Albhy Galuten is Senior Vice President, Advanced Technology, at eLabs, Universal Music Group's Global Research, Development and Strategic Investment arm and is responsible for technology and standards. Under Mr. Galuten, eLabs and the Universal Music's Advanced Technology group develops and licenses technologies relating to the entertainment industry and Universal's strategic venture partners. eLabs is a division of UMG exclusively dedicated to exploring, developing, and evolving global business and new technology strategies. It houses an incubation group to develop new businesses internally, which can then be migrated to either existing operating units or new stand-alone divisions, eLabs also includes comprehensive marketing, consumer research, advance technology and a business development team to support all of UMG's online businesses. In addition to his technological achievements, Mr. Galuten is an award-winning record producer, songwriter and arranger. In 1978 he won two Grammies including Producer of the Year. His original compositions and orchestrations for Film, Theatre and on record have won him a Dramalogue Award and two BMI Awards. During his music career which spanned more than 20 years in the industry, Mr. Galuten worked with numerous multi-platinum artists, produced eighteen No. 1 singles, and generated sales of more than 100 million records.

Jeremy Hinman is the director of Business Development for MSN® Music and is responsible for its strategic direction. Hinman was a project manager on the NASA Gravity Probe B Satellite Program from 1995 to 1996 and a software engineer for ReleaseNow.com, an electronic software distribution company, from 1996 to 1999. He was the founder and president of Mongomusic Inc. and now finds himself at Microsoft Corp. after its successful acquisition of MongoMusic. Hinman is an established visionary regarding the future of music distribution and promotion, and has some truly clairvoyant theories about consumer scenarios regarding digital music use and the importance of interface design in digital media distribution. Hinman has a bachelor’s degree in symbolic systems from Stanford University. He is also a trained classical pianist who has engaged the hearts and ears of many vacationers dining at numerous Utah ski resorts.

Ted Cohen was most recently executive VP of Digital Music Network Inc., where he co-founded and served as Chairman of the Webnoize conferences. Additionally, Cohen ran two highly successful new media consulting operations, DMN Consulting and Consulting Adults, attracting clients such as Amazon.com, Microsoft, Universal Studios New Media, DreamWorks Records, Liquid Audio, Wherehouse Records/Checkout.com, Hollywood Stock Exchange and many other entertainment, computer and new media organizations. Cohen is a 25-year veteran of the music industry and has served in senior management positions for both Warner Bros. Records and Philips Media. He is considered a leader in the new media/music field and one of the most well-connected players operating in the space.

Ken Hertz, Music Partner, Hanson, Jacobson: There's no denying that the world of entertainment is in the midst of high tech change, as consumers demand instant digital delivery of music, bands want easier access to their fans, and record companies ponder what their new roles will be. While no one's sure exactly how the future will take shape, a California legal team has kept abreast of the action for years. Their willingness to get involved with, and sometimes even guide, the evolutionary process is making waves in the industry. "You have to push the edges of the envelope, and record companies don't want you to push at all," says music lawyer Ken Hertz. With Fred Goldring, Hertz is one half of a law team that through tough negotiation and perceptive understanding of technology's new opportunities, is seeking to change the options, as well as the monetary rewards, for artists. What strikes many observers is that when high tech firms and giant Hollywood companies gather to discuss how the future of media is taking shape, at many times Hertz and Goldring appear to be amongst the only voices truly speaking on behalf of artists. The two started their practice in 1989 as partners in the law firm now called Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman & Warren. LLC. Pushing them forward was the belief that a singular focus on supporting artists would build a solid business and avoid the conflict of interests rampant in the music industry which further lead them to establish Goldring, Hertz, Lichtenstein & Haft, LLP this year. "Generally speaking, we don't represent record companies; we don't represent publishing companies; we don't represent management firms -- we represent artists," says Hertz. (The artists they represent these days would be anyone's envy: Alanis Morissette, Will Smith, No Doubt, Boyz II Men, Live and Herbie Hancock, to name just a few.) The notion the team had when they started their practice was to help artists with their career strategies, as opposed to just cutting deals for them; to take time and figure out what the long-term impact would be on an artist's career, as opposed to making deals in a vacuum." "We're in the career business, not just in the deal business," says Goldring. "What we've been trying to do is create opportunities for our clients and help them build and strengthen the brands that they've created." A passion for defending those artists' rights and careers led Hertz and Goldring to look seriously and fearlessly at new developments in high tech, a field filled with promise, but fraught with fear and sometimes bullying from big companies that feel threatened by the new landscape. It's just the kind of challenge that the iconoclastic team seem primed for. Hertz insists that in an industry rigged so heavily in favor of companies, and not artists, the only way to enhance their clients ' careers "is to think outside the box." Their intense focus, and a knack for leaping out of such boxes, led Hertz and Goldring to become as involved as possible in guiding how the industry develops to the benefit of artists. The pair noticed years ago that big changes were afoot, and opportunities were beckoning, and are now prominent pundits , articulating their positions in meetings and industry conferences around the country. "We've been very proactive in this space for years," says Hertz, "from enhanced CDs through multimedia to Internet convergence to online digital delivery."


Tim Bratton, Vice President of Subscription Services, Listen.com: Tim is leading Listen's efforts to create a next-generation streaming media technology that can be used on subscription, wireless and Web platforms. Tim was most recently CEO and co-founder of the streaming media technology company TuneTo.com. TuneTo was acquired by Listen in April 2001. Tim has more than 12 years of experience in the high tech, computer audio and networking industries. Prior to forming TuneTo.com, Tim was vice president of sales and marketing for Spatializer Audio Laboratories - a leading provider of 3D audio technology. Earlier, as a co-founder of pioneering PC audio company Media Vision, Tim grew the company sales to $70 million in two years and participated in the company's very successful IPO. He has also served as a principal for investment banking firm Venture Management and participated in the creation of cable modem networking standards. Tim holds a BSEE from the University of California at San Diego and an MBA from Santa Clara University.




Ruben R. Lozano II, President and CEO, loudENERGY: Ruben Lozano is the founder, President and CEO of loudENERGY, an online/offline music community that brings together professionals in the music industry with aspiring artists and their fans. loudENERGY has its own record label, LE Recordings, and runs the only online site to perform a professional A&R function for producers and artists. His first entrepreneurial effort was to found Maya-Mex Imports, a company that imported goods from Guatemala, Mexico, and Thailand. Five years later, Ruben left the import business to accept a position with Solar Computers, Inc, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of motherboards and other computer peripherals. His duties included researching and advising the company on the development of a new, branded line of products designed for the U.S. market. In 1997, intrigued with the Internet, he resigned from his position at Solar Computer to launch NextWave Technologies, Inc., an Internet/new media company. There, he developed an Internet/CD-ROM hybrid application and unique business model to help consumers and corporations circumvent existing bandwidth problems to facilitate the support of highly targeted, real-time, Internet commercials. He would later leave NextWave to focus exclusively on loudENERGY.