UNIFIED Owner Jaddan Comerford Shortlisted For Global Industry Award

Melbourne-based independent music entrepreneur Jaddan Comerford — the owner and chief executive of respected local indie company UNIFIED — has been recognised on a global level, officially making the top-15 shortlist of industry personalities in contention for this year's MBW Young Executive Award.

Comerford has made the cut from hundreds of nominations, being judged as a prime shortlist candidate by a panel of judges from the MBW Advisory Board as well as senior industry executives from around the world.

As well as being impressed by UNIFIED's increasingly global nature — the company now has officies in New York and London as well as Sydney and Melbourne — Comerford made the cut for his work with WAU Management, through whom he has worked with the likes of Vance Joy, The Amity Affliction, The Kite String Tangle, Northlane and Nina Las Vegas, the crown jewel of which is arguably the worldwide success enjoyed by the humble Mr Joy since the release of his breakthrough single Riptide in 2013. Additionally, Comerford's efforts in launching new joint-venture label 1825 (with 5SOS/Matt Corby manager Matt Emsell and Atlantic Records) bears mentioning, given its focus on aiding Aussie artists in their attempts to crack the US market.

Comerford now faces another challenge — to be voted in as one of the top five contenders for the award from the 15-strong shortlist. Along with Comerford, young executives up for the nod include Laurence Abrahams (lawyer at music law firm SSB), Ben Anderson (co-founder, Musicalize event), Sammy Andrew (head of digital, Cooking Vinyl), Miles Beard (A&R director at Artist Publishing Group, A&R for Warner/Atlantic), Johnny Brocklehurst (marketing director, Because Music), Sarah Gallagher (Modest! Management), Sean Glass (Apple Music/Connect, founder of Win Music), Toby L (founder, Transgressive Record Label, Rockfeedback Concerts and LoveLive), Martha Kinn (partner at Machine Management), Jessica Lord (manager, Red Light Management), Paddy McLean (product & playlist manager, UMTV), Chris Meehan (founder, Sentric Music), Jake O'Leary (lead marketing manager, YouTube) and Jonas Weber (director of strategic development, Universal).

You can see the full list and read all about the overachievers who will make you ashamed of yourself at Music Business Worldwide's website.