Georgia Taglietti & Jay Ahern to join Association for Electronic Music in new leadership restructure

24 October 2023 - Press release

 

New leadership triumvirate covering the three core components of AFEM; Community, Commerce and Culture.

This strategic move is designed to bolster the association's commitment to excellence, innovation, and continued growth.

 

AFEM is thrilled to announce a significant expansion of its leadership team. This strategic move is designed to bolster the association's commitment to excellence, innovation, and continued growth. The newly appointed leadership brings a wealth of diverse perspectives, helping the association better serve its broad membership base.

Georgia Taglietti and Jay Ahern will be joining Finlay Johnson as a leadership triumvirate following a management restructure of The Association For Electronic Music. Georgia Taglietti will be joining AFEM as Culture and Campaigns Manager, Jay Ahern joins as Chief Growth Officer with Finlay Johnson in a newly created Chief Operating Officer position. 

With the new restructure, AFEM is poised to pursue an ambitious vision for the future. The association is committed to innovating practices, providing valuable resources to members, and fostering collaboration within the community.

Co-founders and chairs Ben Turner and Kurosh Nasseri comment “This feels like a coming of age moment for AFEM. As we hit our 11th year, it’s fitting to see the management team grow to seven people of a wide range of experience, skillset, background and diversity. There has never been a more important time for AFEM to stand taller and this feels like the right team formation to help guide and advance the genre ahead.”

The newly appointed Chief Operating Officer, Finlay Johnson, spent ten years in multiple venue production, artist liaison and curatorial roles at the world's largest arts festival, the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe.  Before becoming a live agent at WME, representing DJs and live acts from underground clubs to festivals to arena tours. For the past year he has been leading the AFEM transition and will continue to be lead on all AFEM operations.

In Finlay’s words: “With over 20 different categories of members making up AFEM, this restructure of our management team ensures that we have different leaders with complementary skills, backgrounds and relationships to benefit all members from multi-national digital service providers, to independent record labels to wellness specialists and charities. They are all intrinsic parts of our electronic ecosystem but with very different business models, and as such we need individual approaches to help build connection and community. Our key focus is commerce, community and culture and with three of us covering these core values I feel confident in the continued growth of our genre globally”.

Georgia Taglietti has been a lynchpin of the international cultural community for 25+ years. As Communications and Digital Director of Sónar Festival since 1995, role she left to create her own company the ICNAC (The International Consulting Network for the Arts and Culture) in 2021, her work created the template for how to build a lasting cultural brand in a rapidly changing marketplace. Georgia will lead the Culture and Campaigns division, leveraging her expertise in networking, communicating and auditing the zeitgeist in order to support the association and its executive board in making strategic decisions, fostering sustainable growth, and ensuring the organization’s long-term vision. 

“I am excited to join the board of AFEM as Culture and Campaigns Manager working hand in hand with Jay Ahern and Finlay Johnson.” Georgia states. “It is an honor and privilege to join the association in their mission to connect, and represent the common interests of, those companies and individuals whose business is Electronic Music. I hope to contribute with my skills and experience to expand the organization’s goals and strengthen the ties with all individuals and companies which can contribute to protect, grow, diversify and elevate the role electronic music has in current society”.

Jay Ahern is a Senior Manager who, over the past two decades, has supervised the growth and development of established industry brands, launched new sample-based instruments, developed game-changing platforms, while ultimately remaining at the cutting edge of future technologies, artist management, and musical creativity. His career highlights include PIAS Recordings, Domino Records, Beatport, Hard Wax, then pivoting to creator tool development for Native Instruments and LANDR. He also leveraged Generative AI teams for music content creation and Analytical AI for music recommendation, tagging and search. His work has connected him with some of the industry’s most prestigious talents, including Four Tet, Arctic Monkeys, Richie Hawtin, Moby, and countless others and as a music producer, he has released countless records, and played across the world in many clubs in Europe, Japan, and North America.

Jay Ahern joins AFEM as Chief Growth Officer, in charge, among other tasks, of financial restructuring, long term membership growth & sustainability. “It is an absolute career highlight to be given the opportunity to offer my unique set of professional experiences and insights across music and technology to AFEM. To further growth, dialogue and the collective goals of our diverse and global membership encompassing Electronic Music culture, commerce and community. It is a privilege to work alongside Georgia, Finlay and team, our co-founders Ben and Kurosh, Executive board and membership”