ARIA Chair
Natalie Waller is the Head of ABC Music & Events, within the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and has held this role since 2012.
Natalie joined the ABC in 1998 in the ABC Music business team and held various roles including Business Manager. She has worked across many genres within ABC Music mainly specialising in Australian music and championing niche genres. She also works with well-known ABC music brands.
Natalie currently holds the position as Vice Chair on the Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA) board and is part of the Country Music Association (CMA) Australian Task Force.
ARIA Board Member
Libby Blakey is the SVP, Legal and Business Affairs for Warner Music Australia. She first joined Warner Music in 2005, after holding the role of Business Affairs Director at Festival Mushroom Music.
ARIA Chief Executive Officer
Annabelle joins ARIA and PPCA following a 16-year career at Network 10 where she most recently held the role of Chief Operating Officer. At Network 10, Annabelle was responsible for leading the network’s broadcast operations; group strategy; corporate and internal communications; interstate markets; policy, regulatory, compliance and government affairs; and lobbying and stakeholder relations.
Prior to Network 10, she spent several years working at senior levels in Canberra with Government, which culminated in four years as Senior Advisor (Broadcasting and Copyright) and Acting Chief of Staff for then Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator the Hon. Richard Alston AO. Her other Canberra based roles included Government Lawyer within the intellectual property branch of the Attorney-General’s Department and Executive Officer of the Australian Digital Alliance and Australian Libraries Copyright Committee from 1996.
Annabelle received her Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from the Australian National University. She is a Board Member of Save The Children Australia, and a Council Member of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS). Annabelle was previously a board member of Freeview Australia and Free TV Australia. Annabelle was invited to be a participant in the 2019 McKinsey Remarkable Women Program.
ARIA Board Member
Chris Maund is the COO of Mushroom Labels, which consists of seven wholly owned independent labels including Liberation Records, Ivy League, I Oh You and Bloodlines. Mushroom Labels’ artists include Vance Joy, Kylie Minogue, Jimmy Barnes, DMA’S, The Rubens, Julia Jacklin, The Teskey Brothers, Childish Gambino and alt-J to name but a few.
Prior to becoming COO, Chris held the positions of Managing Director, Ivy League Records and Director of Business Affairs, The Mushroom Group.
Chris is also a board member of worldwide, digital rights organisation Merlin.
Chris has 20+ years’ experience running independent labels and as a music lawyer and is passionate about music, artists and ensuring the viability and health of independent labels.
ARIA Board Member
Vanessa Picken is the CEO and Chair of Sony Music Entertainment Australia and New Zealand.
Vanessa brings over 15 years’ experience in both the independent and major label music worlds and melds her passion for music with a razor-sharp focus on the intersection between audience, marketing and digital-led technology.
From the outset, Picken’s focus has been global, whether it be studying International Business at the University of Technology in Sydney or working for telecommunications giants Nokia and T-Mobile after finishing her studies. After her time in telecommunications, Vanessa moved into music where she progressed through the ranks of EMI Australia to become the Digital Marketing Manager and, a year later, the Global Account Manager. A desire to challenge herself professionally saw her leave EMI in 2011 to found a label services business (before that term even existed) that would morph into global digital agency Comes With Fries in 2013.
In 2019, Picken moved from Sydney to Los Angeles to become Head of Digital at [PIAS] across America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Restructuring their digital workings across those regions paved the way for her to take on the Global Digital Strategy role in 2020 and, a year later, become Managing Director of the label.
Having returned to Australia midway through 2022 to head up Sony Music in Australia and New Zealand, Picken is the first woman to become a CEO and Chair of one of Australia’s major labels.
In addition to her role at Sony Music Australia and New Zealand, Picken is also a Board member of the Sony Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of young Australians in need. Picken also remains in her role as the CEO of Comes With Fries, having grown the company outside of Australia to open offices in Los Angeles and London, giving her a first-hand understanding of the machinations of different global music market forces.
ARIA Board Member
Gordon Pitt is the VP, Commercial, Business & Legal Affairs, ANZ, at Sony Music Entertainment.
Gordon has been with Sony Music since 2013. Before joining Sony Music, Gordon worked in sports, media and entertainment at IMG and before then as commercial and intellectual property lawyer at Allens and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Organising Committee.
