beatBread expands leadership team with new strategic appointments

23 February 2022 - Press release

Fintech Veterans Melissa Holloway and Joseph Wirija Bring Expertise and Experience to Fast-Growing Advance Funding Service for Artists
 

beatBread (www.beatBread.com), the pioneering music funding platform that enables artists to access growth capital while maintaining control of their careers and ownership of their music, today announced it has made two new key hires to its senior leadership team.

Melissa Holloway joins the beatBread team as VP, Head of Product, as the company continues to extend its artist-centered funding platform, while Joseph Wirija joins as VP, Head of Finance, to provide deeper financial and analytical rigor as the business rapidly scales. Both Holloway and Wirija will report to beatBread CEO Peter Sinclair.

“This is an important period of acceleration and growth for the business. beatBread has funded hundreds of artists in our first 12 months, and Melissa and Joseph bring talent, energy, and experience to help our team stay in front of the challenges of managing a fast-growing business. Their talents and experience will be invaluable as we pursue our mission to empower artists. We are lucky to have them,” said Sinclair.

Melissa Holloway
Melissa Holloway brings deep fintech product management experience, having most recently served as Director of Product Management at Cox Automotive where she was responsible for the digital product strategy of a $50 million F&I compliance solution. Previously, Melissa drove product innovation at venture-backed fintech startup, ComplySci, earning her the firm’s nomination for global recognition by Waters Technology – Women in Technology & Data in 2019. Melissa also led global product development teams and drove the commercialization of various commercial and retail banking solutions at S&P Global Market Intelligence, where she spearheaded its strategic acquisition of RateWatch in 2018.

Joseph Wirija
Joseph Wirija is an accomplished finance strategist with deep international transactional and operational finance experience. Joseph has held leadership roles in management consulting and investment banking businesses, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Conway Mackenzie Capital, and 8020 Consulting. He has led companies and finance functions at fast growing companies and advised institutional clients on issues including cross-border equity, debt, and M&A transactions.

Since launch in November 2020, beatBread has made more than 300 advances to artists and labels across multiple genres, six continents, and a broad range of career stages. Advances offered through beatBread range from as little as $1,000 to as much as $2M per artist for a limited share of existing catalog revenues, with options also available for unreleased music. All advances are repaid from a share of an artist’s streaming and airplay revenues, over a period of the artist’s choosing. Advance agreements leave touring, publishing, synch, and merchandise revenue streams untouched, and do not place any restrictions around how funds are used and leave the choice of marketing and distribution partners in the artist’s own hands.