AIMP Panel

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House of Blues
8430 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood. Valet parking, on site, $7. Call for directions.

From left, Larry Wade, Tim James, Antonina Armato, David Hirshland (AIMP Vice President), Claribel Cuevas and Ben Maddahi.  

Photos by Liz Redwing, courtesy House of Blues, Sunset. 

Additional Speaker Information

Antonina Armato and Tim James, working under the production name of Rock Mafia, have written and produced over 20 top-ten pop and rock artists since the early 2000s including artists such as Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and Sick Puppies The team sold over 10 million albums just in 2007. Rock Mafia continues to gain popularity both as an artist and as a songwriting/ production team; its current projects include: American Idol, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Dilemma, Frank and Derol, The Big Bang movie, and The Beach Girl5. Rock Mafia has also produced and released their own production; a song featuring James' own vocals entitled "The Big Bang which became popular as the theme song for the VH1 reality show "Mob Wives”. In July, 2011 Rock Mafia played the 2011 Boise Music Festival with Tim James on lead vocals, and Antonina Armato DJ'ing.

Claribel Cuevas is a creative executive with over 20 years experience in the record and music publishing industries. Claribel's music career began in 1989, when she joined EMI Latin eventually becoming A&R Director in 1993 where she worked with major crossover artists Jon Secada, Selena, Thalia, Paulina Rubio and many others. In 2000 Claribel joined Famous Music Publishing to build the company's Latin music division working with winning songwriter and mega producer Kike Santander, Linda Perry, Chico Bennett and others. She was responsible for generating hundreds of song placements and multiple #1 chart-topping songs. When Sony/ATV Music Publishing acquired Famous Music in August of 2007, Claribel joined their Miami office as Sr. Creative Director. In her short time there she placed over 100 songs from Sony/ATV Music's Latin, pop and international rosters and was instrumental in signing some of the biggest writers in the market. In August of 2010, Claribel returned to Los Angeles to create her own independent company, 4th and 7th Entertainment, which focuses on music publishing, A&R and artist management. 4th and 7th Entertainment also consults for major and independent publishing companies and record labels from the U.S. and Europe in songwriter development and catalog placement in recordings, film, TV and commercials.

Benjamin Maddahi is a triple-threat. His publishing placements include "Tonight (I'm Loving You)" by Enrique Iglesias featuring Ludacris and DJ Frank E, "Yeah 3x" by Chris Brown and tracks by the Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West and others. At Atlantic, he served as co-A&R for Flo Rida. And his own Madd Music Management is also now under the Atlantic umbrella. Maddahi credits mentor/business partner Mike Caren, executive VP of A&R at Atlantic and president of Elektra, with teaching him "to keep a keen ear and eye out for talent" and "setting the creative bar high."

Larry Wade is responsible for the expanding multi-media enterprises of the collective founded by Evan “Kidd” Bogart, David “DQ” Quiñones, and Erika Nuri, songwriter-producers whose credits include hits for superstars Beyonce, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Brown, Enrique Iglesias and many others. Among TWC's recent placements are singles with Jason Derülo, Hot Chelle Rae, Dru, and Big Time Rush featuring Iyaz.In 2011, TWC moved into television with the Bravo songwriting competitionPlatinum Hit hosted by Jewel, with Kara DioGuardi as head judge. Premiering this fall on The Hub Network is Majors & Minors, where a cast of young singers 8-16 develops their talents under the guidance of established recording artists. Nine years ago, Wade moved to Los Angeles from Indiana to manage the career of Philip Lawrence, who is now one third of the multi-platinum songwriting and production team The Smeezingtons with Ari Levine and Bruno Mars. As the owner of the management company, Decible Entertainment, Wade, who has been with TWC since their formation and plays an executive role with the affiliated Boardwalk Entertainment Group, acts in a management capacity with TWC signees, including singer-songwriter ZZ Ward and Wallpaper, who has recently partnered with MTV's Extreme and Hype Music for placements.