Shantel Noel is currently an Artist & Label Partnerships Manager at Spotify. Over the past
4 years, she has spearheaded a number of campaigns that have helped to put Canadian
music at the forefront of culture. She acquired a strong following for her work within the
music industry as an Artist Liaison for October’s Very Own (OVO) Fest, an annual festival
created by Grammy-Award winning, platinum-selling recording artist, Drake. Shantel
previously wrote for SaintHeron.com–a Music, Art & Culture platform founded by
Solange Knowles. Her work has also appeared on OkayPlayer/OkayAfrica.
Though music has always been at the centre of her world, she has also worked as a
Publicist alongside notable lifestyle & tech brands such as Nike, ASICS, Converse and
Bumble on local & global campaign initiatives as well as influencer marketing programs.

A fan-first, Brooke’s introduction to the music industry came as a festivalgoer starting at Boots and Hearts 2012. She quickly fell in love with discovering new artists, the heart-warming emotions that come from a community of fans, and the lifestyle cultivated by a five-day camping event. Brooke officially joined the Republic Live team in 2016 after leaving the PR & Events team at Hudson’s Bay to follow her passion for country music and bring her five-year BootsLife experience to the festival.

In 2018, she moved on to developing new brands for the company, including the Big Sky Festival. Brooke also acted as marketing lead for the company’s largest event to date, Canada Rocks with The Rolling Stones. Since 2020, Brooke has expanded her role at Republic Live into talent buying, booking the most prominent names in country music, plus Canada’s rising stars and global superstars like Shania Twain and Nickelback at Boots and Hearts Music Festival.

Melissa Cameron-Passley is an accomplished music industry professional with more than ten years of experience. Presently holding the position of Director of Creative & Operations at Kilometre Music Group, Melissa is responsible for overseeing the development and management of A&R, programming, partnerships, and operations. With a passion for cultivating strong creative and business relationships, Melissa works tirelessly to support both established and emerging writers, producers, and key music influencers.
With a multifaceted background in business, education, performance, and songwriting, Melissa has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by music creators. Throughout her career, Melissa has held various roles within the music industry, including faculty member at the non-profit Regent Park School of Music, tour manager, assistant artist manager, and booking agency assistant at United Talent Agency. In her role as Manager of A&R at SOCAN, Canada's largest Music Rights Organization, Cameron-Passley's dedication to Canadian talent and connecting creatives enabled SOCAN members to refine their craft by providing guidance and resources on their career journey.
Her work has contributed to the success of some of Canada's most significant global achievements, including chart-toppers The Weeknd, Jessie Reyez, Tate McRae, OZ (Drake, Travis Scott, Future), Murda Beatz (Migos, Drake), and Ging f/k/a Frank Dukes (Post Malone, Camilla Cabello).
Melissa’s reputation for developing and nurturing talent has made her a highly sought-after industry leader. In addition to her work at Kilometre Music Group, Melissa is an appointed member of the CCMA Board of Directors and co-chairs the Music Publisher's Canada NXTGen committee.

A 25 year veteran of the music and broadcasting industry, Dayna Bourgoin is the National Music Director for Canada’s biggest chain of country radio stations, Pure Country Radio, where she oversees music programming and national content development for the brand. Dayna got her start in country radio in 1999, and fell in love with the format and the artists. In 2003, she became the Music Director at CMT Canada, where she helped break many artists including Dean Brody, High Valley, and The Road Hammers. She launched her own promotion and publicity company in 2009 to fill a need for independent country artists to gain traction and build a following. At 604 Records, she helped Dallas Smith launch his country music career. Radio lured her back in 2014 to help with a format flip from Classic Hits to Country. She then was part of the team that rebranded 16 stations across Canada to Pure Country, Canada’s first-ever national country music radio brand.

Chelsey Block is the Managing Partner at Homestead Music, a role she has held since 2019. In this position, she has been instrumental in helping manage and promote the careers of Sam Hunt, Dustin Lynch, and Madeline Merlo. Prior to this, she spent seven years at BBR Music Group as the Director of Marketing and Syndication, where she honed her skills in music marketing and artist development working with artists such as Jason Aldean, Parmalee, Randy Houser, Lainey Wilson, Chase Rice, and more. A graduate of Belmont University’s Music Business Program, and hailing from a farming family in small town North Dakota, she brings a grounded, hardworking ethos to her work in Nashville’s music industry.

Award-nominated breakout rapper/songwriter Dax recently released with his most important track to date, “To Be a Man.” This follows up his one-million-selling singles “Dear Alcohol” & “Depression”; his catalogue boasting nearly one billion career streams. Dax is highly engaged in social media with followers in the millions, often going viral, and known for his incredible videos that play like mini-movies. Dax, a Canadian-born Nigerian wordsmith with a cult following years in the making, is a brutally honest and gifted artist; he has spent his career making music that tackles issues that most artists wouldn’t ever approach, and being the voice that millions never thought they’d have. 2022 proved to be a breakout year with his release “Dear Alcohol,” which struck a chord with a brand-new audience by blurring genres between country and rap. The track garnered Dax a remix with Elle King, a JUNO award nomination for ‘Breakout Artist of the Year’ in his native Canada, his first TV performance at the Canada Country Music Awards, and a 2023 CCMA Award for Top Selling Canadian Single of the Year for “Dear Alcohol.”

