Speaker: David Garrison

Many, if not all, industries are currently being forced to embrace the effects of the Web whether it's in the form of new digital distribution models, tactics for increasing user retention, or keeping up to date on tools such as Facebook and Twitter.

Perhaps nowhere has the digital upheaval been more profound than the music industry. Last year alone over a billion digital tracks were sold online, up 27% from 2007. The scale of the digital music industry is growing at the same time as the traditional recording industry struggles to redefine itself.  With a fast-growing base of members ranging from professionals like Yo-Yo Ma and John Legend to over 175,000 other registered musicians at all skill levels, and increasing popular attention like their recent appearance on the hit show The Colbert Report, Indaba Music is on a roll.  This important emerging player in the music industry has created a new consumer model that enables artists and corporate brands to harness the collaborative power of the Web and create innovative music and direct-to-fan engagement programs in new ways.

Their success is evidence that high-quality, usable content can link brands directly to their clients, build word-of-mouth, and enable monetization of assets in new ways. Teaming up with technology leaders like Sun Microsystems, with whom they’ve built their new Session Console, Indaba Music is taking a new approach by accentuating the creative process in an industry that traditionally focuses on the output alone.  In this economic climate and with Indaba’s innovative approach to technology development, the democratization of the Web can mean something new.  It provides insight into things that every industry needs: customer engagement and retention.

Through the lens of musicians and their industry, join us for an engaging discussion on how companies, brands, and whole industries can benefit from emerging online technologies and social networking models.  We’ll explore how direct consumer relationships are more beneficial in this time when people themselves are becoming brands - voicing their opinions through a variety of online portals and publishing tools.

KEY TAKE AWAYS FOR THIS SESSION

• Learn how collaborative technologies are rapidly changing how companies, brands and individuals interact with one and other and the content that can come out of direct relationships.
• Recognize emerging business models for both professional and amateur artists as well as corporate and social enterprises that can be applied to other industries.
• Be exposed to how an early-adopting brand has successfully incorporated social media across its activities.

Generously supported by:

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

David Garrison is CMO of Indaba Music in New York City.  He is responsible for the company’s marketing strategy and media initiatives to drive a global brand in the emerging online music industry.  Before joining Indaba, David was Director of Strategic Initiatives at SS+K, a non-traditional marketing and strategic communications firm which has represented clients such as Delta Airlines, MSNBC, the Gates Foundation and most recently the Obama Presidential campaign.  Previously, he was a consultant at Katzenbach Partners, where he managed projects in industries ranging from non-profit to biotech.  He received a BA from McGill University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. No stranger to start-ups, David has advised a variety of young companies on growth and marketing strategies.  He is also the co-founder of Remede Naturopathics, a leading clinic for natural medicine in NYC.