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Alan Wills spent his younger years playing with a succession of Liverpool bands most notably The Wild Swans and Shack until 1994 when he realised that maybe a move into the business side of music was overdue. Alan’s first job was as an A&R scout for Polygram Music where he had his first number one record when he brought in the band Mansun. He then followed the head of A&R at Polygram, Mark Lewis (who now runs B Unique Records) over to London Records and was a scout for the next year. Around this time Alan also branched into artist management. By 2000, Alan had set up his own Liverpool based label Deltasonic Records and was also managing it’s first signing The Coral. By 2002, through the success of The Coral, Deltasonic Records had embarked on a joint venture with Rob Stringer and Muff Winwood at Sony Records. In 2003, the same year he was awarded the Manager of The Year Award by MNF for work done with The Coral, Alan decided to quit artist management and concentrate full time on Deltasonic Records, over the next few years Deltasonic sold over 2 million records with the likes of The Coral, The Zutons, The Dead 60s, Candie Payne and others. Since then, Alan has started his publishing company Deltasonic Music Ltd and last year the company had their first number one record with The Last Shadow Puppets (the side project of Miles Kane from The Rascals and Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys). 2009 is the first year that Deltasonic has not released a commercial record in over 7 years but they are currently putting together the finishing touches to the debut albums from The Suzukis, The Red Suns, The Sand Band and Super Falling Star (the new band of former Little Flames guitarist Mat Gregory). These records show a departure from the sound that some people may have become accustomed to from Deltasonic into a darker sound.
Viva Entertainment’s digital media division services represents a some of the worlds biggest content houses including The Orchard, Saregama India, Warner Brothers Digital and more, delivering audio and video content in more than ten languages to MNO’s, MVNOs, independent retailers and service providers across the Middle East and North Africa.
Viva Entertainment is pioneering the reach of Original Philippines Music in the Middle East towards fulfilling the entertainment needs of the Overseas Filipino audience on a variety of Digital and traditional media.
Anuj has over 12 years of experience content management and marketing in music film and broadcasting. He has been associated with leading global content houses including EMI Music, BMG, Warner Home Video and Worldspace Satellite Radio.
Arjun got his start in the music business rather early when he started a mobile discotheque company called “Ear Damage’ with some friends, while in university, way back in 1990.
On completing his masters in advertising, in 1996, he joined Ambience Advertising (now Publicis) in Mumbai, as a management trainee in account servicing.
In 1999, he joined Sony Music India, in the strategic marketing department, and has been with them ever since, rising to his current position of Director and business head of ‘all things international’.
More recently, he has also been assigned the tasks of handling Indian classical & spiritual catalogue, the company’s home video initiative, and new media marketing.
Having spent almost 10 years in the industry with Sony Music, Arjun has launched and helped make successful albums from the likes of Michael Jackson, Shakira, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Santana, Bob Dylan and Elvis‐ to name a few. In addition, the international group at Sony has struck innovative partnerships and brought in the worlds most successful music brands and labels into India like Ministry of Sound Recordings, Defected UK, and others.
In 2002, SONY BMG India picked up on the sound of the Brit Asian youth through the launch of the seminal Boom Soundtrack and the ‘Friction’ series, jointly developed with BBC Radio 1 personality, Bobby Friction.
Arjun lists as his main interests as music, writing, reading, and the study of people, cultures and history.
People that he’d like to have a beer with are:
Oliver Stone
Noam Chomsky
George Lucas
John Mayer
George Clooney
Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine)
Sean Penn
Brent Grulke has over 30 years music business experience working variously as a music journalist and newspaper editor, sound engineer, tour manager, and record label manager. He's spent the last 15 years as Creative Director at the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference, a ten‐day event held each March in Austin, Texas, encompassing a film festival, an interactive conference, and a music festival and conference. SXSW is currently the largest music industry event in the Americas, showcasing over 1900 artists for over 20,000 music industry professionals.
Together with his partners, Brian manages and invests in a number of artists including Band of Skulls, Faithless, Hadouken, Kate Nash, Radiohead, The Rifles and Supergrass. He is chairman of the UK Music Managers Forum, an organisation of over 300 managers that is campaigning to drive significant structural change within the music business. As a member of the advisory committee of the Featured Artist Coalition Brian works towards giving 'artists' a seat at the industry table. He is also a founding partner of Polyphonic, the artist investment vehicle designed to provide funding for those artists with potential to build a long term business.
