iKECHUKWU Onuorah

iKECHUKWU (Black PHARAOH) Onuorah is the Director of The Orchards Nigerian office. Formerly the COO of ACI Entertainment, he is also the 2nd Vice President of the Artistes Managers Association in Nigeria (AMAN) overseeing training for managers as well as diplomatic relations with global music organisations. With a career spanning over 2 decades he has also worked in music education at Degree level and was the business manager for the Urban Soul Orchestra and the Tour Manager for the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra respectively. He has played a lead role in overseeing a number of African music business reports for reputable organisations such as The BPI, Music Week, and MusicAlly.

Nosa Dag Aghayere is a UK based lawyer, Director of 6060 Music Group, and the Founder of Afrobeat Network Ltd, a UK agency bridging the gap between the global music industry and the African entertainment industry. Nosa has an extensive background in representing Artists, Producers, DJ's, Actors, and entertainers in the UK in getting them plugged into the global entertainment ecosystem. He has also been involved legally in a number of key artists deals.

Kelly Anne Bensadon is a Senior International Marketing Manager at Sony Music Entertainment subsidiary, The Orchard. She has been on the frontline of artist's careers for over a decade starting out as a-day-today artist manager before transitioning into marketing. Working closely with labels, management, and promo teams in foreign markets to develop launch plans, delivering ongoing marketing campaigns and artist development strategies for international releases via the latest global marketing channels.

Camilla Waite is a senior qualified solicitor with 15 years’ legal experience in the music, media and technology sectors. As Deputy General Counsel at PPL, Camilla manages the delivery of legal support underpinning all aspects of PPL’s operations and covering a broad spectrum of commercial, litigation and regulatory matters. Alongside this, Camilla works with a range of industry bodies on public affairs matters and is an active contributor to various industry legal working groups, both in the UK and internationally. Camilla is also VPL’s Company Secretary.

Wale Kalejaiye is an Associate in the Music Group. Coming to law from a background in music, Wale has built a burgeoning music practice representing rising stars from across the globe, working with talented artists, songwriters and producers as well as independent management and record companies. With an approach that focuses exclusively on protecting his clients’ interests, he has developed a strong reputation for proactively supporting emerging artists in every aspect of their work and business, right from the start of their careers.

Mandy Aubry is the Director of Business Development for EMEA and APAC at Songtrust, the world's largest technology solution for global music publishing royalty collection and administration. Aubry leads Songtrust’s expansion across EMEA and APAC to provide music creators in established and emerging music markets with global music publishing administration and collection infrastructure. Her tireless effort to achieve this goal was recognised by Billboard and she appears on their 2021 International Power Players list.

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John Onyido is the partner in charge of SPA Ajibade & Co’s., Intellectual Property and Technology Department. He is an intellectual property rights specialist with significant practice experience spanning over 28 years and across various jurisdictions. Mr. Onyido is qualified to practise law in the United States and is admitted to practice in the state of New York, the Southern and Eastern District Courts, as well as before the US Court of Appeals for the 2 nd Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.

Lindiwe Dhlamini has worked as an entertainment journalist and editor for an online publication called Urban Reality Magazine, which was running under an entertainment business called One Media SA. Other areas of specialty include working in PR as a publicist and social media manager at one of the best PR agencies at the time, Aptitude Consulting amongst other roles in radio with Kaya FM as a content producer for the Saturday breakfast show, 'Breakfast with Katlego. She now works for The Orchard, serving as Label and Marketing Manager in the South African office and is also appointed as one of ten social media ambassadors for the University of Johannesburg.

Ngozi currently Heads our Technology, Media & Entertainment Sector Group, as well as is the Department Head for our entire award winning Intellectual Property Practice. She is a seasoned practitioner of many years and currently represents a number of high profile conglomerates as well as high net worth individuals in the media & entertainment industry, the technology space, as well as other blue chip corporate organisations across varied sectors. She therefore has a full understanding of the legal issues and nuances as it applies to the application of the law within the industry.

