Record of Culture or Creative Compromise Panel at SXSW Features Halle Petro, Rich Robinson and Victor Le Masne

Mar. 13, 2026

Halle Petro, ECD/Partner of Sonic Union, Rich Robinson, EVP & Global Head of Sync, Warner Chappell Music and Victor Le Manse Grammy Award winning Writer, Composer & Artist will be at SXSW on a mainstage panel “Sphere of Influence: Record of Culture Or Creative Compromise.” The panel takes place on Monday, March 16th at 4 PM in Capital Ballroom E.

When it comes to music for film and ad content, an original music track often becomes a romantic ideal. During the session, Halle Petro from Sonic Union, Rich Robinson from Warner Chapel Music, and Grammy award winning artist Victor Le Masne will discuss the top 10 licensed songs, the songwriter’s point of view, language and ideas as inspiration, and how to interpret originally, versus infringing upon what’s come before (including AI). How do we understand the success of narrative in original music? This panel will offer best practices about musical creative ideations, and the insight and language to up your creative output and define the collaborative process of creating music.

Victor Le Masne is a French music composer, producer, arranger and musical director very active on the new music scene for more than 20 years. Named Composer and Musical Director for the Ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, he has composed the original music for the Ceremonies as well as the Games Anthem “Parade,” and has collaborated with Lady Gaga, Gojira, Aya Nakamura, Jean-Michel Jarre and many others. Since 2022, he has also been Musical Director of the famous and multi-awarded musical “Starmania.” He is currently signed at European prestigious record label Deutsche Grammophon.

Halle Petro is Partner and Executive Creative Director at Sonic Union in NYC, overseeing areas of creative, immersive, and experiential audio. Ms Petro launched the creative arm of Sonic Union and inspired its adoption into the entirety of the company’s ethos through a deep understanding of the collaborative process with staff + clients for original music, podcast content development and production, sound design and cinematic audio. Projects Ms Petro has participated in have included advertising, documentary features, episodic television and podcasts with brands including Ford, Chase, Verizon, Nintendo, Samsung, BMW, and many others. These collaborations have earned Emmy, Ambie, Webby and James Beard Awards and nominations, as well as accolades at Cannes Lions, Clios, and AICP. She was the Creator/Writer/Executive Producer of the PRX network critically acclaimed original show We Got You, and has served as an AICP Board Member, on AICP Curatorial + AMP Curatorial Committees, and previously spoken at SXSW, Ciclope Berlin.

Rich Robinson is Executive VP and Global Head of Sync and Media/Original Music at Warner Chappell Music (WCM). Since joining the company in 2018, he has pioneered global synchronization strategy, becoming the first dedicated sync leader at WCM in 2019, shaping how songwriter catalogs reach film, TV and ad media worldwide. Previously VP, Sync at Warner Music UK & Europe, Rich placed major tracks in campaigns such as John Lewis Christmas ads and scripted shows like Resident Evil, I, Tonya and Netflix’s Residue. His global sync leadership emphasizes creative collaboration between songwriters, supervisors and production teams.