Teen People's Shirley Halperin and BigChampagne's Eric Garland join the Board
GRAMMY.com
The What's The Download public education campaign has announced additional Interactive Advisory Board honorary members for 2006. The new WTD Interactive Advisory Board now includes Teen People's West Coast editor, Shirley Halperin, and Eric Garland, CEO and founder of BigChampagne, an online media measurement research company. These new members join multi-platinum, GRAMMY winner Kelly Clarkson, GRAMMY-nominated rapper/actor Common, and producer/hip-hop artist and MTV personality SWAY. The What's The Download Interactive Advisory Board is comprised of 12 young music fans that are dedicated to creating a dialogue between music fans and music makers.
The entire Board participated recently in the "WTD Rap Session" with hundreds of teens during GRAMMY Week leading up to the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards. There, they discussed controversial digital music topics such as downloading, peer-to-peer and subscription services, CD burning, artist rights and consumer trends in digital music.
Previous honorary members include rapper/producer Kanye West, legendary funk band Earth, Wind & Fire, Sugar Ray front man and co-host of "Extra" Mark McGrath, and singer/songwriter/rocker JD Natasha. These members conducted a roundtable with the Board during the 47th Annual GRAMMY Awards.
"Since The Recording Academy launched What's The Download a few years ago, the music industry has evolved even more," said Ron Roecker, Vice President, Communications & Media Relations for The Academy. "We are thrilled to have experts like Shirley and Eric on our Board. Their insight and feedback are vital to our campaign's mission, which is to ensure that all opinions are heard, from the music maker and music fan, to the recording and tech industries, to educators and parents. It's only through collective dialogue that we'll be able to find solutions that benefit everyone while making sure music remains a vibrant part of our lives."
Since the WTD Interactive Advisory Board launched in February 2005, members have been active contributors to the Web site (www.whatsthedownload.com) with articles and personal blogs, they have served as ambassadors to their peers and the music industry regarding file-swapping issues, and are regular participants in activities at Recording Academy Chapters and universities.
In addition, they have provided their insights to music retailers and label executives at several industry conferences such as the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) and Digital Entertainment Media Expo (DEMXPO). The WTD Interactive Advisory Board also worked with i-SAFE America, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to protecting the online experiences of youth, on K-12 lesson plans. The Board is also working toward the creation of a final report that will outline their experiences, collective findings and solutions determined during the past year through their research and examination of issues affecting the music industry.
To find out more about the WTD Interactive Advisory Board, log on to www.whatsthedownload.com.
