 |
URL:www.iamnetwork.com
Chris Gilbey arrived in Australia in 1973. In the UK he had been a songwriter and artist signed to CBS Records. Prior to that time he had been a computer programmer working on main frames. When he arrived he went to see Ted Albert with an introduction in his hand from his UK publisher. Ted Albert offered him a job as A&R manager. Within a short time he was running both the publishing and the record labels and after a year had built the label into the most successful local label in Australia with a string of successive #1 hits. In his time with Alberts he also pioneered video production of Australian artists including the first AC/DC videos and also guided the careers of numerous others. After leaving Alberts he managed the Saints, taking them to the UK and breaking them into the UK punk scene with records like the revolutionary, "Im Stranded" and "Know Your Product". He returned to Australia in the late 70s to run ATV Northern Songs and manage the Beatles copyrights. In 1978 he set up his own publishing company in association with MCA. There he was involved in building one of the most significant stables of Australian talent with writers and artists like Tommy Emmanuel, InXs, Sharon ONeill, Noiseworks, as well as an incredible array of international catalogues. In the early 1990s he joined BMG as Senior Executive VP. He was the first record executive to recognize the potential of the web and set up the first e-commerce web site of any record company in Australia. He also was one of the first to use streaming audio anywhere in the world using RealWorks technology and pioneered the first ever enhanced CD a world first. He was awarded the Order of Australia in 1992 for his services to the music industry and to charity. (He was the co-founder of Australias music industry charity, The Golden Stave Foundation, and has led trade missions on behalf of the Australian Government, as well as founding Export Music Australia, which led to the music industry developing and executing a co-ordinated export strategy) After a short stint at BMG he moved on to business consulting and set up the rollout of TV home shopping throughout Asia. He then moved to San Francisco to continue developing enhanced CDs and to pursue activities in software development. Chris returned to Australia in 1998 and produced a series of TV programs for Channel V with Ian Rogerson and wrote a bestselling book entitled, "How to Survive the Y2k Crisis in Australia" (going back to his roots as a computer programmer). Chris has written a new book, "The Infinite Digital Jukebox" (published by Hardie-Grant) released in March, 2000. He is a co-founder and Executive VP, Business Development of InterActive Media Network Pty Limited, a new media company. Chris speaks regularly on the impact of technology.
|