Started working life in the financial sector in the 80’s, got educated and worked in various banks and insurance companies in Denmark for a period of 12 years.
Worked as resident DJ in the 90´s together with ”SoulShock” (Producer for Whitney Houston, Tony Braxton, Mary J. Blige, Usher, 2Pac and many more) Joined the music business early 90´s together with legendary promoter Erik Thomsen and his E.T. Concerts. Promoted together with E.T. the following years various artists such as Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, The Prodigy, Johnny Cash, Van Morisson, Beck and many many more.
Was recruited in 1999 by The Agency Groups Neil Warnock to open up a Scandinavian branch of his agency.
Represented in a 5 year period acts like a-ha, Isaac Hayes, Status Quo, Saybia, Kaizers Orchestra, Kashmir and many more..
Opted to fly solo in 2004 and formed the new scandinavian agency and management company ”Skandinavian”.
Today representing a very diverse and eclectic roster with such artists as Nephew, Aqua, Thomas Dybdahl, Kaizers Orchestra, Veto, Spleen United, Outlandish and many more...
Chris Cooke is Founder and Publisher of CMU, the leading online network for the UK music business. As Business Editor of the CMU Daily e-bulletin he has been writing about the music industry on a daily basis for over ten years, and is seen as a leading expert on the sector. He often comments on key issues for other British media, in particular the BBC.
Chris is also Managing Director of UnLimited Media, owners of CMU, CreativeStudent.net and the flagship Edinburgh Festival publication ThreeWeeks. He also heads up UnLimited's creative and communication services agencies, runs training courses on music, media and PR, and regularly consults for leading brands on music, media, youth and cultural projects.
Geoff meall has been at the u.K. Offices of the global agency group since 1992 after entering the booking agency field through the tried and tested route of college social secretary. His current roster includes Muse, My Chemical Romance, Doves,
Super Furry Animals and Paramore. As well as booking his own roster across the world he’s in charge of the agency group’s U.K. Agents. Outside of music geoff is a huge Liverpool fc fan and a keen road cyclist.
A lawyer by qualification who specializes in Media and Entertainment Laws.
A founding member of the band “Zero” (the bassist) who have performed for over 9 years and have played over 200 live shows in India and abroad.
A founding Director in 'Only Much Louder' one of the only Event and Artist Management Companies, professionally managing leading Indian bands/acts and are booking agents for about 150 other acts across genres of music; including popular hindi/Bollywood performers/actors. A founding Director in ‘Counter Culture Records’ a record label and PR firm. A founding Director in ‘Babble Fish Productions’ a production company specializing in, creating music videos to covering live events,
including long format documentaries and short format shows for the internet.
Hussain, Spek Yoosuf is Managing Director and partner at Fairwood Music (Arabia), the leading music publisher in the Middle East & North Africa.
Prior to his current role, Spek was UK & European Representative for Ole Media Management. Based out of London, he sourced acquisitions and developed new business opportunities for the Canadian music publisher with over $100 million in initial financing.
He began his career as a successful songwriter, recording artist and producer in his native home of Canada working with artists including Dream Warriors, Us3 and later in the UK with Nitin Sawhney on his Mercury nominated album “Beyond Skin”.
Spek is a regular lecturer and speaker at international events on music publishing, a proactive advocate and expert on music rights in the Middle East, and an active player in the regional music industry.
Fairwood Music (Arabia) is the leading music publishing operation in the Middle East & North Africa. The company launched in January 2008 exclusively represents the music publishing catalogs of Universal Music Publishing, EMI Music Publishing, Cherry Lane, Roy Orbison Music and many others.
Huw was the singer in The Pooh Sticks from 1988 until 1995. The band made several albums, had major deals with BMG and Atlantic and toured in the US, Japan and Europe. By 1994 he had began managing Newport’s 60 Ft Dolls and guided the band through deals with Rough Trade and Geffen, world tours and UK hits. Huw has worked as an A&R consultant for Sony and Warners. His involvement with Catatonia and Stereophonics led to the formation of publishing company; Townhill Music which was funded by Sony UK. Huw co-founded Welsh Music Foundation in 2000 and as manager up until 2002 Huw oversaw its involvement in bringing BBC Radio 1 live , Interactive City and the Barfly venue to Cardiff, creating the first music directory for Wales and launching the free Honk/ SoundNation magazine.
