Speakers

Jenn Barker is a Vancouver-based artist and business manager whose career spans two decades across independent labels, touring, festivals, and education. Throughout, she has remained committed to creating supportive spaces where artists can thrive on their own terms.

Barker founded Fairground Management in 2019 to empower artists to build careers without the large teams the industry once required. Built on collaboration over competition, Fairground is deliberately transparent, giving artists the knowledge to make informed decisions, expand revenue streams, and understand their ecosystem.

Barker works with internationally recognized artists including Destroyer and Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown), alongside emerging artists Hillsboro and their label, play dead. Through Fairground, Barker integrates artist management and label services with business development, financial strategy, touring operations, international compliance, and distribution through FUGA. In 2025, she expanded that infrastructure with Playground PR, bringing traditional press and radio together with digital strategy.

Her career path ran through Vancouver's non-profit festival circuit and into independent labels, including a run at Mint Records, where she oversaw releases by the New Pornographers and Neko Case. She also spent nearly a decade teaching music business and developing curriculum. In an industry that increasingly measures artistry in metrics, Fairground pushes for a return to real artist development: helping musicians build the local networks that sustain them, choose longevity over virality, and define their own versions of success.