Second Round of Speakers at BreakOut West 2024

BreakOut West is your portal from the west to the rest of the world. BreakOut West 2024 takes place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for the first time ever! This year's event will feature four days of informative and engaging music industry conference content including international market deep dives, one-on-one meetings with music industry professionals, artist mentorship and feature conversations, networking events, and more. 

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BreakOut West is about building bridges and navigating rivers. Developing functional industry infrastructure that supports a diversity of projects, that diverge into different lanes of artistic expression, and different points of origin. The speakers at BreakOut West mirror the breadth and depth of the community it represents. Here are four folks you will hear from at the conference this fall.

Meet the international speakers at BreakOut West 2024

Lilia Margareta Ohls - Tapete Records / Howdy Partner Booking

Lilia is a qualified event manager and has been working in the music industry for almost 15 years. After several years of gaining work experience in various (music) cultural places, such as a record store, concert and pr agencies, live music venues, a venue collective and a music university she is currently working for the renowned Hamburg independent labels Tapete Records & Bureau B where she mainly operates as an agent for the booking department Howdy Partner Booking. She loves to participate in all kinds of cultural events, travel the world and at best to combine both. If time permits, she djs at small clubs and bars.

Jesse Stensby - Vitriol Radio Promotion

For more than 20 years, together with his cohort Jerry Steller, Jesse Stensby has built up Vitriol Radio Promotion as one of the most prominent radio promo companies in North America. Vitriol is a leader in developing bands at college, non-commercial, and commercial specialty radio stations across the US and Canada, introducing artists to the most passionate music fans you'll find.

They've been proud to work alongside legends like Nick Cave and Brian Wilson, and alternative stalwarts like The Sadies, Metric, Tegan and Sara, Grimes, Purity Ring and more in just in the past few years. Their efforts have earned #1 records for artists like Helena Deland, The Sadies, Hot Chip, Metric, Rostam, TR/ST, just to name a few.

Jesse has been a featured panelist and speaker at many colleges and conferences throughout North America including CMJ Music Marathon, Midwest Music Exchange, and more. He's also recorded and self-released multiple albums with his band and even dabbled in tour management throughout the years.

Duane Levi - Shalestone Music

He established Shalestone Music in 1993 as a road case production and PA & mobile recording company in North Carolina. Having worked at festivals and live venues for many independent artists as well as major artists like Hugh Masekela, Black Uhuru, Helmet, Buddy Guy and Angelique Kidjo among others, he was able to develop his sound engineering skills to become one of the top level engineers in the area.
After relocating to Japan in 2001, tour management became a main focus and from 2006 to the present, Shalestone Music has booked and managed hundreds of tours for musicians around the world. Additionally, in 2009 he established the annual global music event Kansai Music Conference, worked as the booking manager & sound engineer at Hard Rock Café Osaka from 2013 – 2020, and currently has a contract with Aloft Osaka Dojima Hotel to book live entertainment on weekends.

Lisa Whynot - Edwards Creative Law

Lisa Whynot is a Toronto-based lawyer with a focus on entertainment issues with deep experience in the United States and Canada. Ms. Whynot advises clients including artists, record and publishing companies, film and television talent and companies, singers, songwriters, managers, and producers on entertainment issues. She also consults with clients in relation to recording, publishing, touring and other agreements and has negotiated master use and music publishing licenses for use of music in TV, film, and physical products.

Ms. Whynot has represented both talent and corporate clients in the negotiation of music, entertainment, and digital media agreements, with a focus on publishing agreements, agreements with record labels, music licensing, management agreements, and the acquisition of music catalogs for digital media companies. In addition, Ms. Whynot advises on other entertainment-related issues including name and likeness, copyright, generative AI and endorsement agreements.