Recording - June 2018 - 57

JUNE 2018
TAXI Road Rally 2017

Success Is No Accident, Part Three
Moderated by Michael Laskow
Panelists: Bobby Borg, Gilli Moon,
Adventurina King, Sydney Alston,
Mark Steiner
We've included the panelists' bios again for people who might not have read the earlier parts of
this interview and aren't familiar with the folks
we're speaking with. -Ed.
Bobby Borg is a former major label, independent, and DIY recording/touring artist with
over 25 years experience working along side
the most respected managers, producers, and
A&R executives in the music industry. He
served as the VP of Special Events for the Los
Angeles chapter of the American Marketing
Association, and as Chairman of Music Business at Musician's Institute in Hollywood,
California. A recipient of UCLA Extension's
Distinguished Instructor of the Year Award,
Borg teaches DIY music marketing, music
publishing, and general music business classes
both online and on-campus and he speaks regularly at Berklee College of Music and other
distinguished schools worldwide. Borg is the
author of Music Marketing for the DIY Musician, Business Basics for Musicians, and over
1,000 magazine and blog articles for
Billboard.com, Hypebot, SonicBids, Music
Connection, Disc Makers, Band Zoogle, and
more. He is the founder of Bobby Borg Consulting, where he assists rising music
professionals globally. He lives in Los Angeles.
Gilli Moon is a singer, songwriter, artist,
and producer. She has worked with highly
respected artists such as Simple Minds,
Placido Domingo, Eric Idle, and will.i.am,
and is a songwriting award winner in the
Netherlands, U.S., and Australia. Her songs
have been featured in independent films
and network U.S. television programs, and
she has released six albums. She is the President of Songsalive! (a nonprofit songwriters
organization), CEO of record label Warrior
Girl Music, and a certified professional

(left to right) Bobby Borg, Gilli Moon, Adventurina King, and Mark Steiner (far right) all seem a little amused as Sydney Alston
(2nd from right) makes a funny point during the Success Is No Accident Panel at the TAXI Road Rally.

coach. She has three books out, the most
recent of which are, Just Get Out There and
The 360 Degree Songwriter.
Aventurina Kingis a singer/songwriter/producer working in both Los Angeles and China.
Before moving to Los Angeles one year ago,
she worked in China as an artist and TV personality, during which time she appeared on
every single national TV platform and graced
the pages of Cosmo Bride and the Chinese New
York Times equivalent. Since her move to LA,
she has written and sung two entire albums
for Warner Brothers Production Music, and
her songs have been synched in an upcoming
Disney movie, as well as a videogame. She just
got a cut with South Korea's biggest girl band
of the moment, Red Velvet, for their next
album under S&M entertainment. Recently,
she's begun releasing her own songs as an
artist, one of which was recently featured on
Spotify's "Fresh Finds" playlist.
Sydney Alston has 20-plus years of experience
in all facets of the music business, which has
made him an in-demand music resource for
artists in Los Angeles and around the country.
In 2001, he was hired by Disc Makers, the indus-

try leader in CD and DVD Manufacturing, and
quickly rose through the ranks and became the
first executive in the Los Angeles branch of Disc
Makers, representing all the AVL brands including cdbaby, and Merch.ly. Sydney started his
career as a touring musician, and then opened a
management company where he represents
artists and producers. As a manager, Sydney has
set up many Major Label and Publishing showcases with companies like Universal, Warner
Brothers, Sony, etc. He has been responsible for
getting multiple record label and publishing
deals. As a direct result of his efforts, he was
responsible for developing 16-year-old Major
Myjah, and getting him signed to a lucrative
recording contract with Warner Brothers
records in 2014. One of the producers he works
with, Frederik Thaae, produced a song that won
the Eurovision award for "best song" which propelled Frederik and Emily Deforester's song,
Only Tear Drops to Number One in 11 countries.
Mark Steiner is the CEO and co-founder of
GigSalad, the most diverse booking platform
nationwide. His career in the entertainment
industry has spanned more than 30 years,
Continued on page 58
57

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