MW:M 2025
Speakers

Confirmed Speakers MW:M24

Here we announce the confirmed speakers of Most Wanted: Music 2024. This list will be successively updated until the event, so check back from time to time.

Meet our talking heads

We are pleased to present you a number of this year’s speakers and discussion partners from a huge variety of business sectors.

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Our confirmed speakers

Janet Merkel

Technische Universität Berlin

Job Title: Senior Researcher

Name: Janet Merkel

Company: Technische Universität Berlin

Biography: Dr. Janet Merkel is a social scientist and urban sociologist. She works as a research assistant at the Institute for Urban and Regional Planning at TU Berlin in the Department of Urban and Regional Economics. Her research interests are in social and spatial organisation and the production conditions of cultural and creative industries; cultural-creative work and freelance employment; cultural policy in cities; as well as questions of urban governance and urban policy. She has worked at the Social Science Research Center Berlin, the Hertie School of Governance, as an assistant professor for cultural and creative industries at the City University of London,and held the professorship for the economics of urban and regional development at the University of Kassel.

Jessy James LaFleur

ANGEPRANGERT! Spoken Word

Job Title: Spoken Word Artist & Founder of ANGEPRANGERT!

Name: Jessy James LaFleur

Company: ANGEPRANGERT! Spoken Word

Biography: Jessy James LaFleur is a nomad with conviction; a spoken word artist, a rapper, an activist, a workshop host, and an entrepreneur – who has taken a million and one paths around the world over the last 20 years. Raised in east Belgium, she has brought her poetry to the stage in more than 30 countries, and in three different languages. She is the founder of the aspiriational initiative “ANGEPRANGERT! SPOKEN WORD”, that teaches young poets from rural areas and ethnic minorities how to use their voice on stage.

Laura Magnano

KLEF

Job Title: Co-Founder

Name: Laura Magnano

Company: KLEF

Biography: Laura is the co-founder of KLEF, a culture-led fan engagement platform for artists & creators. Known as a web3 pragmatist, Laura brings a level-headed view to utilising blockchain technology for the greater good, with a focus on democratisation and accessibility. Her approach is informed by her career across tech, marketing and her deep dive in web3 in 2016; from running marketing agencies, consulting brands on new internet cultures to co-founding the first kyc/aml blockchain protocol in 2018.

Noura Labbani

Dice

Job Title: Director Venue & Promoter Partnerships, Germany

Name: Noura Labbani

Company: Dice

Biography: Berlin-born, Algerian-raised Noura Labbani has been working in the music scene for over 15 years. She started at !K7 Records in Berlin, held an A&R Assistant job at EMI Music and worked at Dailymotion as the Country Manager for Germany, Beatport’s Director of Content Europe and at Patreon as Creator Partnerships Manager for France. In June 2022 she joined DICE as Director of Venue & Promoter Partnerships Germany.

Emiko Gejic

Berlinsidestories

Job Title: Founder/Artist/Speaker/Manager

Name: Emiko Gejic

Company: Berlinsidestories

Biography: Emiko is a Berlin-born artist, creative, founder, guide, speaker and event manager with a background in urban studies and urban research. With her company Berlinsidestories, she hosts self-organized tour events about urban development, club culture, subculture, creative industries, urban change and activism. She also works as a dancer and actress in the Berlin art scene. She is part of the Factory Berlin community as a Creative Relations Manager, where she connects creatives with tech companies.

Florian Weghorn

Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin

Job Title: Programme Manager Berlinale Talents

Name: Florian Weghorn

Company: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin

Biography: Florian Weghorn is the Programme Manager of Berlinale Talents, the talent development initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival; with seven global offshoots, ranging from Beirut to Tokyo. Florian joined the Berlinale team in 2002. From 2008 to 2014, he was the co-director and curator of the Generation section with around 60 short and feature films annually. Between 2012 and 2019, Florian was also a member of the Berlinale Competition selection committee.

A couple more of our past Speakers

While we have not been able to announce any new speakers yet, you are welcome to take a look at who has already taken part in recent years. As soon as we have the first confirmed speakers for 2024, we will list them on this page and inform everyone who has signed up for our newsletter.