Madelaine Napoleone is a collaborative and respected marketing leader who brings 20 years of major label experience to the CCMA board. Beginning her career as an intern at Universal Music Canada, Napoleone rose through UMC’s ranks as a marketing manager on her way to becoming the Senior Director of Marketing where she developed effective and creative Canadian marketing plans for some of the world’s biggest artists across all genres.

Now at Warner Music Canada as the Vice-President of Marketing, her strong strategic vision and innovative approach to the music business enable her to build new audiences for Canadian artists, both at home and around the world. Napoleone is responsible for overseeing several departments at Warner Music Canada including marketing, creative, communications, international marketing and radio. In her current position Napoleone is focused on working collaboratively with her team to elevate and amplify artists, highlight areas of new and incremental revenue, and develop long-term strategic goals. She has already seen success in these efforts with outsized Canadian results for breakout Country stars Zach Bryan, Dasha and Bailey Zimmerman, the later of which Warner Music Canada presented with their first ever Gold sales awards.

Adam Oppenheim is the President of Stampede Entertainment, a Calgary based concert promoter and talent buyer. He proudly procures talent for iconic Canadian events, venues and institutions, including the Calgary Stampede, National Music Centre, Grey Cup Festival, and Calgary Flames, and has promoted concerts including Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks, Katy Perry, KISS, Shania Twain, Bon Jovi, Keith Urban, George Strait and Stevie Wonder. To encourage the growth and development of the Provincial music industry, Adam previously served as the Vice-Chairman of the Alberta Music Industry Association Board of Directors.
Adam holds both a Juris Doctor from the University of Calgary Faculty of Law and a Master of Business Administration from the Haskayne School of Business. He is a co-founder of annual fundraising event the Great Bar Band Battle, supporting access to justice organizations that provide free legal counsel to low income Calgary residents. Since the inaugural event in 2016, the Great Bar Band Battle has raised in excess of $150,000.00 for Student Legal Assistance, Calgary Legal Guidance, and Pro Bono Law Alberta.

Baylen Leonard broadcasts six days a week on Absolute Radio Country, the UK's most listened to country music station, including his long running Americana and Roots focused show The Front Porch. He also fronts the popular Country Music Talk podcast interviewing the biggest names in country music. Baylen is a two time CMA International Broadcaster of the Year award winner and has become known for giving a diverse range of artists their first ever UK radio play. Away from the mic he is Creative Director of The Long Road Festival and Head of Music for Holler. A proud native Tennessean, he's lived in the UK for over 20 years.

Karen Schillinger is a Music Agent at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Schillinger is based in the Nashville office and represents many of the world’s leading musicians, including Jade Eagleson, Owen Riegling, and Mackenzie Porter, among others.
Schillinger joined CAA in 2017 and graduated from Cornell University, with a degree in Public Policy and Analysis.
In addition to her work on the live side of the industry, she also serves on the Troubadour Advisory Council for the Country Music Hall of Fame and is the CAA Chair for Little Night of Music, in partnership with PENCIL.

Justin Thomson is the National Content Director and leading presenter for Australias largest country music radio network, KIX Country. He also programs iHeartCountry Australia.
KIX Country operates 50 radio stations around Australia. iHeartCountry Australia operates in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Adelaide on DAB+.
Justins media career spans 23 years covering radio, television and online. In 2001 at the age of 17 he began as a television presenter for GWN7 in Western Australia, a popular Saturday program he presented for 8 years. While still hosting television, Justin began his radio journey in 2003 seeing him cover multiple genres and formats over the last 2 decades. In 2014 Justin noticed a gap in the promo of contemporary country music in Western Australia and created a two hour weekly country music radio program which was eventually syndicated around Australia.
In 2016 Justin Thomson started at KIX Country as the National Content Director and began his quest to turn the network around to be the most popular country music media brand in Australia, in which it is now known. He has been programming iHeartCountry Australia since April 2024.
In the last 12 months Justin has executed KIX broadcasts around the world including CMA Fest Nashville 2023, C2C London 2024, and CMA Fest Nashville 2024.

Natalie Waller is the Head of ABC Music at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.(ABC), one of Australia’s largest and longest-running independent music labels and has the biggest domestic signings in the country music genre. In 2023, Natalie celebrated 25 years working at ABC Music including more than 10 years at the helm of the label. ABC Music operates under the commercial arm of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, so Natalie’s role helps invest profits back into funding ABC content. Natalie’s contribution to the growth of ABC Music has seen her progress from Business Affairs up to the role of General Manager before she was named as Head of ABC Music.