Huw has been a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio Wales for over a dozen years and was instrumental in bringing XFM to South Wales. More recently, Huw co founded ‘Soundtrack International music and film festival and is currently working as a creative industries consultant.
Iain Bennett is Sector Leader for Digital & Creative Industries at the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), a UK region including the major cities of Manchester and Liverpool. The Northwest's Digital & Creative Cluster is the second largest in Europe, with some 30,000 firms and 320,000 individuals, and generates about £16 billion per annum. Iain is responsible for strategy and direction of public investment of around £10m per annum, and for steering public sector intervention in the development of MediaCityUK and the region's superfast broadband network.
Before joining NWDA, Iain worked in creative businesses in London, where he was a theatrical agent for 11 years before focusing on digital media as partner in a design agency, consultant, and director of a Digital Media Incubator at London Metropolitan University.
Nokia is the world's leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks including related customer services.
Nokia’s Comes With Music is revolutionising the way people download music, legally that is. Comes With Music means access to the more than 5 million songs that are available from the Nokia Music Store, which means access to a wide array of the best international and local artists. A bonus is that you get to keep the music once the year is over.
Jason Sausto is the President of Onkyo China. He has spent his career connecting the West to Asia. Jason began this road as an entrepreneur in Tokyo, where he founded and ran one of Japan’s earliest online travel portals. He then moved into media to become the Managing Director for Red Herring’s Asia operations.
Today, he is working to integrate Onkyo’s next generation AV technology with contents in new ways to give birth to yet-to-be-imagined entertainment.
Jason has worked in Silicon Valley, Washington DC, Singapore, Paris, Beijing, and Tokyo but currently splits his time between Shanghai and Hong Kong. He is fluent in Chinese and Japanese, and has an MA from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and an MBA from INSEAD. to a wide array of the best international and local artists. A bonus is that you get to keep the music once the year is over.
Jeff Blue is a multi‐platinum music producer, A&R executive, BMI and APRA award‐winning songwriter, musician, and attorney. He has worked as Sr. VP A&R/Staff Producer for Warner Bros.
Records, Interscope Records, Virgin/Capitol Music Group, Sony/BMG/Jive Records, and RCA/J Records. He is responsible for discovering and developing unsigned artists Linkin Park, Macy Gray, and The Last Goodnight.
Blue graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as a Communications Major focusing on Media Law. After attending Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and passing the Bar, he pursued a career in journalism, working with media outlets such as Billboard and Entertainment Weekly, all while he simultaneously managed, produced, and played drums in two signed Major label bands. He eventually published his own magazine, Crossroads, which focused on profiling talented unsigned musicians, while also working as an attorney for the law offices of Ross Schwartz.
Blue began his career at Zomba Music Publishing as Senior VP of A&R where he discovered, signed, developed Korn and Limp Bizkit. He also co‐wrote, produced, developed, and imaged Macy Gray. After recording Gray's demos, Blue landed a deal for the artist at Epic Records. During his career with Zomba, Blue taught "Songwriting" and "Artist Development in the Music Business" classes at UCLA and where he hired Brad Delson as his intern. Delson told Blue about Xero, a new band he was performing with, and Blue signed them to a publishing deal on the night of their first performance.
After developing Xero for two years, which had then changed its name to Hybrid Theory, Blue met Chester Bennington, a singer from Arizona who had just left his band. Blue arranged for Bennington to audition and he eventually became a member of the band, which later changed its name to Linkin Park. Blue shopped the band for three years and showcased them forty‐four times. Unable to get them a deal, Blue negotiated his employment contract with Warner Bros. Records to include the signing of Linkin Park. Months later, they released their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which has since sold over 24 million albums worldwide. While at Warner Bros. Records, Blue executive produced Linkin Park, Queen of the Damned Soundtrack, Beautiful Creatures, several compilations, and developed multi‐platinum artist Daniel Powter.
