The Australian Recording Industry Association and the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia has a new chief executive officer. Dan Rosen, a former lawyer and ministerial advisor, will return from New York where he has been heading up NASDAQ listed digital technology company, KIT digital. His new role, until recently held by Stephen Peach, has been up for grabs since late February when Peach announced that he was intending to step down in June. Peach stayed on in the job as a top head hunter appeared to try in vain to find a successor.
The role, which is believed to pay upward of $250,000 per annum, is considered by many in the music industry to be a poisoned chalice. Rosen will need to build bridges with government, as well as address the massive increases in the PPCA’s fees for playing music in nightclubs, gyms and restaurants, which has seen a huge increase in the use of royalty free music. Moreover, he’ll need to lead ARIA and the PPCA in engaging with the issue of downloading and music piracy – one that ARIA has taken a hamfisted approach to in the past.
Fun fact: Rosen used to be front man in the band Second Dan, which won the 2003 Triple J Unearthed competition, and subsequently released two indie albums. Check out his guitar chops playing at Arlene Grocery in NYC in 2005.
