This month’s Front of House is Mike Skelton. Learn about his 10-plus years of experience at CMRRA, his day-to-day responsibilities and his favourite memories from summer festivals such as Heavy T.O. and OVO Fest.
You work as our Major Label Liaison, can you elaborate on what this means and what your responsibilities include?
My day-to-day responsibilities include responding to label inquiries and communicating with them on any licence requests or recording agreements needed for our team to complete the licensing for their releases. Part of the role, which I’ve really enjoyed, has been troubleshooting and problem-solving. This includes becoming more familiar with the IT side of things to understand the automation that drives our electronic exchange of licence data and help to implement improvements. Over the last few years, I’ve worked closely with each of the major labels to increase our licensing throughput and troubleshoot any issues that may arise. My goal is to ensure we are always licensing products correctly and continuing to optimize the amount of royalties we collect and distribute to our clients. This has been a very rewarding part of my role.
What inspired you to pursue a career in the music industry?
After high school, I was playing in a band and decided I should go to college just in case the band didn’t work out (it did not). I had a friend who was taking Music Business Management at Durham College and that sounded interesting. I took that program and shortly after graduating, I joined CMRRA.
You have been at CMRRA for over 10 years, can you share how your long-term experience with the organization has shaped your understanding of the music industry and helped with aspects of your current role?
My previous position with CMRRA was Licensing Trust Administrator. Working in that role for a number of years led to a detailed knowledge of licensing and royalty distribution. Those years proved crucial when stepping into the position of Major Label Liaison. Certain licensing issues, I was already familiar with, and I could now work directly with the labels to resolve these issues and help make our processes smooth for all parties. We have monthly meetings with the labels and a few of the label contacts are CMRRA alumni. Working at CMRRA for over ten years helped in that I already knew most of the key people I am liaising with. On a broader level, my experience has led to a better understanding of how the various organizations in the music industry interact with one another.
What is your favourite memory or experience from attending a summer festival or concert?
I went to Heavy T.O. in 2012 which had a great lineup of metal bands. I’m glad I went because there hasn’t been a Heavy T.O. since (not my fault). I also worked at the Molson Amphitheater (now Budweiser Stage) for several summers. Although interrupted at times by having to do my job, I was able to watch dozens of concerts while getting paid. A few standouts include finally getting to see Rush, getting to the front after my shift for some of my favourite bands, and the surprise guests at Drake’s OVO Fest such as Snoop Dogg, Nas, Stevie Wonder, Lil Wayne, The Weeknd, 50 Cent, and many others.
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