TALENT MANAGEMENT / LIVE EVENTS / MERCHANDISE

Worldwide Entertainment Group [WEG] is a proven leader in successful talent management and producing live events in its over 30 years in the entertainment industry.

Founded originally by Dave Lory, in 2026 WEG relaunched and is now a partnership with Lory & long-time experienced manager Sandy Rizzo with offices based in New York, Los Angeles and representation in Nashville.  

Together they have a reputation for artist integrity in everything they have done in their careers with a proven track record of success in representing artists and their individual careers on a global basis.

Dave Lory

Co-Founder/WEG President

Sandy Rizzo

Executive Vice-President

In keeping with past integrity & that the music and the artist comes first, WEG has a team in marketing, A&R and licensed merchandise with a proven record over the decades in signing successful artists, recording multiple platinum music sales globally, graphic design and imaging an artist, along with the having experience with worldwide merchandise fulfillment, printing and touring merchandise sales maximizing artist revenues. All of this provided in house at WEG and as part of WEG’s commitment to their artist’s success.

Dick Wingate

Co-Founder/WEG Chief Content Officer

Patrick Clifford

VP, A&R Nashville

Jeff Riccio

President, WEG Licensed Merchandise Group

Brad Mooberry

WEG Chief Marketing Officer [CMO]

Caroline Galloway

Publicity & Marketing

Dave Lory – Co-Founder/President, WEG Live Performance, Talent Management, & Licensed Merchandise Groups
Dave Lory has a diverse and extensive background in arts and entertainment over his 35-year career. An accomplished entertainment executive, event producer, author and marketing professional, he has worked across all genres of music and produced numerous memorable and successful events.

EXPERIENCE
Producer
Festivals, awards dinners, corporate events, concerts, brand and sponsorship management and marketing campaigns, including:

  • Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner with Mark Krantz and the John Schieber Group
  • Grammy’s Heroes Awards Dinner (NY)
  • New Music Seminar music conference and festival
  • Escape from New York Music Festival, Southampton, NY/Secret Garden Party UK
  • Grammy’s National Unsigned Band Contest
  • Hawke Media’s HawkeFest themed events for major marketing company tech CEO’s
  • VH-1’s Idols and Icon TV show with Paul Simon and John Mayer hosted by Randy Jackson for advertising agency JW
International Marketing and Artist Development
  • Sr. VP, International & Artist Development, Mercury Records Group (#1 International Company each year during his tenure). Record companies included Mercury, Mercury Nashville and Def Jam among others
  • Sr. VP, International & Artist Development, Artemis Records (#1 Independent Label of the Year each year during his tenure… Billboard Magazine)
Artist Management
  • The Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman, Jeff Buckley, Courtney Love, Ronan Tynan, Duncan Sheik, Ronnie Spector
  • Author, “Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah to the Last Goodbye” (Post Hill Press/Simon and Schuster)
  • Released on the 21st anniversary of the singer’s death from drowning in the Mississippi river May 28, 2018 and worldwide promotional tour speaking engagements booked over two years worldwide in music venues with fan Q&A, including radio, TV and print interviews.
EXPERTISE
  • Implementing and overseeing multi-million-dollar events and corporate budgets
  • Leadership and oversight of hundreds of employees on events and projects both domestically and internationally
  • Licensed NY State Security and Fire Marshall
  • Effective negotiator working with contracts, vendors, artists and obtaining permits as needed through city and state as needed
  • Strong marketing background with excellent communication and people skills
  • Well-connected worldwide with media, vendors, event spaces and entertainment companies

CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • Co-Produced golf outing for the National Music Publisher’s Association with Steve Demarco and Golf On Earth Event Services 
  • Oversaw a worldwide staff of several hundred employees at Mercury Records Group while leading the company to be the #1 international record company in the world. Oversaw all sales and marketing globally. Successes included breaking country singer Shania Twain worldwide as a pop artist and taking the label from one million seller [Bon Jovi] to five [Shania Twain, Hanson, Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Cake].
  • Assisted in starting Artemis Records and structured the company’s budgets, reporting and international structure and job duties. During the first two years the record company was named by Billboard Magazine “Independent Label of the Year” and Lory was voted personally “Artist Development Executive of the Year” by Pollstar Magazine two years in a row.  Label had 8 Grammy nominations during these first years with two winning Grammys [Baha Men for “Who Let the Dogs Out” , Rickie Lee Jones and blues artist Jimmie Vaughan, a personal signing to the label].
  • Took over the “Songwriter Hall of Fame” Dinner as Producer and in 2 years secured a TV deal with USA Networks as a result.
  • Produced the largest festival and music industry conference in the world, the “New Music Seminar”, for 8 years with over 8000 delegates annually in attendance. Lory booked over 300 speakers and 350 artists in 35 venues a night over a 5-day period annually.  In 2015 found country artist Maren Morris through the “Artist on the Verge” project and signed her to BMI Nashville and within two years was the Grammy’s New Artist of the Year”.
  • Produced the first festival in over 10 years in Southampton, NY called “Escape to New York”. Very difficult working with the local officials to convince them to do the event because of all the different police, fire, city and town councils involved. The event was also on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation, which had its own governing body.  Because of the success involving getting 15,000 people in and out on a daily basis without incidence in a high traffic area, the PGA used Lory’s traffic pattern and parking implementation for the 2018 PGA golf championship at Shinnecock Golf Club that was implemented for the music festival.
  • Managed several international artists successfully Sophie Zelmani [Sweden], Shannon Noll, [Australia], Katell Keineg [Ireland], and reunited the Allman Brothers Band after a 10-year hiatus in 1989, broke new artist Jeff Buckley globally on his first and only recording and crossed-over classical artist Ronan Tynan into the pop world. Also, tour managed Lady Gaga’s first US tour with her first hit record.
  • Assistant publicity representative for Prince’s Purple Rain tour, Jackson 5 tour, Kenny Loggins among others at the Howard Bloom Organization while attending New York University.
  • Naras Board of Governor’s New York Chapter [8 Years]
  • Lory lives in Montclair, NJ and studied at New York University with a major in Music Business and music performance and regularly teaches at William Patterson and NYU. He was a founding member for the Manager’s Forum in the US, a watchdog group protecting artists and their rights in the industry and with governmental agencies.

Sandy Rizzo -Executive Vice-President, WEG Talent Management Group
In this ever changing face of the current music industry, Sandy Rizzo and 18-Hour Management have found a specialized niche. She works directly with artists, their agents, business managers, and their labels on all aspects of artist management which includes local, regional, U.S. and international touring, live performances, marketing, recording CD’s and promotion of both new and established artists.  With a proven track record of 25 years of hard-core, fast paced experience in artist management, Sandy uses her skills and experience to assist artists in obtaining the next level of their careers in the smartest and most productive way possible.

Sandy Rizzo has extensive management experience with various levels of talent and several genres throughout the music industry.  She obtained her start in the industry like so many others before her. . . .by accident.  Sandy is a certified paralegal and while working in a downtown Boston law firm, she met their clients Joe Perry and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith handling divorce papers and notarizing documents. Shortly thereafter she accepted the opportunity to work for Aerosmith’s management company, Collins Management.  Holding a variety of different positions within the company, she learned all the ins and outs of the industry.

