This Week’s Disruptors 4/9/24

We’re back this week with another round of DISRUPTORS. This group of executives is making an impact here in Music City. Get to know them all! - Zak (Founder, Nashville Briefing)

Andrew Batey

Founder and Co-CEO

Andrew Batey is an accomplished entertainment & technology entrepreneur. Over the last 15 years he has $150M+ for his own startups and filed 40+ patents across seven countries around artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, and data infrastructure. Now, as the Founder and Co-CEO of Beatdapp, his focus is on helping DSPs, distributors, and artists combat artificial streaming fraud. Since inception, the company has been recognized as a Top 20 Music Company Globally by Crunchbase and selected for "Emerging Rockets List" (2020 & 2021). Beatdapp has also graduated from accelerators such as Creative Destruction Labs, 500 Startups, Project Music, and the highly prestigious and selective C100 “48Hrs in the Valley.” Early in his career, Batey spent time helping launch multiple top 10 artists, lifestyle brands, and growth hacking web properties such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube before they were the marketing tools we know today. Committed to staying close to the music business, he harnessed his creative side to release a song under the artist name Urban Outlaws, which wound up charting #4 on US Country Music Singles and playlisted on Spotify’s Wild Country (April 2022).

Proudest moment: “I was one of the first people to launch an artist on Facebook (2006), the first to build a bluetooth self-locking bike, and a crypto expert with over 12 years of experience (started mining bitcoin in 2011). As an investor, I've invested in over 150 companies with over 10 unicorns to date. All of that to say, the proudest moment of my career was meeting my hero, Garth Brooks, and having a conversation about how much I love songwriters and everything they do for the Nashville community.”

Quinton Cook

Director | Executive Producer

GLITCH

Quinton Cook is a director and executive producer based in Nashville. He spent his teenage summers at the New York Film Academy and on studio backlots in Los Angeles. In 2019, Quinton launched the boutique production company, GLITCH, with a mission to advance the LGBTQ+ community and promote inclusivity within the country music space. Between music videos and creative social content, Quinton has a particular flare for bringing left of center ideas to life. Quinton has collaborated with artists all over the board from country stars like Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan to genre fluid artists like Yola and JP Saxe. His work has been recognized by iconic publications such as Time, Rolling Stone and Teen Vogue to name a few. In his spare time, Quinton can be found scouring the internet for the latest interior design trends, enjoying a margarita (or two) with his friends, or shopping for another pair of glasses.

Proudest moment: “So random but I shot Miley Cyrus for Black Mirror so they could animate her mouth on the doll. --OR-- Had a Dolly drag queen in a country music video with Madeline Edwards for "Momma, Dolly, Jesus"

Krista J. Hayes

Manager, Group Strategy, Syndication & Secondary Promotion

BBR Music Group – Broken Bow Records | Wheelhouse Records | Stoney Creek Records

Proud Kentuckian Krista Hayes recently accepted the role as Manager of Group Strategy, Syndication and Secondary Promotion with BBR Music Group which houses Broken Bow Records, Wheelhouse Records and Stoney Creek Records. From 2021 to January of 2024, she served as the Promotions and Marketing Director for Cumulus Meda Nashville Music Stations which includes the historic WSM-FM NASH ICON, WKDF-FM 103.3 Country and WQQK-FM 92Q. Krista's professional experience spans over a decade in radio, television, podcasting and other forms of digital media. Krista is the co-creator and Executive Producer of "C'Mon Son!" The Podcast!" hosted by former Yo! MTV Raps host Ed Lover. Founded in 2016 the show has had over one million downloads to date and continues to be a force in the hip-hop podcasting space.

Proudest moment: “Gahhhh there are so, so many proud moments, but off the top of my head - one of the proudest and most memorable moments of my career was when I was standing on the stage at Skydeck on Broadway at our 103.3 Country/95.5 NASH ICON "Country Kickoff" CMA Fest week concert looking at a sold out crowd. I immediately thought about when I started my first concert promotion company, "Trifection Entertainment" back in 2013 and I was a complete floppy mess! I mean I literally had NO idea what I was doing LOL! Fast forward ten years later, I was a part of a team who sold out a Country show in Music City. Two days before that, our R&B station filled the historic Hadley Park for our "Family Day in the Park" event.”