Blue is currently signed as a songwriter to Universal Music Publishing where he co‐wrote the 2009 hit single "So Close, So Far" for multi‐Platinum artist Hoobastank. He additionally co‐wrote, produced, and performed on the platinum 2009 BMI pop award winner and 2008 Australian #1 song of the year international hit, "Pictures of You", and "Stay Beautiful" for The Last Goodnight.
His company Blue Ladder currently focuses on writing and producing for major artists as well as developing new and upcoming talent.
The targeted development and intensive promotion of young authors and artists were the motives that incited me to become music publisher in 1990 ‐ so I decided to create the Hamburg music publishing company AMV Alster Musikverlag. And after the name change into AMV Talpa GmbH in 2006, the passion for music is still at the core of my business. AMV composers have written hits for successful artists like Eisblume (# 3 hit in Germany), the Frank Popp Ensemble ("Hip teens don't wear blue jeans"), Udo Lindenberg (# 1 album in 2008), Thomas Godoj (German Pop Idol winner 2008), Jimi Blue Ochsenknecht, Sunrise Avenue, No Angels, Philip Bailey, BeFour, Yvonne Catterfeld, Swedish superstar Carola or Johnnie Logan. AMV bands such as Cinema Bizarre (Borderbreaker Awards 2009), Subway to Sally (Bundesvision winner 2008), Deine Lakaien, Covenant or the newcomer Bermuda Triangle rightfully belong to the main alternative/rock acts of the recent years.
And in the area of dance, AMV Talpa looks after Tiesto, Gadjo ("So Many Times"), Jens ("Loops & Tings"), Humate ("Love Stimulation") and Kai Winter for example. The international writers represented by AMV include works by Shaggy, Akon, Sean Paul, the Gorillaz, Cypress Hill, and many others.
Jitin Abraham started his career in the entertainment industry, while still at University, as a radio presenter with Times FM Bombay, the first FM Radio station to be launched in India. Shortly after, he joined MTV India where he managed international talent / label relations and brought to India acts like Alanis Morissette, Westlife, Safri Duo and Ronan Keating for various MTV events. While at MTV India, he designed the content business plan for Viacom’s second Indian channel, Vh1 India. He went on to head the new channel’s On Air Promos, Show Production, Artist Relations and Music Programming departments where he toured acts such as Mobb Deep, Chamillionaire, Herbie Hancock, Taxiride, Al Jarreau across India. In 2005, he got leading Indian rock band Pentagram a performance slot at Glastonbury Festival and as part of Vh1 India’s initiative, flew them across to the event. This made them the first contemporary Indian indie act to do so.
In 2007, he left Vh1 to develop 21 Tigers Entertainment, an agency that manages and develops musicians, artists and venues. Additionally, the boutique agency also produces audio and visual content. In 2009, he played a key role in putting together the India Climate Solutions Road Tour, a journey across 3500 kms of India, through villages and small towns, with a solar powered band while simultaneously documenting grass roots solutions for achieving sustainable development.
21Tigers’ current projects include developing music venues in Bombay, a British drum n bass act Shiva Soundsystem, a US hip hop project, a few alternative Indian acts, supervising music for a British feature film, producing a documentary on the preservation of culture in the face of modernization.
Since Jitin’s father was in the Indian Army, he grew up in different parts of India and this fostered in him a deep respect for the rich artistic heritage, of the myriad cultures he came across and for a people, whose God changed with the topography.
Julian Wall is Director Independent Member Services & International Events @ the BPI, the UK record label trade association. The BPI has 450+ members and is involved in all aspects of helping the membership develop their business in the UK & international marketplace. Prior to the BPI, Julian has spent time in marketing, sales & promotion at a number of UK record labels including Sony (Arista & RCA), Universal and latterly the UK independent label Sanctuary, where Julian was VP
International Marketing & Sales – Sanctuary was sold to Universal in 2007. At the BPI, Julian is charged with all (BPI) matters to do with the independent sector and heads up the BPI Independent/International committee. In addition and alongside the UKTI, the very successful overseas trade missions for UK labels to Japan & Los Angeles are organised through the BPI International department.
The BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) is the representative voice of the recorded music industry. Our membership currently comprises over 450 music companies, including hundreds of independent record companies of all sizes, the four “major” Music – and related manufacturing and distribution companies of both physical and digital products. BPI members account for around 90% of recorded music sales in the UK.
