Music projects on Kickstarter are some of the most successfully funded according to Molly Neuman, Kickstarter’s first head of music. Molly’s diverse background in the world of music began as the former drummer of the band Bratmobile. She also co-owned the music label Lookout! Records and was the vice-president of the American Association of Independent Music before she was brought on to Kickstarter in January, 2016. Digital Media Wire had a chance to ask Molly some questions about her career, creative control on the Kickstarter platform, and how the music business always comes back to the people – the creatives, the fans, and the collaboration between all players that make these projects happen.

Andy Swanson is a veteran of 17 years in the gaming industry and the VP of eSports and events at Twitch. Andy got his start in 1998 at Future US where he eventually became publisher of PC Gamer, OXM and PSM. He moved onto Ubisoft and GameFly before landing at Twitch in 2013. As an early team member to Twitch, Andy was brought on to plan, evangelize and execute the strategy around brand sponsorships and integrations within Twitch’s eSports ecosystem. Digital Media Wire had the chance to ask Andy about Twitch, his inspiration, eSports and gaming culture in the interview below.

PluraVida is an emerging company at the forefront of the rights tech solutions movement for digital content distributors. Producers, distributors and everyone in between the concept-to-consumer pipeline are more abundant than ever and in need of ownership and monetary tracking technology to keep business straight. After two decades in the industry, PluraVida’s CEO and founder Sam Gilchrist sought to fill that need in 2014 when the company was established.

PledgeMusic is a direct-to-fan music platform that enhances the fan-artist dynamic from the creation of music to its experience in digital and live formats. The platform...