Vanessa Wilkins

Vanessa is the founder of Contendere Consulting LLC and a music industry executive with a decade of experience structuring, negotiating, and operationalizing licensing and partnership deals for some of the most recognizable names in music and technology.

Most recently, she served as Head of Music Business Development at Snap Inc., where she led Snap's global music strategy, negotiated with the world's largest music rights owners, and structured licensing for new products and partner integrations. Prior to Snap, she was VP of Music & Data Partnerships at Audiomack, where she led domestic and international licensing, launched new revenue streams, and shaped the company's global industry relations posture. Earlier in her career, she structured digital deals with the largest names in music streaming as well as emerging startups as part of Sony Music Entertainment's Global Business Development & Digital Strategy team, and has advised one of the largest fitness brands on music licensing and operations for its connected fitness products & hardware.

Vanessa has previously served as Elected Chair of the Digital Licensee Coordinator (DLC) Policy Committee, representing the collective interests of U.S. streaming platforms before the Mechanical Licensing Collective established under the Music Modernization Act. She was also an inaugural board member of The Peace Studio's Young Professionals Leadership Council.

Today, she partners with founders, executives, and creative teams who need senior-level guidance on monetization, deal structure, and partnership strategy without the overhead of a full in-house team.

Vanessa began her career at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Global Corporate & Investment Banking and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Economics from Wellesley College. She is an avid equestrian and reining competitor, and is currently based in Scottsdale, Arizona.