Rachel Kelly has joined Switzerland-headquartered music fintech company, Utopia Music, as Vice President for Australia.
Based in Sydney, Kelly will be in charge of setting up and rolling out Utopia’s activities in Australia, New Zealand and other Australasian key territories.
She reports to Utopia COO Roberto Neri, who leads the firm’s operations and is responsible for expanding its international office footprint.
Kelly’s appointment forms part of a recent hiring spree at Utopia and follows Yvan Boudillet’s appointment last week as Head of Policy at Utopia.
Meanwhile, at the start of September, Utopia made the high-profile hire of Downtown‘s former EVP of Business Development, Roberto Neri, as Chief Operating Officer, followed by Paul Gathercole‘s appointment as Chief Data Officer, Åsa Carild as Head of Platform, and Paul Stuart as Chief Legal Officer.
With more than 20 years’ experience in music publishing, Kelly has held executive roles at both major and independent publishers including Downtown, BMG Rights Management, J Albert & Son (Alberts) and Warner/Chappell.
Kelly was recently invited as a founding board member for MODA DAO, a decentralised technology network dedicated to the adoption of Web3 in the music industry.
Most recently Kelly was also a board member for the Australasian Music Publishers Association (AMPAL) and will continue to be a mentor for Women in Music and advocate for songwriters and the cultural value of music.
Kelly’s appointment comes shortly after Utopia’s acquisition of Nashville-based financial services company, Lyric Financial, which has advanced over $100 million worth of royalties to artists.
That news marked Utopia’s second company acquisition in the past two months, after buying Quincy Jones-backed emotional data enrichment company, Musimap in September.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Utopia family and expanding its vision of ‘Fair Pay for Every Play’ to Australasia.”
Rachel Kelly
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Utopia family and expanding its vision of ‘Fair Pay for Every Play’ to Australasia,” said Kelly.
“The music industry is in need of innovation so it can grow to its full potential.
“But more importantly, that innovation must be created with every industry participant in mind so that we can grow together, and I truly believe Roberto and the whole team at Utopia understand that.”
“We are very excited about Rachel joining us as the first Utopian to be based in Australia.”
Roberto Neri, Utopia Music
Roberto Neri, COO at Utopia Music added: “We are very excited about Rachel joining us as the first Utopian to be based in Australia.
“Her strong background and values are incredible assets for us to enhance the value of music for the Australasian ecosystem. We look forward to expanding to ensure we deliver ‘Fair Pay for Every Play.’”
Music Business Worldwide