Several key players in the San Francisco music scene and from SF State’s Music/Recording Industry school will host a panel Friday, April 27 at Jack Adams Hall in Cesar Chavez Student Center from 1 to 4 p.m. These insiders will share their perspective on running a record label, booking artists, owning and managing a venue and promoting events.

Each person will present for about five minutes, followed by a 45-minute Q&A segment and a mixer to interact and network with the industry professionals.

“It’s all about promoting the legitimacy of the music industry in general and to raise awareness about it from a real world perspective,” said Elliot Lozano, the volunteer project consultant for Associated Students, Inc.

Kerry Fiero, events and marketing instructor at MRI, will moderate the panel.

Panel Members

Gian Fiero, a career planning and development specialist at MRI, will introduce the panel. He is responsible for discovering and developing Rozzi Crane, who appears on “The Hunger Games” soundtrack; Kehlani Parrish, lead vocalist of “America’s Got Talent” finalists Poplyfe; and representing Grammy-nominated music producer Cori Jacobs, who has worked with Beyoncé and Lauryn Hill among many others. Fiero has also been teaching the career planning course for 10 years.

Noah Cunningham spins music under the name DJ Dials and is also a concert promoter. For the last 14 years he’s been mixing songs from genres such as dubstep, ‘90s rap and throwback electronic, and has played alongside well-known artists Thom Yorke, The Roots, SBTRKT and several others. Cunningham will be speaking on his experiences in booking and producing parties in San Francisco.

Jon Bendich teaches The Independent Record Label and History of the Popular Music Industry classes at MRI. He is the director of A&R for Positivity Records and is also a producer, musician and songwriter.

Jeffrey Paradise, a local DJ, created the Frisco Disco, the first multi-genre dance party in San Francisco. He went on to organize two well-known dance parties, Blow Up and Club 1994, in the city, where artists Chromeo, Interpol and Steve Aoki, among others, have performed. Blow Up won a national competition for “Party of the Year” in 2010.

Andrew Kelsey is the director of Liaison Artists Agency, a San Francisco-based international booking agency for electronic music. He will be discussing his experiences as a booking agent, how artists are represented at a booking agency and the ways in which this branch of the music industry has changed throughout the years.

Jacobo Juarez is the owner of SOM music venue and bar in the Mission District. He will address the ins and outs of owning and running a venue.

Michael Aczon teaches Music Publishing and Music Artist Management at MRI. He has practiced entertainment law in the bay area since 1983 and his experiences will be the focal point of his presentation.