bee-tah”: the Swedish word for exchange) is unrivalled in taking advantage of the unique properties found in audio files. By simplifying the reading and writing of file metadata, conversion of file formats and delivery of fast yet secure streaming, the platform enables everyone to send and receive digital audio in a clean, simple and secure way. Additionally, Byta launched #HowWeListen, a not-for-profit organisation. It complements the company’s ultimate goal: providing artists and their teams with the tools and knowledge needed to move their careers forward.
About Saidah Blount
Saidah Blount is an NYC-based brand and marketing executive known for her focus on music culture. As a Senior Manager and Executive Producer at Sonos, she’s helped to establish and develop new sonic and cultural platforms for the company, including Sonos Radio, positioning the company as an emerging leader in the music and content space.
In the past, Saidah has worked with a number of innovative and influential media outlets and brands, including NPR Music, The Fader, Adidas, Punchdrunk, Spotify, and Topshop.
In her free time, Saidah loves going to concerts, checking out new restaurants in Brooklyn and travelling. Also, she is now plotting to start a podcast…
About Marc Brown
Marc is the founder of Byta / byta.com. Run as a distributed team across three continents, Byta enables sending and receiving of digital audio in a clean, simple and secure way. Built for everyone working with music today.
His extensive music business background and considerable digital audio knowledge have helped him deliver unique insights to audiences from Tallinn to Toronto.
Marc got his start at murderecords, Canada’s premier artist-owned label, during the mid-90s. After working in A&R at the legendary London indie, Creation Records, and then at Alan McGee’s Poptones, Marc started his own boutique UK radio promotion company off the back of his success with The Hives. For over ten years, Marc worked with an impressive list of indie rock luminaries, including Wilco, Bloc Party, Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes, Spoon, and Refused as well as legends such as Tom Waits, Yoko Ono, Booker T and Mavis Staples.
Marc currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.