“That was a great experience for me, as it really taught me the business from the top echelon of talent in the music industry”, says Sandy

The next venture came when Sandy moved to the west coast and began a long career with famed rock manager Doc McGhee and the “highly trained professionals” of McGhee Entertainment. Working in tandem with Doc and the best that era had to offer, i.e. Scorpions, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Richie Sambora, Skid Row, Caroline’s Spine and KISS, she was able to make a name for herself throughout the industry by honing her innate talents in management, touring and production. A decade later, Sandy found herself prepared to branch out and tried her hand with different styles of music and management arenas including those of Dave Kaplan, Doug Goldstein, and Terry Lippman. Within those management companies, she was able to advance her repertory of knowledge even further with respect to touring, production and management and successfully aided the careers of The Road Kings/Jesse Dayton, Gary Hoey, Pimpadelic, Dr. Dre tour with Eminem, Guns n’ Roses, The Color Red, and Adema. She was instrumental in keeping Adema on track with touring budgets which allowed them the opportunity to accept and fulfill being on main stage Ozzfest and write and record the song for the video game Mortal Combat II.

Sandy is continuing with her artist management duties and looking for the next exciting chapter in her experienced career.

Dick Wingate – Co-Founder/President, WEG Label Group
DICK WINGATE is Principal, DEV Advisors [devadvisors.com], a digital entertainment consulting firm that provides expertise to service providers, app developers, content owners and investors, enabling companies to accelerate business development, content licensing, artist engagement and fund raising. Wingate has been at the forefront of music marketing, A&R and interactive technology from its’ beginnings with in-store systems, to the earliest online music download services to the first mobile streaming applications.

Wingate served as President, Media Development & Chief Content Officer for Nellymoser Inc, an early provider of streaming mobile application services, running content, licensing and business development strategy with clients such as Sony, Warner Music, MTV, AT&T, Virgin Mobile & ABC Television.

Wingate helped pioneer the digital music business from its infancy as SVP, Content Development at Liquid Audio, Inc, playing an integral role in their 1999 IPO. He was responsible for music licensing, label relations, affiliate management and content marketing and negotiated the first digital distribution catalogue deals with major record labels including Universal, Warner and EMI.

His in-depth experience in the recording industry included positions as SVP Marketing, Arista Records [BMG]; SVP A&R PolyGram Records; Director. Talent Acquisition, Epic Records; and Director, Product Management, Columbia Records. He has been integrally involved with launching or developing the careers of artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Aimee Mann, Peter Tosh, Eddy Grant, Pink Floyd, Bon Jovi, Sarah McLachlan and Garland Jeffreys.

Wingate has spoken at industry events including the Music Business Association, SXSW, Canadian Music Week, Music Tectonics, Mondo, Digital Hollywood, NY Media Festival, CTIA, Billboard Live, Digital Entertainment World, Business Week, New Music Seminar, CDO Summit, Jupiter Plug-In, CMJ, Midem, Bear Stearns and Credit Suisse, and has been featured in the Sunday NY Times Business section, on the front page of LA Times as well as quoted in the Wall St. Journal, Time Magazine, USA Today, the NY Times Magazine and Billboard Magazine.

He started his career as Music and Program Director of WBRU-FM, Providence while at Brown University and has been granted Lifetime Membership with NARAS [Grammys].

Patrick Clifford – VP, A&R Nashville
Recently, Patrick Clifford was VP of Music Publishing and A&R for Disney Music Publishing in Nashville. He was responsible for exploiting the company’s extensive catalog of existing songs, as well as providing creative direction, leadership and growth of the writer roster of Disney Music Publishing. His prior experience includes VP of A&R for Ten Ten Music Group in Nashville, a post he held since 2005. His career began with artists James Taylor and Cat Stevens at Nemperor Artists, and he discovered and recorded The Romantics at Nemperor Records. He later served in the A&R departments of major labels including Epic, A&M, Chrysalis and Capitol, working with the Miami Sound Machine, Blues Traveler and the Neville Brothers. Later, as a senior A&R executive with BMG he worked with scores of important artists, from Etta James to Ziggy Marley.

Jeff Riccio – President, WEG Licensed Merchandise Group
Jeff Riccio is a seasoned professional in the merchandising and entertainment industry, recently serving as the President of Forward Merch since January 2016. He has accumulated over eight years of experience leading Forward Merch, where he has been instrumental in shaping the company’s vision and direction.