Kimitaka Kato was born in Yokosuka, Japan and raised in Manila and London. He joined Polygram K.K. in 1998 and experienced various roles such as sales, media promotion, international A&R marketing, and became the Managing Director of Universal International in 2007.
Universal International is currently the leading record label with the highest market share for non-domestic, international repertoire.
Kimitaka also launched a domestic label, Delicious Deli Records, in Jan 2009 to create a platform for local artists and international artists to create magic.
After 15+ years in the Major Label world, Lou decided to start a new style of music marketing company which required an odd blend of music expertise and technology. There were a lot of companies that were building small online tools and music discovery sites but Lou wanted to build a marketing platform that took advantage of the syndication of the viral capabilities of the web and the measurement and data capabilities inherent in technology. Lou partnered with a few friends who had built two successful web based technology companies centered on marketing. Together, they founded ReverbNation which launched October 31, 2006.
ReverbNation now serves 475,000+ Artists, Labels, Managers, Venues/Promoters and other Music Industry Pros with a complete solution for fan management, promotion, distribution, direct-to-fan commerce, and analytics. ReverbNation's mission is to uncover value for the musician. In addition to providing core business services, we seek to create new revenue streams for its users. ReverbNation is laser-focused on the Artist, and it is this unique perspective that has made ReverbNation successful.
Prior to starting ReverbNation, Lou was a music industry veteran, logging in 12 years in finance, marketing and artist development positions at Atlantic Records before he was handpicked to head up the Marketing and Artist Development departments of Lava Records. Lou has handled marketing for such artists as Kid Rock, Simple Plan, Uncle Kracker, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, George Carlin, Unwritten Law, O.A.R., Blue Man Group, Nonpoint and many others. Lou was also responsible for negotiating strategic partnerships such as Nascar's Chevy Rock n Roll 400, Schick's Intuition Tour, Disney's Grad Night and dozens of other sponsorship deals.
Matt started off as a promoter in Stoke where he promoted tours nationally while studying journalism at Staffordshire University. After booking Babyshambles independently for 2 years, Matt moved to London and joined Primary Talent in October 2005 and started to build his roster.
His acts include Babyshambles, The Wombats, CSS, Metronomy, The Holloways, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong and The Pipettes.
Michael Chugg has come from humble beginnings to become one of the most recognisablecharacters in Australia’s entertainment industry. His reputation is built not solely on his career as a successful promoter, but equally as a committed philanthropist and humanitarian.
Following twenty‐five successful years with Frontier Touring Company, promoting more than 135 of the biggest international acts in Australia, including The Police, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli and Sammy Davis JR, Bon Jovi, Kylie Minogue, Billy Joel, Madonna, Sting, Guns 'N Roses, KISS, Pearl Jam, Tom Jones and The Cure. Michael Chugg left to form his own independent entertainment company, Michael Chugg Entertainment (now known as Chugg Entertainment). Chugg Entertainment has firmly established Michael Chugg in his own right, as one of the world’s leading promoters. He has not only promoted some of the biggest concerts in Australia and New Zealand, but also tirelessly promotes Australian music to the rest of the world.
Now almost 10 years young Chugg Entertainment has produced and promoted hundreds of tours, festival and special events, including participation in some of Australia and the world’s biggest and most successful charity concerts. In Chugg Entertainment’s short history, Michael Chugg has brought hundred’s of international acts to Australia including Bob Dylan, Elton John, Bette Midler, Robbie Williams, Gwen Stefani, Mark Knopfler, Keith Urban, Santana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kings Of Leon, AC/DC, John Mayer, Radiohead, Simon and Garfunkel and Coldplay. In addition to these blockbuster artists, Michael Chugg has toured hundreds of up and coming acts in the early stages of their careers, many of whom, over time, with years of hard work and solid promotion, become these major touring artists.
In addition to his staying power of over 45 years in the business, Michael Chugg’s excellence in his field and community is also acknowledged through the array of local and international awards.
These awards recognise his achievements and commitment to the Australian and International Live Music scene and just some include Jack Award’s “Gentleman Jack Award” (Lifetime Achievement Award) (AUS), Helpmann Award’s for “Best Contemporary Concert” (Bette Midler) and the Byron Bay Bluesfest (AUS), and ‘Sound Relief”, The ILMC’s "Bottle Award" (Lifetime Achievement Award) (UK) and Pollstar’s International Promoter of the Year’.Award x 2 (USA).
