Former Pandora and Sirius royalty rate lawyer Chris Harrison has been named CEO of the Digital Media Association (DiMA) — a trade body that lobbies on behalf of companies including Google, Amazon, Apple, Pandora and Spotify.
Harrison left his position as Pandora’s VP of Business Affairs and Assistant Counsel in 2015, where he was at the sharp end of the streaming service’s attempts to drive down the revenue share paid to record labels, artists, music publishers and songwriters.
Harrison then joined Sirius XM as VP of Music Business Affairs.
News of Harrison’s hire comes from Washington, where the National Music Publisher’s Association and the Nashville Songwriters Association International are battling for better mechanical royalty rates for interactive streaming.
Nearly 10,000 songwriters have signed a petition supporting their efforts.
Harrison has joined DiMA to oversee the organization’s public policy initiatives and strategic direction, serving as a “central figure in the continued growth of the digital media economy”.
DiMA represents the legal and policy interests of online distributors of digital music, movies and books, and its members also include Microsoft and Napster.
The organisation aims to help its members develop “new and innovative ways to provide consumers with increased access to legitimate online content” by “representing the industry in a wide variety of legal, political and regulatory matters”.
Harrison said: “I’m honored to have been chosen to lead DiMA into the future and am thrilled to work with such an impressive membership.
“The innovative member companies that comprise DiMA and enable access to the greatest diversity of content are a critical part of the creative industry’s value chain, paying billions of dollars in royalties and license fees to content creators each year.”
chris harrison
“The innovative member companies that comprise DiMA and enable access to the greatest diversity of content are a critical part of the creative industry’s value chain, paying billions of dollars in royalties and license fees to content creators each year.
“As the pace of innovation continues to increase, it’s more important than ever that all stakeholders work together, and I look forward to leading that effort and ensuring consumers continue to enjoy and engage meaningfully with creative content.”
The DiMA Board of Directors said: “DiMA is excited to work with Chris Harrison to further its mission of advocating for business and regulatory environments that support the growth and success of digital media.
“we look forward to Harrison’s leadership to help further technological innovations and the fair, equitable consumption of digital content.”
dima board
“At a time of unprecedented growth in the digital media industries and huge customer demand for an ever-increasing selection of creative content, we look forward to Harrison’s leadership to help further technological innovations and the fair, equitable consumption of digital content.”
Music Business Worldwide