Before his tenure at Forward Merch, Jeff held the position of Vice President at JSR Merchandising for an impressive 29 years, beginning in April 1996. He joined JSR after working at Brockum, a leading merchandising firm. Drawing upon his extensive experience and relationships within the merchandising world, Jeff played a pivotal role in transforming JSR into one of the most dynamic merchandise companies in the United States. Under his leadership, JSR has collaborated with more than 400 notable acts in the entertainment industry, including legends such as Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Dropkick Murphys Weird Al, ACDC, Pink Floyd, Andrea Bocelli and organizations like Minor League Baseball and Cartoon Network. Jeff played an important part expanding FM merchandising’s footprint onto Broadway. Anticipating a change in the music business he took the lead in creating a partnership with Creative Goods to form what would become Forward Merch. Hamilton became the 1st of many shows that welcomed FM to The Great White Way.

Prior to his significant impact at FM/JSR Merchandising, Jeff spent over seven years at Brockum, where he dedicated himself to rock and roll merchandising. He traveled extensively, spending upwards of 200 nights a year on the road, overseeing merchandise for some of the biggest names in music, including Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, and Neil Young. His responsibilities encompassed every facet of merchandising sales, from touring with artists to managing inventories, settling shows, and collaborating closely with clients on design development.

Jeff’s career in the music industry began with Arnold Freedman Management, where he worked from 1985 to 1989. During this time, he helped managed the renowned band John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, particularly during their peak following the release of the triple platinum “Eddie and The Cruisers” soundtrack. His diverse portfolio also included managing artists such as Kenny Vance Robert Hazard, Robert Tepper and Peter Himmelman. A career highlight included coordinating and accompanying Himmelman on a remarkable two-month tour through Central Asia, where they performed in venues seldom visited by Western artists in 1988.

The foundations of Jeff’s career were laid in the radio industry, where he spent over six years from 1979 to 1985. It was at WHJY, one of the most influential Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) stations in the country, where he made his mark as Music Director. Joining WHJY during its launch in 1981 Jeff was influential in being the first to give airplay to Motley Crue, Talking Heads and hundred of other acts.

With a career spanning over four decades in the music and merchandising industries, Jeff continues to be a driving force, leveraging his vast experience and deep industry connections to influence the future of entertainment merchandising. His dedication and innovative approach have cemented his reputation as a respected leader and visionary in the industry.

Brad Mooberry – Chief Marketing Officer
BRAD MOOBERRY spent nearly 30 years as president and CEO of ad2, inc., Brad Mooberry began consulting with a variety of corporate, entertainment and non-profit clients on concepts for, and implementation of, multi-channel initiatives ranging from brand strategy and website development to social media and mobile marketing tactics.

As an experienced professional in both traditional and digital advertising, Mooberry has been deeply involved in creative marketing strategies and brand building solutions since 1980. When he founded ad2, it started as a boutique agency designing ads, catalogs, and brochures. Mooberry’s early adoption of digital prepress and desktop computing was considered highly visionary at the time. By the early 1990’s, ad2 emerged as a leader, not only for its creativity and marketing savvy, but also for its expertise and innovation in digital technology serving clients, such as Amblin Entertainment, Sony Pictures, Pepsi, Hilton Hotels, Columbia/TriStar Pictures, 20th Century Fox and many others. In 1992, Mooberry designed and programmed the industry’s first interactive CD-ROM press kit for Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, which opened the door to the company’s shift to digital production processes and communication mediums. In the late 90’s, working closely with the President of Hilton Hotels, Mooberry was tasked with many high profile assignments, including the strategic planning for Hilton’s corporate intranet; designing and building a company-wide interactive training program; writing and designing numerous presentations; and finally, articulating the vision for the Hilton Value Chain and designing the visual graphics for the poster sent to every hotel.

