Vanessa Ferrer is the founder and CEO of Merch Cat and a CPA with more than 15 years of experience in finance and the music business. Armed with the heart of an artist, the belief that she could make a difference, and the drive to make it happen, Ferrer founded InFocus Artist Management in 2009. After managing independent artists and consulting for high-profile industry professionals, she recognized a need for more accessible tools to support emerging artists and their teams. Using her multifaceted background, she developed and launched Merch Cat in December 2015, a musician-friendly platform for managing merchandise sales, inventory, settlements, and analytics at live shows. She later launched Merch Cat FAN, a connected direct-to-fan app that helps artists further capitalize on the artist-fan connection. Most recently, Merch Cat added integrated Luminate reporting, enabling artists to report eligible live-show physical music sales so those sales can count toward Billboard charting.
Ferrer is a familiar face and voice at artist- and industry-focused conferences. Passionate about education, she has curated panels and participated in more than two dozen speaking engagements at SXSW, Music Biz, AmericanaFest, Canadian Music Week, A2IM Indie Week, New York Music Month, Mondo, and others. She has also served as an SXSW mentor for three consecutive years. Ferrer is a member of the Recording Academy and the Music Managers Forum.