Indie Spotlight: CrossBorderWorks at the intersection of Music & Tech
Cross Border Works strives to assist tech companies looking for guidance through the complexities of the music industry, from licensing to marketing and more.
via A2IM
Founder Vickie Nauman launched CrossBorderWorks in 2014 and manages a portfolio of forward-thinking music and technology companies. Nauman works with both the music and tech business to bring music initiatives to market, license music, act as project or company advisor, and guide strategy. Core interests are innovative uses of music in gaming and immersive technology, emerging tech, and creating new business models.
What services does CrossBorderWorks provide?
CrossBorderWorks helps music companies navigate the technology industry and helps tech companies understand the music business. Founder Vickie Nauman works with clients to help them bring music products to market, strategize on music rights and required catalog, creates new business models and licensing frameworks, and closes deals. Nauman can also work with clients strategically to develop a greater understanding of a particular vertical, or in M&A on buy or sell side to help close knowledge gaps. The market is evolving beyond streaming into experiential music and this requires new approaches and license models, which is a core part of CrossBorderWorks activity.
- Music Rights & Licensing: New technologies and products require viable models, a licensing framework married to functionality, and deal execution. CrossBorderWorks starts with your vision and goals, and develops the following:
- Artist-Centric Models – Artists, labels, platforms want to make a specific artist catalog available digitally, which requires master, publishing and name/likeness
- Music in Games/Video Models – One-off sync or bulk sync
- Full Catalog Models – Blanket, broad catalog deals
- Relationships – Building bridges between music and tech
- International Expansion – Expanding US rights abroad, or entering the US
What companies does CrossBorderWorks work with?
Client portfolio is constantly evolving and Nauman works with all music-adjacent industries who need help navigating the music industry, music companies seeking to engage deeper with tech, as well as early stage startups. Several startups have successfully exited with CrossBorderWorks-led custom music models, deals, and music integrations.
About Vickie Nauman
Vickie Nauman is a globally sought-after expert in music rights, licensing, and technology who is helping to lay the groundwork for a new era. Nauman is a valued connector and thought leader who has helped build a powerful bridge in music tech but specifically between music and gaming. Her licensing business in gaming includes Meta/Beat Saber, Ubisoft, Niantic, and many projects in Roblox. Her experience in the music business spans the earliest days of disruption in 2000 at MusicNet (RealNetworks) to KEXP Seattle, global platform 7digital, and connected device pioneer Sonos.
She has worked with some of the largest gaming companies and platforms, as well as emerging decentralized and metaverse companies. Nauman acts as strategic advisor on new music initiatives for large organizations, does M&A work providing insights and closing blind spots, helps expand a product or service strategically, and serves as startup advisor to guide long term success. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and a contributor to Billboard, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally and more respected publications on trends in the business.
Keep up with Cross Border Works!
About A2IM: A2IM is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization headquartered in New York City that exists to support and strengthen the independent recorded music sector. Membership currently includes a broad coalition of more than 700 Independently-owned American music labels. A2IM represents these independently owned small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. In doing so, it supports a key segment of America’s creative class that represents America’s diverse musical cultural heritage. Billboard Magazine identified the Independent music label sector as 37.32 percent of the music industry’s U.S. recorded music sales market in 2016 based on copyright ownership, making Independent labels collectively the largest music industry sector.
