10:45 AM - Noon
Session B:
Digital Music - From the Internet Into the Home
There are probably more than a thousand websites offering high quality digital music content directly to the consumer and it’s all one hundred percent free, although possibly not exactly legal. Nevertheless, it may be the best thing that ever happened to the music industry, from the artists and the record companies to the manufacturers of computers and digital playback devices that are rolling new equipment off their assembly lines today - not to mention the Internet music companies themselves. Why? Because what may appear to be a financial black hole, may instead lead to a windfall. The optimistic scenario suggests that in an expanding marketplace, many greater numbers of consumers will want to listen to music - on portable devices, on computers, on car systems, TVs with MP3s, on anything that reads digital. Even if five percent of the total sales of CDs is subject to piracy, if the total number of music fans has grown by twenty five percent, the net gain is significant. Whatever the numbers, and whatever the outcome, the revolution in digital music is real and we will find out about it here.
Joyce Eastman, Manager, Software Product Development, Lucent Technologies
Robert Reid, CEO, Listen.com
Herbie Hancock, Recording Artist & Musician
Pat Boyle, Product Manager, RealJukebox, RealNetworks
Jonathan Gear, Lead Product Manager, Microsoft Digital Media Division
MTV Networks, speaker to be announced
Dave Goldberg, Chairman & CEO, Launch
Richard Doherty, CEO, The Envisioneering Group, Moderator
Herbie Hancock is a true icon of jazz. His explorations of music have transcended limitations and genres, while at the same time he has maintained his unmistakable voice. Herbie has not only changed the face of music in the century, but he continues to amaze and expand the public's vision of what music, particularly jazz, is all about. To say that herbie is a consummate musician is really understating the case, particularly when one looks back at the keyboardist-composer's professional achievements over the past 39 years. Symbols of Hancock’s Midas touch range from his 1987 Academy Award for his soundtrack to the film Round Midnight, to the five Grammys that he has received in the 1980s and 1990’s. In addition to his performing career, Hancock holds several prominent artistic positions. Since 1991 he has been the Distinguished Artist in Residence at Jazz Aspen Snowmass in Aspen, Colorado, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and performance of jazz and American music. Three decades since his emergence in the New York jazz scene, Hancock has lived up to every expectation the world has set for him. As another pioneer in the jazz scene Miles Davis said in his autobiography: Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven&Mac226;t heard anybody yet who has come after him. As Herbie’s career has flourished, there is no doubt that he has lived up to Miles&Mac226; assessment of him as the heir apparent to Powell and Monk. From there has progressed onward to create an aesthetic that combines the vanguard of synthesized, acoustic and computerized space with funky dance music. Hancock also recognizes the importance of the new information super highway which combines all of the art forms-music, film, video and computer technology and points to new creative arenas in the 21st century.
David B. Goldberg, Co-Founder of LAUNCH Media, Inc., serves as the company’s Chairman and CEO. Under his leadership, LAUNCH has developed into one of the leading interactive entertainment brands and LAUNCH.com has become one of the web’s premier music destination sites. By striking deals with major forces like MSN, Intel, AOL, NBC, RealNetworks and others, Goldberg is turning LAUNCH Media, Inc. into one of the most viable entertainment forces. Goldberg was recently named one of Los Angeles’ ‘Top 50 Internet Executives’ by The Silicon Alley Reporter and one of the ‘Top 20 Local Players in the Broadband Revolution’ by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Prior to founding LAUNCH Mr.Goldberg was Director of Marketing Strategy and New Business Development at Capitol Records in Hollywood, California. While in this position, Mr. Goldberg was responsible for the development of new multimedia distribution methods and the development of alternative channels through which music and new artists could be effectively marketed to consumers. Before Capitol, Goldberg worked as a management consultant at Bain & Co., a prominent strategic consulting firm. Mr. Goldberg graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a B.A. in History and Government.
Pat Boyle, Product Manager, RealJukebox, RealNetworks, Inc.: Pat Boyle, RealJukebox Product Manager, is responsible for requirements, marketing and strategic partnerships for RealJukebox, the most popular music jukebox software in the world. Previously, Pat was responsible for RealNetworks' authoring tools, RealProducer and RealSlideshow. Before coming to RealNeworks, Pat was Product Manager for Web Server products at Compuserve. He holds a B.S.M.E. and M.B.A. from the University of Washington in Seattle.