Myles started his career at 17, sweeping studio floors, humping sound and film equipment and perfecting his tea making skills. He was rewarded by spending 3 months on the road with Pink Floyd in Canada and watching the Floyd’s merchandise fly off the shelves, he was prompted to set-up his own concert merchandising company at the age of 20. A chance encounter led him into the lions den of UK radio and television promotion for several years until joining the team who would set up First Avenue Records and Management in the mid 90s. Countless UK hits with Eternal, Dina Carroll, Michelle Gayle, Brand New Heavies, MN8 were then followed by several years as Head of International at EMI Records to close out the 90’s. He set-up Mylestone in 2001 and managed a variety of artists, producers and songwriters including Kele Le Roc, Relish, Airman, Johnson, Nina Woodford, Fraser T Smith and Johnny Panic prior to then joining PRS for Music in May 2006.
Born in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1965. Joined Creativeman Productions in 1989 and promoted to CEO in 1996. He was the first one to pick up artists such as Radiohead, Green Day, Offspring, Marilyn Manson and Muse before anyone else in Japan and organised their shows in Japan – which was the trigger to break those acts in Japan.
He started organizing so-called urban style rock festival “Summer Sonic” which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year and total audience figures are now over 200,000 people in 2 days. Apart from Summer Sonic, he started other festivals that are more focused on genre category such as “Punk Spring”, “Spring Groove”, “Loud Park” and “British Anthems”, and all of these festivals attract attention worldwide.
Robert Swerdlow has been running a successful management company since 1991. The clients range from the la’s , mansun , 3beat records artsists’ , cast , the ordinary boys , the kooks....... whilst developing across the business he has also ran an independent record label signing acts from stellastarr , my chemical romance to recently screaming lights and the hot melts.
Rudy Chung is a Los Angeles-based music supervisor and music consultant for film/TV at Hit The Ground Running (HTGR). He has music supervised projects for HBO, CBS, ABC, FOX, NBC, the CW and MTV. He also recently consulted on several Russian productions for Sony Pictures Television International in Moscow. A Detroit native and a graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, Rudy came to LA to work as the head grant-writer at the Henry Mancini Institute. HTGR's current and past music supervision projects include CSI, CSI: New York, Entourage, Three Rivers, The Forgotten, Dark Blue, Everybody Hates Chris, The Cleaner, Goal!, Flicka, and the Oscar winning short-form documentary "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin". HTGR is currently working on a feature independent film called The Big Bang, which Johnny Marr is composing.
Shain Shapiro is the UK and European manager for the Canadian Independent Music Association. He is responsible for coordinating all Canadian related showcasing Europe wide, as well as encouraging and assisting cultural import and export between Canada and the EU.
Previous to this he was a press manager at One Little Indian and FatCat Records, and writes for over a dozen music magazines around the world. He lives in North London.
Born and raised purely in Tokyo, Japan. Started my career at EMI Records back in early 80s as an International Product Manager responsible for Queen, The Beatles, Iron Maiden, Pet Shop Boys, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Duran Duran etc etc... After 24 years working for EMI, moved to Warner Music as the head of Strategic Marketing (lated named "Rhino Japan" just before I left ...) invloved in catalogue exploitation, compilations, special products and Classical music for two years. Joined Fujipacific on Jan.1.2009 to start my very first year in music publishing business. Not a good singer nor a good guitar player but play guitar when drunk :)
Accepting the post of Chief Operating Officer at Arabian Radio Network in August, 2008, Steve Smith is mandated to continue the growth of ARN, develop programming and revenue for ARN’s existing seven stations, and chart a course for further expansion.
Smith’s extensive senior management experience in the Australian radio and entertainment industry spans over 15 years, and includes five years as General Manager of the Melbourne-based Australian Radio Network, where he achieved record ratings and revenue results.
His business acumen and keen understanding of the demands of varying target audiences make him the right choice to help ARN set the pace for FM radio both regionally and internationally.
