Music Business Rewired:

Dr Kienda Hoji

Dr Kienda Hoji is a music industry academic, lawyer, and consultant, with over 30 years of experience across the global music and entertainment sectors. He has held senior leadership roles in higher education, most recently serving as a Deputy Vice Chancellor, and is widely recognised for bridging professional practice with academic excellence.

Dr Hoji has taught and lectured internationally, including as a Visiting Professor at Peking University in Beijing, and visiting Lecturer at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and the University of West Indies Kingston Jamaica. His global perspective informs both his legal practice and his commitment to developing the next generation of creative industry leaders.

Kienda is equally at home in boardrooms, classrooms, and creative spaces, Kienda has consulted and advised artists, executives, and organisations at every level of the industry, from independents to major international companies. He has worked with artists and labels, including MCA Records, LL Cool J, Juni Morrison (Parliament Funkadelic), Narada Michael Walden, Amp Fidler, Tarrus Riley, Mad Professor, and several current exciting fledgling artist projects.

Alongside his academic work, Kienda continues to advise and manage artists and creative organisations. He currently serves on the Board of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), is a founding member of the UK Music Diversity Task Force, a member of British Phonographic Industry’s advisory board EJAG, a Board Member of Black Lives in Music, and an Ambassador for the Lang Lang International Music Foundation.

Throughout his career, Dr Hoji has been a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, ethical practice, and social justice, working to advance inclusion and good governance across the music and wider creative industries.

Kienda’s current research interests include;

• The weakness of applying Western classical legal IP principles to cultural production practices in non-western domains including the Caribbean, Africa and China.
• The impact of AI and generative composition on the future music industry ecosystem.
• The legal perspectives of race bias in the contracting terms and development planning of major signed music artists of African descent.