Mpumi Phillips is currently the Director of Distribution at The Orchard. Managing the digital distribution for the South African territory. Previously Mpumi managed the creative department at Sheer Publishing where she handled music clearances for film, television and commercials, and works with a wide range of clients, including artists, composers, production houses, Advertising agencies and post production companies. Mpumi has done music supervisor for films and TV productions such as Rhythm City, Beyond the River, Blood and Water, Angus Buchan’s Ordinary People, Babalas, iNumber Number, Nothing for Mahala and Inside Story. Her career started at a non-profit organization in Los Angeles called “Artist for a New South Africa (ANSA)” - founded by Denzel Washington, Alfre Woodard, Ted Danson and Blair Underwood. Mpumi also worked as Label Manager for Ghetto Ruff, and indie label famed for launching the careers of artists such as Zola, Ishmael, DJ Cleo and DJ Sbu. She has also served as a member of the Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA) steering committee which is in charge of the South African Music Awards (SAMA). Mpumi Phillips has published articles regarding music clearance and music supervisory in Screen Africa a magazine which is a guide to filmmakers throughout Africa, as well as The Callsheet, a film industry guide. Mpumi is also the founding member of the South Africa chapter of the international organization Women in Music (WIM).

Artist Booker and Talent Manager Buddha Blaze is a creative entrepreneur heavily involved in the behind the scenes management of entertainment platforms across the continent. His passion includes shaping the artistic business narrative to get brands to partner with creatives in achieving both their goals. Officially known as Moses Mbasu; he has been heavily involved in music projects such as WAPI (British Council) that has given birth to many African creatives from across the continent, and was talent manager of Coke Studio Africa by Coca Cola for the initial seasons. He is currently VCC and content aggregator for Safaricom digital Platform called Baze.

Arielle Renwart is an International Artist Services Manager for The Orchard based in the London office. She has been with The Orchard for the last three years. Born and raised on Long Island in New York she attended Stony Brook University. She graduated Summa Cum Laude, with a high honours degree in Cinema and Cultural Studies; double minoring in both Marketing and Digital Arts. Being a dual citizen of the US and UK with a Belgian and Jamaican heritage, she has ended up working in International by both inclination and training. Arielle has worked in the entertainment industry for the past 12 years in a variety of roles within Music, TV, and Film. Prior to joining The Orchard she was a part of the Universal Music International team. Arielle has also worked for major domestic UK labels, a recording studio, music tv shows, marketing firms, and was a former actress/model. This has allowed her to gain a unique understanding of the entertainment sector.

At a very early stage of his life Abdulrasaq has always been enthusiastic about art which was elevated by his exposure to his dad’s cinematography business. He was mostly intrigued by photography and the ability of a person getting an image that spoke a lot of words. He also does a little bit of cinematography which still speaks volumes of its own. Over the years, Abdulrasaq gradually taught himself how to explicitly express himself through what he calls “Redefining Crazitivity”. This has been his guide through this path of being an artist and helped create the brand “PERLIKS DEFINITION” Perliks Definition drives at creating art that triggers an emotional reaction from people because Abdulrasaq believe everybody looks at the same image but process it differently. He uses his art to bring his unique thoughts to life, some might call it crazy but we all have to take risk at some points In our lives.

Angela Ndambuki is the Regional Director for the IFPI Africa with its first regional office in Sub-Saharan Africa (S-SA), run out of Nairobi. The IFPI is the organisation that represents the recorded music industry worldwide. Ndambuki works across the region’s 46 countries to promote the value of recorded music, campaign for the rights of record producers and expand the commercial uses of recorded music. She was formerly Chief Executive Officer at the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI); East African State’s nationwide trade lobby and member of the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC). Ndambuki has extensive experience in strategic decision making and leadership and holds a Master of Laws Degree in Intellectual Property Law from the University of Edinburgh and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Nairobi.