Having worked in the early years at Universal Music, Chrysalis Music and then BMI. She then became Publishing Manager at J. Albert & Son in the UK, representing AC/DC and The Teletubbies amongst others. In 2005 she set up Pick and Mix Music working with UK independent record labels and publishers placing music into international films, TV productions and adverts (these include EA Sports, Motorola, CSI, Malcolm in The Middle, The L Word, One Tree Hill, Grey's Anatomy, Sisterhood of The Travelling Pants, Post Grad to name a few). She also music supervises productions from the UK including the BAFTA nominated film 'Son Of Rambow' (Paramount), RAW 1 & II (Ecosse Films), Art Rocks (Sky) and 'Meadowlands' (Ecosse, Showtime)
As Vice President of Music Affairs at Activision Publishing, Inc., Tim Riley directs all activities concerning the integration of music into the company’s leading franchises such as Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, Tony Hawk, Spider‐Man and Call of Duty, and aggressively seeks opportunities to expand Activision’s alliances with record labels, publishers and artists around the world. With more than 19 years of experience in the music industry, including over 7 years at Activision, and an extensive background Eminem, Green Day, Michael Jackson, JAY‐Z, Taylor Swift, No Doubt, Jimi Hendrix and countless others to Activision’s games. During his tenure, Activision has earned several distinguished awards, including the MTV Music Award for "Best Soundtrack for a Video Game" for Tony Hawk’s Underground.
Since Activision Publishing's acquisition of RedOctane in 2006, Riley has overseen the integration music into the Guitar Hero franchise. As the #1 best‐selling video game franchise in North America and Europe for the past two years, Guitar Hero has sold in excess of 37 million units worldwide, and fans have downloaded more than 40 million licensed songs for the franchise, an innovation pioneered by Riley and the Guitar Hero team. In addition, Riley has lead the creation of Guitar Hero games made specifically around some of the world's leading artists, including Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen. Guitar Hero revolutionized how audiences interact with music by offering a much more engaging way for fans to experience music from their favorite artist and introducing a new generation of fans to some of biggest names in music. Guitar Hero is set to once again revolutionize how audiences interact with music with the launch of DJ Hero. The highly anticipated game, which has already won several industry awards including “Best Music/Rhythm Game” at E3, will expand the Guitar Hero audience with the addition of diverse music genres such as hip‐hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and dance, further broadening Riley's reach in the music industry. To date, a multitude of top performers in the world have signed on to participate in the game, including JAY‐Z, Eminem, Daft Punk, DJ Shadow and Z‐Trip.
Beyond traditional game releases, Riley has introduced exclusive game‐specific music compilations for Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero and DJ Hero, featuring music from Eminem, JAY‐Z, My Chemical Romance and the Smashing Pumpkins. Riley has also licensed over 40 in‐game characters for Activision games, including Ozzy Osbourne, Kurt Cobain, Taylor Swift, Johhny Cash, Billie Joe Armstrong, Slash, Tom Morello, Sting, and many others.
Prior to joining Activision, Riley was a founding partner of Westies Music/Consulting, where he supervised music direction for action sports films and video games. Before beginning Westies, Riley founded and served as president of Go Big! Entertainment, a music/lifestyle company and independent record label that released successful CD compilations such as the “Free Air” series and provided music for award‐winning action‐sports films and events including Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Huck Jam tour, OP King of Skate and Tony Hawk’s Gigantic Skate Park tour. Formerly,. Riley held A&R positions at some of the industry’s top record labels including Jive, Giant/Revolution, Warner Bros., and Geffen, working under the tutelage of industry heavy weights David Geffen Irving Azoff and Clive Calder, among others.
Riley is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and is on the nominations panel for the music committee of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. A widely recognized expert and innovator in the use of music in video games, Riley has been an invited speaker at such conferences as the CMJ Music Marathon, South By Southwest, MIDEM, E3, In The City, North By Northwest, New Orleans Media Experience, Billboard Music Conference, and has garnered acclaim in such outlets as Rolling Stone, Playboy, Billboard, LA Times and MTV. Riley has also served as music coordinator for the 900‐band, 60‐venue, 4‐night CMJ Music Marathon in New York City and is a guest lecturer at the University of California Los Angeles.
Wang Ju, the Administrative Vice President & Secretary General of China Audio‐Video Association, musical commentator and producer, has held positions of CNR Music Editor、journalist、DJ、Vice President of CNR Audio‐Video Publishing House、General Manager of CRC Distributor、executive editor for China‐ AV periodical office etc.
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