Working closely with some of Australia’s biggest artists, Natalie has steered the ABC Music label to unprecedented success. She has successfully led the ABC Music team through a variety of local music signings. The country ABC Music family includes the likes of Lee Kernaghan, Adam Brand, Travis Collins, Melanie Dyer, Max Jackson, Andrew Swift, Caitlyn Shadbolt, The Wolfe Brothers and Amber Lawrence, along with many more.
Natalie was presented with the Jo Walker Meador International CMA Award in 2024. This international award recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual in advocating and supporting country music’s marketing development in territories outside of the USA.
Natalie’s leadership and ability to balance the ABC ethos with the commercial needs of the artists, saw ABC Music artists nominated for 12 ARIA Awards in 2023. It followed ABC Music being awarded the coveted Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) Record Label of the Year in 2020. ABC Music won 4 Golden Guitar awards at the CMAA awards in 2024.

Natalie’s contribution to ABC Music has helped the label win 137 ARIA Awards since 1974 and achieve multiple ARIA Chart #1 albums and many Golden Guitar Awards. In 2021, Natalie was unanimously elected as the Chair of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and is a Director on the Country Music Association board (CMA) in the United States. Natalie previously served for four years as the Vice President of the Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA). Natalie’s commitment to supporting women in the music industry has led to her volunteer role as a mentor in the AIR Women in Music program. On a personal note, Natalie’s Sydney based role as mum to her fur babies Archie and Gypsy and her lifelong love of dogs fuels her ongoing commitment to support the RSPCA.

A 25 year veteran of the music and broadcasting industry, Dayna Bourgoin is the National Music Director for Canada’s biggest chain of country radio stations, Pure Country Radio, where she oversees music programming and national content development for the brand. Dayna got her start in country radio in 1999, and fell in love with the format and the artists. In 2003, she became the Music Director at CMT Canada, where she helped break many artists including Dean Brody, High Valley, and The Road Hammers. She launched her own promotion and publicity company in 2009 to fill a need for independent country artists to gain traction and build a following. At 604 Records, she helped Dallas Smith launch his country music career. Radio lured her back in 2014 to help with a format flip from Classic Hits to Country. She then was part of the team that rebranded 16 stations across Canada to Pure Country, Canada’s first-ever national country music radio brand.

Kurt Johnson is the Senior Vice President of Content and Programming at Townsquare Media, a leading media, entertainment, and digital marketing solutions company. Townsquare operates 357 radio stations across 74 markets, complemented by local news and entertainment apps and websites, and over 500 company-produced music festivals and live events annually.

Before joining Townsquare in 2011, Kurt spent over 30 years managing top-ranked radio stations in major cities such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Dallas. He programmed legendary stations like WLTW and WAXQ in New York, KVIL in Dallas, and WFYR in Chicago, building and reshaping brands for renowned media companies like RKO General, Viacom, CBS, iHeart, and AM/FM Radio. A career highlight includes launching the United States’ first Jack FM in Dallas in 2004, which soon became a nationwide phenomenon.

Kurt is a long-standing leader in the country music industry, serving as chairman of Country Music Association and sitting on the board for over 13 years. He is in his eighth year as president of Country Radio Broadcasters, which produces the Country Radio Seminar (CRS) in Nashville. He serves on the boards of National Radio Hall of Fame and actively contributes to the National Association of Broadcasters.

In 2021, Kurt co-chaired and co-founded the inaugural All For The Hall Dallas concert, raising more than $630,000 for the Country Radio Hall of Fame and Museum. This marked the most successful event hosted by the museum outside of Nashville.

Additionally, Kurt co-founded one of Dallas’s premiere charity events, A Special Evening. Over the past two decades, this event has raised millions, providing critical funding and meaningful work for adults with disabilities across North Texas. The event has featured unforgettable performances by icons such as Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, k.d. lang, Willie Nelson, Dionne Warwick, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Jones, and Amy Grant.

Kurt earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, where he studied Civil Engineering and Communications. He resides in Dallas with his wife, Terri.

Tim Roberts, Vice President/Brand Manager and Audacy Country Format Captain has over 4 decades of on-air and radio programming background across the U.S. He currently oversees 22 Audacy Country stations and Audacy Country Network as well as Audacy Exclusive Channels, while also actively programming WYCD-FM, WOMC-FM in Detroit and working with WDZH-FM as Ops Mgr.

In 2005, Roberts joined the Detroit Audacy Cluster as Operations Manager/Program Director at WYCD (Country) also adding Operations & Programming duties at WOMC (Classic Hits) and WDZH (Alternative). Tim also helps oversees some of the Motor City’s largest broadcast events including the legendary WYCD Hoedown, and the World’s Largest Classic Car Event, The Woodward Dream Cruise.

In 2016 Mr. Roberts was elected to the National Country Radio Hall of Fame. In addition to the ACM Board of Directors, Tim also serves on CMA Board of Directors , the St. Jude Advisory Board, Country Radio Broadcasters, Central Michigan and Friends of Cabrini Board of Directors. Tim was voted Radio Ink’s #1 Country Programmer in 2023 and named to Radio Ink’s Best PD’s in America list (all formats) again this year (2023). He was named to Aircheck’s Power Player list for the last 16 years. WYCD was voted the Large Market (All Formats) Station of the Year in ’23. Mr. Roberts is a multi CMA, ACM and Marconi winner.

He currently resides between Farmington Hills, MI and Nashville, TN with his wife Lori, (also a CMU Broadcaster), and has 3 children Justin, Aaron and Kelcie.