Press

AES Press Release: AES San Francisco 2008

Chris Stone To Present AES 125th Convention Keynote Address

For Release: June 19, 2008

 Record Plant Co-Founder Spots “Trends & Opportunities in Today’s Music Industry”

 
SAN FRANCISCO: Before the iPhone, iTunes, ‘Personal Recording Studio Generation,’ there was Chris Stone and the New York Record Plant. In 1968, Stone and his partner Gary Kellgren invented a new kind of studio based on a super cool, non-traditional environment designed to nurture and inspire creativity.  They believed artists needed creature comforts as well as sophisticated technology and impeccable acoustics to bring their musical visions to life.
 
Chris Stone“Today, forty years after opening the doors of his pioneering Record Plant (and coincidently sixty years after the formation of the AES) Chris Stone has been named Keynote Speaker for the 125th AES Convention,”  reports Convention Co-Chair John Strawn.  “As co-founder, past president and chairman of the Society of Professional Audio Recording Studios (SPARS) and co-founder of the Music Producers Guild of the Americas (now The Producers and Engineers Wing of NARAS), Stone has maintained a high profile as a recording industry ombudsman throughout his colorful career,” Strawn adds. Currently active as an educator and a consultant for online music entrepreneurship at Berkleemusic.com, Stone is based in Los Angeles, and travels widely in his role as CEO of the World Studio Group. 
 
Entitled “The Artist Owns The Industry,” Stones’ Keynote address will highlight the AES 125th Convention Opening Ceremonies which will be held on Thursday, Oct. 2nd in the Moscone Center Special Events Hall.  Stone will explore what it takes to succeed in today’s environment in which artists with limited capital create their music in home (sometimes bedroom) studios, far removed from million $ showplace facilities and the guidance of veteran producer / engineers.   
 
 An AES member for over thirty years, Chris Stone has witnessed the transition from a  “Mega Industry” in which major labels controlled the musicians’ output, distribution and publishing, to a “Cottage Industry” where talent is the master of its own destiny.  Speaking from his strengths as a business/marketing entrepreneur, Stone will focus on the artist’s need to develop a sophisticated approach to operating their own business. And, on services available to help reduce the risks of failure. He will also explore how traditional engineers can remain relevant and play a meaningful role in this ongoing evolution.
 
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Photo Caption:   Veteran studio businessman Chris Stone will present the Keynote address at the 125th AES Convention in San Francisco on Oct. 2, 2008.
 
Now celebrating its 60th anniversary, the Audio Engineering Society was formed in 1948 by a group of concerned audio engineers. With over 14,000 members throughout the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Japan and the Far East, the AES serves as the pivotal force in the exchange and dissemination  of  technical information for the industry.  For additional information visit http://www.aes.org
 

 

AES - Audio Engineering Society