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ARIA Board Member
Dan Rosen is the President of Warner Music Australasia. He is lawyer, policy advisor, musician a key advocate for Australia artists and the music industry.
Prior to starting at Warner, Rosen served as the Chief Executive of ARIA and PPCA for a decade, the peak industry bodies for the Australian music industry. Before joining ARIA and PPCA, Rosen was based in New York working as Head of Americas for ROO Media, a NASDAQ listed digital media company. Rosen is a Fulbright Scholar who completed his Masters of Law and Business at New York University.
Before leaving for the States, Rosen worked as an Advisor to the Federal Minister of Communications, Richard Alston, after starting his career as a lawyer, specialising in media and technology, with Minter Ellison.
As an artist with his band Second Dan notably won Triple J’s Unearthed competition in 2003, and went on to independently release two albums and toured throughout the US and Australia.
Dan Rosen is a passionate voice for creative communities both at home and abroad, as a Director of Creative Partnerships Australia, Member of the Australian Government’s Creative Industries Taskforce, former Advisory Board member of the National Indigenous Music Awards, former Chair of the NSW Creative Industries Taskforce and member of the Victorian Government’s Creative Victoria Taskforce and most recently being at the forefront in advocating for Government support for the music and entertainment industries through the COVID pandemic.
ARIA Board Member
Universal Music Australia & New Zealand.
ARIA Board Member
President, Universal Music Australia & New Zealand
Sean Warner is President, Universal Music Australia & New Zealand, a division of Universal Music Group.
Prior to becoming President in January 2023, Sean played an integral role in the commercial growth and success of UMA. He has been an active member of the company’s senior executive management team; most recently, he held the strategic role of Senior Vice President of Commercial, responsible for commercial growth, innovation, and digital development for UMA & New Zealand. Sean has led the company’s commercial business for over 15 years, from physical sales to streaming, in addition to overseeing business strategy in Southeast Asia (SEA), launching Bravado’s merchandise and licensing operations in the Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) region, and developing UMA’s eCommerce business.
Prior to UMA, Sean held senior roles across Music, Media and Entertainment organisations, including BMG Interactive, Sony PlayStation, DMX Music and Foxtel; a career launched by his studies in Commerce, majoring in Accounting and Law. Sean is the Chair of the AMTD Fundraising committee for the music charity organisation SupportAct and is a passionate fan of Australian music and artists.
Sean is committed to continuing to build UMA as the number one home for artists and championing music culture across Australasia.
ARIA Board Member
David Vodicka is the managing director of the Rubber Group of Companies which includes independent record label Rubber Records and music publisher Rubber Music Publishing. He is also Principal of entertainment law firm Media Arts Lawyers and has had extensive experience with 20 years practice representing all facets of the music industry.
He is a passionate advocate for local music and creative industries and in addition to his position on the ARIA Board, he is presently also chairman of the board of AIR (Australian Independent Record labels association), a former board member of MIFF (Melbourne International Film Festival) and PPCA (Phonographic Performance Company of Australia), and current board member of RISING.
2024 ARIA Board Observer
Jannah Beth is a dedicated artist and rising music industry professional. As the founder of Offbeat Collective and proud A&R at Elefant Traks, they actively promote diversity and representation. Jannah has been a driving force behind impactful projects, including One Off Traks, an all-female , trans and non-binary writing camp, empowering Interest Other Observer Source Heard From Other marginalised voices to shine. Moreover, they have initiated Ya Ya’s program, which provides free studio time for women and LGBTQIA+ creatives. Through Offbeat Collective, a community-driven studio space and music platform in the Inner West, Jannah fosters collaboration and champions emerging talent.
2024 ARIA Board Observer
Katie O’Hagan graduated from Queensland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Entertainment Industries. Katie began her career at Sony Music Entertainment Australia as an intern based in the company’s Brisbane office, from there she moved into an Artist Relations role before relocating to Sydney where she joined the A&R Academy. Now back in Brisbane, Katie currently holds the role of Senior Manager, A&R at Sony Music where she is responsible for working with the company’s roster of artists. During her eight years at Sony Music, Katie has worked with a wide range of recording artists, from emerging artists, all the way through to some of the country’s most established and recognisable musicians. Katie is also responsible for organising Sony Music songwriting camps. Katie is passionate about elevating Australian music and advocating for equitable songwriter rights.
