www.myspace.com/rhinoindependent

Growing up in Santa Barbara, California, Mike cultivated his independent music ethos through the "do it yourself" indie punk scene, playing and touring in local bands and booking shows before moving to Los Angeles to study at UCLA. Expanding his involvement in music, Mike ran the Concert team at Campus Events at UCLA, hosted a radio show while living abroad in Spain and got his feet wet in the recorded music side at Capitol. In 2001, Mike went to work for Warner Special Products which later merged with Rhino Entertainment. At Rhino, Mike first worked in audio licensing (clearing samples and tracks for compilations) then digital (researching rights for downloads and ringtones) and finally in the Synch department (licensing for commercials). Bringing in one emerging label to represent for licensing in 2004 set the template for Mike's currently created position, established in the summer of 2007, to contract with independent labels/artists that fill gaps within WMG's catalog. Branding his focus area "Rhino Independent", Mike works hand in hand with the Synch department to facilitate license deals (ie: for commercials, films/trailers, TV, video games, compilations and custom products) for represented artists.