As part of the launch of ROSTR Insider we're starting to feature companies that we like who are making a difference across the music industry (in addition to featuring dope labels, agencies, publishers and management companies).

This week is a Q&A with Nick Maiale, founder of the jump.global summit. The summit takes a different approach to the traditional music industry conference that focuses more on people and professionals than on the companies they work with.

What makes the jump.global annual summit different?

Our summit is different because it doesn’t focus on industry hot-button issues or topics that are solely geared towards bringing in more revenue for companies, artists, and the business-at-large. You won’t find any talk about AI, streaming, or distribution here. Instead, we’re creating a safe space for music executives and growing professionals to talk about leadership, effective communication, mental health, personal identity, financial literacy, and more. The music industry will finally have a summit focused on the people who work within it every day – where they can go to feel seen, heard, and respected. Several of our speakers are accredited coaches who will be leading workshops and everyone is attending without a company or title listed on their badge. I’m ready to change how we view conferences and create more personal and professional development opportunities in our industry. 

Where did the idea come from?

We manage music executives, as well as market their “first and last names” we like to say. We pitch to conferences all the time all over the world for speaking opportunities. While learning more about our clients and the experiences they have had in the industry, I started to understand that these people need to engage in more personal and professional development activities. Coupled with the hundreds of random Zooms I did over the pandemic, I realized that the music industry really lacks in talking about anything that doesn’t directly benefit its bottom line. Prior to jump.global, I had 10+ years of producing events for the music industry, and therefore decided to host a summit that incorporates everything we’vee seemed to ignore as an industry made up of human beings. 

Why is this needed in our industry?

This type of event is needed in any industry – but especially in one as creative and aggressive as ours. We hear these conversations in one-off workshops or panels at a business-focused music industry conference, but there hasn’t been a space to fully immerse ourselves in these topics. 

I want to give credit where credit is due though; there are many coaches speaking at our summit who have hosted fantastic events focused on mental health, leadership, etc. I think the reason there hasn't been a multi-day summit focused on these topics is because the concepts are so foreign to many of us who have called this industry “home” for many years. Some of the people we’ve spoken with have said they'd love to attend but they simply don't have time to focus on “another thing” because their job consumes their life. The goal of this summit is to eradicate that mindset and ensure that music business humans take the time to invest in themselves.

What are some of the highlights coming up this year?

It’s our first annual summit so we are truly excited for every panel, workshop, and evening event. To highlight just a few… we just announced Zane Lowe’s featured talk on The Art of Conversation and The Power of Listening and then Dina LaPolt’s keynote with Dr. Drew about emotional sobriety will be can’t-miss conversations. Elite mental performance and executive coach Michelle Sullivan and clinical and organizational psychologist Dr. Marcus Benayon will open the summit with a conversation on building “Resilience in the Music Business” which will help set the tone for our event and help attendees create positive outcomes and maintain healthy mindsets. We also have two coaches flying in from the UK – Remi Harris and Tamara Gal-On who will host a “Leading As Yourself” workshop which will encourage attendees to understand and leverage their leadership styles effectively. Our host venue (The LINE in Koreatown) is such a vibe and a gorgeous backdrop for these important conversations – we even created a community lounge inside the venue’s greenhouse restaurant (which we’ve nicknamed the “first.last Lounge”)

Who should be there?

This event is for the people who get what it means to invest in their future and business of their first and last name. It’s for anyone who wants to grow as a human, both inside and outside of the music business. People who manage teams. People who want to be better leaders. People who want to push culture forward. People who want to build a community and leave a lasting impact on the humans they come in contact with. Teams looking to work better together and understand each other as humans first. These are the types of humans we are looking to host. 

Managers, label staffers, publishers, entrepreneurs, digital service employees, people searching for their next roles, HR teams, and more. If anyone needs financial assistance or has a question, email us summit@jump.global and we will figure out how to get you there. We care about the business of your first and last name.