strategic consulting & INVESTMENT for entertainment brands & startupS

Music Allies is a boutique agency created by Sean O’Connell. Sean is an entrepreneur who specializes in advising businesses on strategy, marketing, immersive experiences and culture.

Sean has produced some the biggest music festivals in the United States, launched numerous companies and has worked closely with some of the world's biggest superstars and brands.

OUR DNA

music and culture

In 2003, Sean founded Music Allies, a consulting and marketing company that was instrumental in the success of the some of the biggest festivals and recording artists in the world.

Music Allies empowered musicians to own their own record labels by offering a suite of independent label marketing services. Sean and his team worked closely with hundreds of musicians including Justin Timberlake, Jack Johnson, Ani DiFranco, Andrew Bird, Sia, and Aimee Mann.

Sean played a pivotal role in the rise of US music festivals. Starting in the early 2000s, Sean oversaw marketing and strategy for dozens of music festivals including the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, TN and the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco, CA.

Sean went on to become the Managing Partner of the Hangout Music Festival located on the beach in Gulf Shores, AL. The festival featured over 100 performers each year including Mumford & Sons, The Killers, Kendrick Lamar, Outkast, Twenty One Pilots, Odesza, The Black Keys, Cardi B, The 1975, Alabama Shakes, Major Lazer, Florence and the Machine and many more.

Sean increased annual ticket ticket sales from 28,000 to 45,000 per day and doubled the event’s revenue.

The Hangout Fest redefined the modern music festival bringing high-end amenities, art and experiences to the festival landscape.

As VP of Programming at AEG Presents, Sean was responsible for curating the Firefly Music Festival, AEG’s flagship camping festival, located in Dover, DE. Sean programmed music's biggest stars including Tame Impala, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Dua Lipa, Green Day, My Chemical Romance, The Killers, Megan Thee Stallion, and Halsey.

INDUSTRY LEADER
MUSIC FESTIVALS

startups and tech

Sean founded Creative Allies, an online crowdsourcing platform, that gave designers an opportunity to create for bands, brands and events. The community quickly grew to over 100,000 designers and attracted a remarkable list of clients including Kendrick Lamar, the Beastie Boys, Mariah Carey, Eminem, Lana Del Rey, Twenty One Pilots and Keith Urban. Creative Allies launched in 2010 and was sold in 2013.

In the early 2000s, Sean was part of the leadership team at ETC Music, a company funded by Sonicblue, the manufacturer of the Rio, the very first MP3 player. ETC Music created in-store kiosks for consumers to load mp3s on their new Rio devices. The company’s tech foreshadowed the cloud storage revolution.

brands AND SPONSORSHIP

Sean works closely with brands to connect them to culture and music. His clients have included:

  • Tik Tok

  • Red Bull

  • Anheuser-Busch

  • Corona

  • Coca-Cola

  • Autograph

  • Monster Energy

  • Malibu Rum

  • Tito’s Vodka

  • Sirius XM / Pandora

  • Gildan

  • Starbucks

  • The Hard Rock Cafe

  • Arizona Ice Tea

  • Moog

  • Toyota

  • Arizona Ice Tea

  • Microsoft

  • Sony

  • Ben & Jerry's