Name Change, Restructure For NARM and Digitalmusic.org

NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers) and its digital industry hub digitalmusic.org have changed their names to The Music Business Association to fully encompass everyone involved in music business commerce in the U.S., and reorganized the two entities into six industry sectors, with six new directors named to head the respective areas. The organization will continue to be headed by President Jim Donio, and the current team will remain headquartered in Marlton, NJ.

“The music industry has changed dramatically over the past decade, and NARM has been evolving along with those changes, bringing in more voices from the online and mobile industries with the creation of digitalmusic.org, as well as from other areas that were not traditionally associated with music retail,” said Donio. “More segments of the business than ever before now play an active role in the commerce side of the business, so the name ‘National Association of Recording Merchandisers’ no longer reflected everyone who can participate in the organization. ‘The Music Business Association’ makes it crystal clear – and for the first time in the organization’s history, the ‘M’ stands for music.”

The Music Business Association will be structured into several sectors designed to allow members to focus their activities and interests into areas relevant to their business functions and needs. The Digital Sector work group will be co-chaired by Christina Calio of Microsoft and Kevin Arnold of OpenAura, and will focus on seamless transition of the digitalmusic.org work groups business development, subscription, and digital marketing.

The Business Development work group will be helmed by Bill Wilson and Cindy Charles of Music Biz and will help spur on innovation in the field of digital music by reducing barriers to entry for startups, entrepreneurs and others interested in creating digital products and services around music.

The Digital Marketing work group will be co-chaired by Chuck Fishman of Acquia, and Lee Hammond of Universal, and will focus on coordinating the best practices for direct marketing and CRM for websites, such as tools, platforms, and strategic integrations that utilize the artists site as a hub for activity.

The Subscription Services work group will be chaired by Jack Isquith of Slacker and will focus on advocating the business of on-demand streaming and subscription services.

The Digital Supply Chain and Operations Work Group will be co-chaired by Chris Read of Sony DADC, and Shachar Oren of Neurotic Media, and will help streamline operations in the content supply chain and reporting process.

 The Digital Asset Management Work Group, co-chaired by Maureen Droney of the Recording Academy and Paul Jessop of County Analytics, will help coordinate and standardize all non-recorded music assets relevant to the digital music chain, including artist images, credits, liner notes, and more.

The Knowledge Sector work group will be co-chaired by Jim Donio and Nicole Hennessey of Music Biz and will encompass areas such as events, published material and research, funding, etc.

The current members of the Board of Directors will remain in place, and six new seats have been added. Four of those new directors come from the former NARM Music Industry Advisory Council members. They are:

Brad Navin, The Orchard
Darren Stupak, Sony Music Entertainment
Matt Signore, Warner Music Group
Jim Urie, Universal Music Group