- Chris Gorog
-
William Christopher “Chris” Gorog is an entertainment and technology executive that has served in senior leadership positions in Hollywood and Silicon Valley,[1] including as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Napster,[2] a top digital music brand,[3] and Roxio.
Gorog played a central role in efforts to monetize digital music downloads and streams. He oversaw Roxio's conversion to a digital music subscription and download service through the acquisitions of Pressplay and Napster. Gorog was a key ally of the record labels in the digital music market but was also a vocal critic of the licensing terms and DRM restrictions that labels imposed on digital music services.[4]
Gorog began his entertainment career as a business affairs executive at The Walt Disney Company,[5] continued his work in film and television as CEO of ITC Entertainment,[6] moved to Universal Studios as Executive Vice President of Group Operations for the Recreation Group,[7] and then on to CEO positions with Roxio[8] and Napster[9] as the entertainment business converged with new technologies.
Gorog was born in Fontainebleau France, raised in Dayton Ohio and graduated from San Diego State University with a B.A.S. in Tele-Communications and Film.[10] Gorog comes from an entrepreneurial family.[11] His father, William F. Gorog, was co-founder and Chief Executive of Data Corp, which created LexisNexis.[12]
After ten years of developing Napster, Chris Gorog stepped down[13] in January 2010 and started gorog.net to serve as a foundation to explore new opportunities in entertainment, media and technology.
Contents
Napster
Gorog led the acquisition of Napster, the peer-to-peer network that made music downloading a phenomenon,[14] in 2002. He re-launched the pioneer digital music brand as a legal music provider in 2003,[15] which became a public company in 2004.[16] Under Mr. Gorog’s leadership as Chairman and CEO of Napster,[17] the company assembled one of the largest digital music catalogs in the world[18] and expanded its global presence by offering its service in the U.K,[19] Germany[20] and Japan.[21] Napster created a number of digital music product innovations under Mr. Gorog’s management, including the introduction of portable subscriptions,[22] a free advertising supported version of Napster,[23] as well as a variety of mobile music offerings.[24]
Gorog also oversaw the development of a number of advertising campaigns for the company,[25] including “Its Coming Back,” Napster’s re-launch campaign featuring a series of original animations[26][27] that received both the Cannes Lion Award[28] and the Silver Effie.[29] Napster was also awarded Billboard magazine’s “Best Digital Music Community”[30] award for its U.S. music service.
Best Buy acquired Napster in 2008, and Gorog served as Napster’s Chief Executive Officer until January 6, 2010.[31]
Roxio
As Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Roxio,[32] Gorog led the company’s successful spin-off from Adaptec, took the company public in May 2001 and drove the creation of the Roxio consumer brand.[33] Roxio became the leader in CD burning software, with 70% market share led by its brands Easy CD Creator and Toast.[34] In January 2002, Gorog led Roxio’s acquisition of MGI Software that expanded the company’s portfolio to include photo and video editing software, as well as the top-selling system-recovery software for crash and virus recovery.[35]
In December 2002, Gorog led Roxio’s acquisition of Napster[36] – and followed with an acquisition of Universal Music’s and Sony’s Pressplay in May 2003,[37] which served as the new technology platform for the company’s release of Napster 2.0, the revitalized legal version of the original Napster.[38] In August 2004, Roxio sold the software business in order to focus entirely on developing the Napster digital music business.[39] The company officially changed its corporate name from Roxio (NASDAQ: ROXI) to Napster (NASDAQ: NAPS) in January 2005.[40]
Entertainment
Prior to Gorog’s technology positions, he served in a variety of senior capacities in the entertainment business including Executive Vice President of Universal Studios Recreation Group where he helped manage Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s multi-billion dollar theme park expansion in Florida and Japan.[41] Gorog later served as President of New Business Development for Universal Studios Recreation Group. Prior to Universal, Gorog served as President and CEO of ITC Entertainment [42] and as Vice President Business Affairs Motion Pictures and Television for The Walt Disney Company.[43]
Board Positions
Gorog has served as a director on a variety of entertainment and technology boards, including House of Blues,[44] Guitar Center [45] and Critical Path,[46] in addition to serving on the boards of Roxio and Napster as its Chairman.[47] He also has served on the board of directors of NARM, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers.
