Music Business Panel

What does it take to have your songs published? How can you improve your songwriting skills? How can you succeed in the music industry? Get these answers and ask your own questions during the Sing Out Loud Music Business Panel at The Markland House on Wednesday, September 25 as four of the music industry’s top-level experts share their insider knowledge and tricks of the trade. This is an opportunity to participate in an in-depth discussion on today’s industry trends, music licensing, songwriting technique and more.

MEET YOUR PANELISTS BELOW:

Meet the Panel: Luke Pierce

Luke Pierce is a veteran music business executive with over a decade-long career, collaborating with creative talent to nurture the careers of performing artists, produce and market recorded music, create world-class live events, and deliver award-winning video and television productions. As one of the founding team members of WORKS Entertainment, he has contributed to building an enterprise of entrepreneurial talent with music always at its core. Among his personal management roster are Home Free, The War Hippies, Lucky Chops, and Brass Against, while he has previously supported the careers of numerous other artists including 98°, Delta Rae, Brian Culbertson, and Alex & Sierra. As a live event producer, he played a crucial role in the advent and operations of The Napa Valley and Chicago Jazz Getaways, in addition to his current involvement with the PGA Tour’s The American Express golf tournament. With over 150 music videos under his belt, Luke has also produced notable television specials such as “Still Playing Possum: Music and Memories of George Jones,” “All Star Salute: 40 Years Of Lee Greenwood,” and “Walkin’ After Midnight: Music of Patsy Cline.”

Outside of work, Luke is an avid golfer, regularly participating in Tennessee State golf events and industry tournaments. He resides in Nashville, TN, with his dog, Arnie, and his girlfriend, Karen.

Meet the Panel: Wade Metzler

Wade is an accomplished and innovative Music Business Executive equipped with over 25 years of unique professional experience in music supervision/licensing (Number13, Beatport, TuneWiki, Go Big!), collective management organizations/neighboring rights (Number13, AllTrack, SoundExchange), performance rights organizations (AllTrack, ASCAP), music publishing (EMI), record labels (A&M/Treat & Release, Tim/Kerr), mobile app/game development (TuneWiki) and new media business development worldwide (VeriSign).

A career dedicated to championing artists and their rights, Wade has built an enviable list of established relationships with key music industry executives, gaming companies, and artists. His company, Number13 currently partners with the gaming industry providing full-service music supervision and licensing services. Number13 Neighboring Rights provides worldwide performance royalty administration for artists, record labels, and producers.

Meet the Panel: Reece Tennery

Reece Tennery started his career in technology and big data, achieving significant success that allowed him to take a risk in chasing a lifelong passion for music. Joining Pitch Hammer Music as a licensing manager in 2018 ignited Reece’s creative spirit and gave an opportunity to learn the business. Over the years, he has become a prominent figure in the industry, producing custom tracks that have made a profound impact on major film and video game franchises worldwide. From producing custom tracks with enchanting melodies for "The Little Mermaid" to producing thrilling soundscapes for "Jurassic World" and "Call of Duty," Reece's work resonates with audiences, enriching storytelling across diverse media platforms. Reece's achievements extend beyond production, earning him prestigious accolades such as a CLIO Award for his contribution to "Call of Duty" and recognition a Music and Sound Award. His dedication to excellence and innovative approach has propelled Pitch Hammer Music. Reece's passion, dedication, and unwavering commitment to excellence continue to drive him forward as he explores new horizons and pushes the boundaries of creativity in the ever-evolving landscape of the music industry.

Meet the Panel: Brandon Young

At the helm of Activision’s Music Department since 2003, Brandon has led the musical creative direction for all of Activision’s in-game music initiatives, any and all music in marketing and promotional assets and artist partnerships, and quite frankly, anything that touches music.

He originally led the music selection and negotiations on the famed Tony Hawk franchise in the early 2000’s, and has since placed and licensed tens of thousands of commercial songs in Activision games and promotional assets, launched some of the most iconic music collaborations in history, and has hired some of the world’s most prolific modern composers to create orchestral soundtracks rivaling Hollywood’s top feature films.

With over twenty years with Activision, he has executive produced the scores behind the gaming industry’s all-time biggest selling franchise Call of Duty since its origin, a game that consecutively broke its own records as the most successful entertainment launch in history. In March of 2020, Call of Duty released it’s free-to-play title, COD Warzone, which launched with massive success, and saw 80MM unique users in the first 10 days. In 2023 and 2024 he was a Grammy nominee for his role in the orchestral scores for Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty MWII, respectively.

He was also responsible for overseeing the music selection and in-game celebrity talent integrations for Activision’s acclaimed franchise, Guitar Hero, opening the door to work with music legends like Metallica, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Taylor Swift, and many other high-caliber talent partnerships. He’s brought in legendary film composers with the likes of Grammy and Academy award winners Hans Zimmer, Bear McCreary, Jack Wall (who has now scored five Call of Duty titles), Sarah Schachner, Harry Gregson-Williams, David Buckley, Graeme Revell, and Lorne Balfe, among so many other legendary composers. More recently he’s partnered with artists as in-game playable operators in Call of Duty, bringing to life Snoop Dogg, 21 Savage, Nicki Minaj, among others.

Beyond the above, Activision Blizzard as a parent company operates massive subsidiary companies such as World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, StarCraft, Hearthstone, Candy Crush, Farmville, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and is a pioneer in franchising gaming leagues in the e-sports sector. The Overwatch League is broadcast on Twitch, and is televised on ABC, ESPN, DisneyXD, among other global TV providers, including three in China. This year, the Championships were hosted virtually from Hawaii due to the US travel restrictions, and we had Dillon Francis as the headline performer. The Call of Duty League is in its third season, with franchise owners spanning from The Weeknd, Drake, DJ Tiesto, celebrity athletes such as Marshawn Lynch and Michael Strahan, and famed Patriots owner, Robert Kraft, among others. In Q4 2023, Activision was sold to Microsoft and is now a substantial portfolio of their gaming division.