Music Panel
Jon Irwin
President & CEO of Rhapsody
Jon Irwin is the President and CEO of Rhapsody. Launched in 2001, Rhapsody is one of the first on-demand music subscription services in the world. Jon has spent his career building strong subscription businesses. Prior to Rhapsody, Irwin held senior positions with a variety of companies in the telecommunications market, including Boingo Wireless, Earthlink, InfoNet Services Corporation, and WorldCom, among others. Irwin earned an M.B.A. from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California Los Angeles. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in systems engineering from the University of California San Diego.
Keith Garde
President Celebrity Service Group, Paid, Inc.
Keith Garde is President of the celebrity services group. Mr. Garde has more than 25 years of management and production experience in the entertainment industry. In 1995, Mr. Garde founded PKA Management, a Boston-based firm that manages national talent, manages video production and provides consulting services. Mr. Garde was one of the early pioneers in leveraging the Internet for entertainment entities, utilizing it for the digital distribution of artists' content and intellectual property. Mr. Garde has collaborated on special projects for MTV, VH1, A&E, ESPN, NFL, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Daimler-Chrysler, multiple record labels and many other major corporations and artists. He also serves as special projects manager for the artist Aerosmith. He is a serial entrepreneur with extensive expertise in branding, strategic alliances and management and has formed a number of innovative and successful businesses with the vision that "the arts should support the arts.“ He holds a B.A. degree from Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences.
Chris Kaskie
CEO Pitchfork Media
Chris Kaskie is the President of Pitchfork, the essential guide to independent music and beyond. With more than 4 million unique visitors each month and 500,000 visits each day, Pitchfork has one of the Web's most loyal audiences, and is considered one one of the world's most popular, respected, and influential music publications. In addition to developing Pitchfork into an internationally renowned online music magazine, Chris runs the company day-to-day and is an architect of Pitchfork's growth and expansion into other arenas, such as the Pitchfork Music Festivals and Pitchfork.tv. He lives in Chicago with his wife Amy and two children, Cecilia and James.
Scott Sylvester
VP Digital & Release Operations RCA Records/Sony Music Entertainment
Scott Sylvester has been steeped in music and the business of music for the past 20 years. An accomplished media operations and project management executive, he has over a decade of top-tier recording industry experience with wide-ranging expertise spanning the areas of rights management, music publishing and production, emerging music formats, digital music strategy and non-traditional business models. In his various major label roles, he has handled artist projects as diverse as Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, T-Pain, Dave Matthews Band, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson and Foo Fighters. Scott’s experience also includes 10 years as a professional singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Eliah Seton
Office of the CEO, Warner Music Group
Eliah Seton is the Chief of Staff to the CEO of Warner Music Group, managing special situations, overseeing various corporate functions, and liaising between the Office of the CEO and WMG’s recorded music and music publishing businesses. Prior to his role as Chief of Staff, Eliah worked in business development at WMG, managing M&A and strategic planning for the company and helping to lead the company’s sale to Access Industries in 2011. Prior to entering the music industry, Eliah worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and for Portfolio Logic, a Washington, DC-based investment firm, where he led investments in the consumer retail and healthcare industries. Eliah holds a BA degree in History, magna cum laude, from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Rishi Mirchandani (Moderator)
VP Operations Turntable.fm
Since joining the music industry in 2003, Rishi been focused on adapting business models and practices to deal with the challenges of the rapidly evolving music market. He has experience working at major and independent labels and at digital music services. He is currently the Vice President, Operations, for Turntable.fm, a social music service. Prior to joining Turntable.fm, Rishi spent 5 years at the RCA/Jive Label Group (Sony Music) as Vice President, Marketing & Operations. Before joining RCA/Jive, Rishi was the General Manager/CFO of Ultra Records, a leading independent record label, and the Director of Strategy and Finance at Giant Step, a music and lifestyle marketing company. Rishi began his career in investment banking, at Credit Suisse First Boston, and in private equity, at Chase Capital Partners. He has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a MBA from Harvard Business School.