Keynotes
• May 1, 2007 - Digital NARM - Chicago, IL: “Bridging the Gap between Physical and Digital”[48]
• May 1, 2006 - MuseExpo - Hollywood, CA: “Unlimited access – Anytime, Anywhere”[49]
• April 5, 2005 - Leadership Music Digital Summit - Nashville, TN: “Digital Subscriptions: The Future of The Music Industry”[50]
• July 26, 2004 - Jupiter Plug-In - New York, NY: “The State of the Digital Music Industry”[51]
• May 3, 2004 - Financial Times - London, England: “The Best Defense if a Good Offense, The Rise of Legitimate On-Line Music Services”
• April 20, 2004 - Music Board of Ireland and the European Union - Dublin, Ireland: “The Internet & the Democratization of Music”[52]
• December 8, 2003 - iHollywood Forum - Universal City, CA: "Music 2.0"[53]
• July 28, 2003 - Jupiter Plug-In - New York, NY: "The Return of Napster"[54]
• March 3, 2003 - Digital Music Forum - New York, NY: "The Impact of Technology on Music Business Today"[55]
• January 24, 2003 - MidemNet - Cannes, France: "Music and Technology Back on Track"[56]External links
- IBM Institute for Business Value Study Transcript
- IBM Institute for Business Value Study Podcast
- Napster Rolls Out MP3 Store in Challenge to iTunes
- BusinessWeek Q&A with Napster CEO Chris Gorog
- FTSE Global Markets Cover Story
- The Engadget Interview: Chris Gorog, CEO of Napster
- Q&A: Napster ex-CEO Chris Gorog
- Chris Gorog's official site
Affiliations
Gorog is a member of the Young Presidents' Organization and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[57]
References
- ^ Let Them Burn
- ^ Napster turns up sales volume to $32.8 million for Q3
- ^ Ipsos: Napster, iTunes Best-Known for Fee-based Downloading…
- ^ The Billboard Q&A: Chris Gorog
- ^ Digital Hollywood
- ^ Digital Entertainment Awards
- ^ Chris Gorog Appointed Executive Vice President, Group Operations…
- ^ iHollywood Forum Announces Digital Music Leaders Speaking at Music…
- ^ Betting it all on Napster
- ^ Sound man: Napster Chief Executive Chris Gorog listens to Mark…
- ^ Hard-Driving Clan Breeds Three Successful Generations
- ^ William Gorog, 76, Businessman with a Bent for High Technology
- ^ Napster CEO Stepping Down
- ^ Billboard – August 2003
- ^ Napster Lives Again—Sort of
- ^ Napster reiterates third quarter guidance and opens Nasdaq…
- ^ Passion Works
- ^ Napster Goes DRM-Free
- ^ Napster UK goes live
- ^ Briefs: Napster Germany opens for business
- ^ Napster says’Konichiwa’ to Japan
- ^ Napster raises revenue guidance
- ^ Napster offers free music
- ^ Napster Mobile Expands Availability to More than 13 Million AT&T Wireless Customers
- ^ Napster To Go campaign will challenge Apple iTunes’ lead
- ^ Napster Jailbreak
- ^ Napster Hip-Hop
- ^ Ads from USA dominate in online category at Cannes
- ^ Winners Showcase
- ^ Billboard Digital Entertainment Conference & Awards
- ^ [1]
- ^ Roxio CEO Chris Gorog Tells TechNewsWorld…
- ^ Billboard – August 2003
- ^ Let Them Burn
- ^ Roxio Looks to Keep Burning Up the CD Scene
- ^ Billboard – August 2003
- ^ Roxio Buys Pressplay, Napster Lives
- ^ Napster Lives Again—Sort of
- ^ Sonic buys Roxio software, Roxio becomes ‘Napster’
- ^ Napster tunes up new image with new “NAPS” stock symbol
- ^ Chris Gorog Appointe Executive Vice President, Group Operations
- ^ Digital Hollywood
- ^ Digital Hollywood
- ^ Digital Hollywood
- ^ Guitar Center, Inc. Adds Messrs. Wm. Christopher Gorog, George…
- ^ CEO of Digital Meida Software Leader Roxio Joins Critical Path Board of Directors
- ^ ROXI Music
- ^ Digital NARM
- ^ MuseExpo
- ^ Leadership Music Digital Summit
- ^ Jupiter Plug-In
- ^ Music Board of Ireland and the European Union
- ^ iHollywood Forum
- ^ Jupiter Plug-In
- ^ Digital Music Forum
- ^ MidemNet
- ^ Digital Hollywood
Categories:- American chief executives
- Living people
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