Yitzi Peetluk

Agent, Wasserman Music

Yitzi Peetluk is an agent at global talent agency Wasserman Music in Nashville, representing a roster of artists in the folk, country, and indie spaces. A graduate of Berklee College of Music’s Music Business program, Peetluk got his start booking talent at Boston’s The Red Room at Café 939 and worked in various roles for concert promoter Bowery Presents: Boston. Since moving to Nashville in 2017, Peetluk has represented artists including Sierra Ferrell, Shakey Graves, Weyes Blood, Joy Oladokun, Sarah Jarosz, Benjamin Tod & Lost Dog Street Band, and Nikki Lane. Along with the continued representation of these artists, Peetluk is focused on the next steps for several highly anticipated newcomers on his client roster, including Odie Leigh, Jake Kohn, Daniel Nunnelee, Cole Chaney, Clover County, and Mountain Grass Unit.

Proudest moment: “I am fortunate to have many proud moments that are specific to each artist, but the most recent was Sierra Ferrell’s two sold out nights at the Ryman in March. Having booked two Basements in 2021, two Basement Easts in 2022, and a Brooklyn Bowl (Nashville) for New Year’s Eve 2023 - it was amazing to watch the culmination of Nashville’s love for such a special artist lead into the release of her incredible new album Trail of Flowers.”

Kristina London

Founder of Amplify Her Voice / Content & Touring Project Manager at Live Nation Women

As a multi-instrumentalist with a drive to influence, Kristina London was set on a career in the music business at a young age and pursued various music opportunities while in college. While working, the gender divide within the industry became undeniably visible. What first began as a passion project, Amplify Her Voice soon grew into a thriving online platform. Since 2019, she has built a community of more than 80,000 members and collaborated with leading companies like Live Nation, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and The Recording Academy. In 2024, Kristina joined the Live Nation Women team as the Content & Touring Project Manager. In this role, she works to power progress for women at Live Nation, within the music industry, and across the world at large.

Proudest moment: “Joining the Live Nation Women team stands out as one of my proudest achievements. For five years, I committed myself to leaving a positive impact for women on the music industry, driven solely by the desire to make it a better place than when I joined it. Throughout this journey, I've realized that staying true to my genuine intentions and authentic self has been key to overcoming challenges and maintaining the integrity of our safe space. Being asked to join the Live Nation Women team felt like the culmination of years of hard work and dedication, finally providing me a space where I am valued and can continue to pursue my passion with purpose.”

Alex Malcolm

Manager, Global ​Sync - Creative + Clearance Warner Music Group

Alex began his journey as an intern at Warner Music Group just a few weeks after graduating from Ohio University in 2018. He currently is part of Warner Recorded Music's Visual Media Licensing team - doing Global Creative Sync & Clearance. His main slate of clients are in Sports, Video Games + New Media - working with the NFL, Epic Games, 2K Games, Rockstar Games, Electronic Arts, Meta, Roblox, and many more. After 5 years in Los Angeles, Alex moved to Nashville in September, and is now the sole Sync employee for Warner Music Group based in Nashville. He operates out of the Warner Music Nashville office on Music Row, and also participates in artist discussions around sync in the country landscape. 

Proudest moment: “Easily the biggest success (and lucrative deal) of my career recently, was handling the deal for Fortnite Festival. It took nearly a year to get across the finish line, and many many revisions and video calls. My first ever video game deal I worked on was a sample clearance, for a track we owned, in the Travis Scott x Fortnite experience. That event was in April of 2020, so it's amazing to see how far our partnership has grown with Fortnite & Epic Games. On top of that, seeing the exponential growth of music in games has kept me on my toes every single day.”