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Our confirmed speakers

Johanna Behre

Argon Film

Job Title: Director & Producer

Name: Johanna Behre

Company: Argon Film

Biography: Johanna Behre is a Berlin based filmmaker. She has produced documentaries as well as movies (“The Diary of Anne Frank” (Universal), “My Daughter Anne Frank” (ARD) or “Last Exit Gera” (ZDF). “San Remo“ is her debut as an independant director and writer. The film has been screened at several film festivals.

Michela Magas

MTF Labs | Director

Job Title: Director

Name: Michela Magas

Company: MTF Labs

Biography: Michela Magas is innovation advisor to the European Commission and the G7 leaders, Member of President von der Leyen’s High Level Round Table for the New European Bauhaus, and the creator of the Industry Commons. In 2017 she was awarded European Woman Innovator of the Year and in 2016 she was presented with an Innovation Luminary Award for Creative Innovation. She is the founder and CEO of MTF Labs, a global community platform of around 8000 creative innovators and scientific researchers.

Ronny Krieger

Patreon | General Manager Patreon Europe

Job Title: General Manager Patreon Europe

Name: Ronny Krieger

Company: Patreon

Biography: Ronny’s passion and curiosity for art and creativity has always been the driving force in his life – first as an artist, and later as part of the music and tech industry. In the past 25 years, Ronny has worked with EFA distribution, Beatport, Modeselektor/Moderat, Shutterstock, LANDR, Native Instruments and others. He is now acting as General Manager Europe for Patreon in Berlin. Ronny is a board member of vut and part of the “Digitalisation and AI” committee at the German Cultural Council.

Vikram Gudi

Music Producer

Job Title: Founder

Name: Vikram Gudi

Company: Elephant Music

Biography:

Vikram Gudi is a music business executive with a 16-year career, who combines industry expertise with social purpose.

He founded Elephant Music in 2012 and has since established it as a global entity, with an extensive library of music for movie and TV trailers and a roster of 50 composers it represents worldwide. Music produced by Vikram has won Elephant Music 15 Clio Entertainment Awards, 6 Golden Trailer Awards, 6 music and sound awards and 4 PMA awards. Its work features in major productions, including Monkey Man, Baby Reindeer, and House Of The Dragon. He is also co-founder of Split Music Publishing, an experimental commercial music publisher and sync expert, representing composers/artists past and present including Sote, Sega Bodega, TSVI and Tommy Four Seven, and winning a prestigious Clio Grand Award for Everything Everywhere All At Once.

A thought leader in various fields, Vikram has spoken at The Great Escape, Reeperbahn, MIDEM, BIME, Liverpool Sound City and Canadian Music Week.

In early 2024, Vikram founded LILA, a groundbreaking initiative committed to empowering South Asian music industry talent, and as an advisor at the Center for Music Ecosystems, Vikram leverages his expertise to help shape a more inclusive global music ecosystem.

Vikram is the co-founder of record label Subtle Energy and a sound design producer at Mammoth Audio. An ardent beer enthusiast, he founded the brewery Mammoth Beer and a bar venue Mammoth Taproom.

In the film industry, Vikram is also an award-winning executive producer and his latest documentary Mother Vera was presented at the London Film Festival 2024, where it won the Grierson Award for Best Documentary.

Mirna Čupić

Concert Promoter, Producer & Head of hospitality I KSET / ZEZ festival / SHIP festival

Job Title: Concert Promoter / Producer / Head of hospitality

Name: Mirna Čupić

Company: KSET / ZEZ festival / SHIP festival

Biography:

Mirna Čupić cut her teeth stagehanding and volunteering in KSET venue and on multiple film and music festivals in Croatia. She has been running KSET’s booking team from 2021 – 2024; managing events, writing projects and organising concerts and various programs.

As her experience grew, she started working professionally for festivals: leading hospitality sectors for SHIP and Motovun Film Festival and stage managing for Tam Tam festival. In 2022 she participated in MOST Management Training Pillar which introduced her to the international music industry. Freshly graduated with a master’s degree in psychology from Zagreb’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, she is also active as a guitarist and vocalist in two Zagreb based bands: Kaleido and Panakota.