Midem Adds Marsha Vlasic , Rebecca León Keynotes

Midem has added keynotes with Rebeca León, themanager of  Juanes, Rosalía, J. Balvin and Marsha Vlasic, agent to Neil Young, Elvis Costello, PJ Harvey for its 53rd conference, June 4-7 in Cannes.

León, CEO and Co-Founder of Lionfish Entertainment and Vlasic, President of Artists Group International, will join a list of powerhouse women speaking at this year’s event.

“We are so honored to welcome both Rebeca and Marsha, two leading executives shaking up the way business is done and pushing boundaries for the artists and talent they work with,” Conference Director Alexandre Deniot said. “They both represent the fundamental evolutions of today’s music industry: Rebeca by bringing Latin music across new frontiers and creating original content for Latin fans, and Marsha as a veteran of the industry, an essential visionary and key player in the live business.”

Rebeca León
In an interview with respected Latin expert Leila Cobo, Executive Director, Latin Content & Programming, Billboard (USA), Rebeca León’s keynote will focus on female empowerment in the music industry. One of today’s most influential managers, representing Latin superstars J. Balvin, Juanes and Latin music’s fastest-rising star, Rosalía, Rebeca is a tireless advocate for women in the music business, always striving to create opportunities for young women. She will offer an invaluable insight into being a female executive in today’s music ecosystem, saying “I’m so honored to have been chosen by Midem to speak at their incredible conference and to be able to use this as a platform to talk about female empowerment. I want girls to know how to talk about money, power and how to get a seat at the table.”

Still one of the few female managers in the business, especially in the Latin industry, Rebeca is considered as a true force and visionary and has been key to breaking Latin music with its diverse cultures into the global mainstream. In her own words, 

“Through music, the world is now taking notice of the importance of the market; Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world with 400 million native speakers! This is the time to make more content in Spanish! Music is the most unifying element amongst Spanish speakers so it makes sense to draw a lot of content from artists.”

Rebeca sits on The Recording Academy’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, consistently lands on Billboard’s Women In Music list, and is a board member for She Is The Music.

Marsha Vlasic
A veteran agent of more than 30 years, Marsha is one of the most powerful and respected of her trade in the business. One of the first women to smash the glass ceiling of music’s boys’ club, she has carved out a long-lasting and outstanding career, which started at a time when few women were breaking into the male-dominated business and were hardly acknowledged, let alone celebrated in the ways they are today. As part of the Midem Live Summit, built in association with Pollstar, Marsha will offer an inspiring and eye-opening voice of huge experience to Midem delegates.

Representing heavyweights such as Neil Young, Elvis Costello, The Strokes, Cyndi Lauper, Moby, Band of Horses, Iggy Pop, Regina Spektor, Norah Jones, PJ Harvey, Devendra Banhart and The Breeders, Marsha will share her views on the evolution of the music landscape as a leader of the live industry. She is looking forward to taking to the Midem stage, explaining, 

“For 53 years Midem has played a crucial role by creating a space where the global music community comes together from around the world. Building artists’ careers as well as legacies are key to me. I had a miracle career, that was never planned. In the 70s being a female in the music business was a real challenge; being married, having children and being able to juggle it all certainly wasn’t easy, but I was a fighter! I also had the chance to work from day one alongside incredible artists, and I have always looked for the long term. I am honored and very excited to have been asked to take part in this year’s Midem, it will give me the opportunity to share my experience to future generations of women in the music industry as well as go back on the wonderful artistic journey this was and still is!”