Under Mooberry’s direction as owner and creative director, ad2 received more than 160 interactive awards, including New York Festival, Summit Emerging Media, MarCom, Horizon, W3, Hermes Creative, Webby, Davey, London International and One Show Awards. The company was regarded as one of the top interactive agencies in the country having produced more than 300 web projects and more than 100 interactive CD-ROM titles with distribution of over 100,000,000 disks. Over the years, Mooberry has gained extensive experience creating and implementing digital projects across multiple marketing channels – websites, micro sites, social sites, interactive CD/DVD-ROMs, online campaigns, interactive games & activities, custom online applications, mobile sites and mobile apps, and much more.

Throughout his career, Mooberry has always been very ‘hands-on’ with computer software and using these tools to enhance his marketing skills that include brand identity, brand building, strategic planning, articulating vision, concept ideation, UI design, information architecture, copywriting, graphic design, photography, digital storytelling, print production, digital video editing and even some programming. He has helped a long list of clients make the shift to digital.

Caroline Galloway – Communications
Caroline Galloway is an award-winning entertainment and consumer brand marketing and PR expert with global experience. She has been a leader in her field responsible for iconic media campaigns and revenue generating programs for global brands including entertainment and music giants. Galloway has spent the last 23 years in the highly-competitive world of entertainment marketing making her mark by delivering global awareness through aggressive media placement and non-traditional marketing opportunities. She has lived in the United States and Europe.
Galloway’s experience includes PR and Marketing leadership roles with The Walt Disney Company, Tom Hanks’ Clavius Base Productions, Universal Studios, Planet Hollywood International and Gibson Brands. In 2011 she founded M2M PR & Partnerships. She has written copy for Presidents and Rock Stars and is credited on releases for some of the world’s most iconic musical artists and her written work has been featured in several magazines and newspapers.
She has been responsible for hundreds of multi-tiered PR campaigns for entertainment programming and events including the Super Bowl, Music Rising, the Disney-MGM Studios, Disneyland Paris, Gibson product launches and artist endorsements, Les Paul’s 100th Birthday, NAMM TEC Awards, T.J. Martell Foundation Honors Gala and many others. She has produced global press events, promotions and strategic partnerships for consumer product launches, theatrical releases, television programming, musical releases, tours and various celebrities.
Her awards include a New York Film Festival Silver Medal Award, the Billboard Humanitarian Award, the PRISM Award, the HALO Award Cause Marketing, The Jazz Foundation of America Medal of Honor and a Telly Award for her work with Les Paul.
Her vast experience has given her a window into non-traditional creative thinking that empowers success beyond the normal channels of promotion and public relations. Her connections from every point of the globe have brought strategic alliances and heightened media awareness in everything she does. She has provided key endorsement agreements for chart-topping musicians and VIPs and is engaged in promoting and helping people understand the Metaverse, NFTs and smart contracts.
In 2010, Galloway decided to take the advice of many of her partners and create a PR & Partnership agency to support their individual needs and programs. Since the day she opened it has been fast-forward with trusted entertainment and music partners who rely on her and her team to bring about new excitement and revenue creating ideas for their product, talent or platform.
She has always been described as “an energy that doesn’t stop” and she prides herself on a 24/7 mentality and a no-holds-barred attitude when it comes to creating a “sky is the limit” opportunity for her partners. There is no challenge too big for her to handle.
She is a co-founder of Music Rising, an organization also co-founded by U2’s the Edge and legendary producer Bob Ezrin. She sits on the board of the MLK Center in Newport, University of California – Santa Barbara – Women’s Advisory and the Advisory Board of the I’ll Fly Away Foundation. She holds numerous memberships and alliances with key industry decision makers and organizations.
Aside from an extensive marketing, production and PR background, Galloway prides herself on an entrepreneurial way of thinking combined with a commitment to community. She is married to an Emmy award winning videographer and television producer and has two children.