Jay Samit

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Jay Samit
Jay Samit (cropped).png
Jay Alan Samit
Born (1961-01-31) January 31, 1961 (age 63)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Alma mater UCLA
ChildrenTwo

Jay Samit (born January 31, 1961) is the former Independent Vice Chairman of Deloitte Digital. [1] An American digital media innovator, he has pioneered advancements in music and video distribution, social media, and ecommerce. He is the author of the bestselling [2] book Disrupt You! Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation [3] and Future Proofing You - Twelve Truths for Creating Opportunity, Maximizing Wealth, and Controlling Your Destiny in an Uncertain World. [4]

Contents

Career

Jasmine Multimedia Publishing

Samit was a recipient of the Presidential fellowship at UCLA where he graduated magna cum laude in 1982. The same year, Samit founded Jasmine Multimedia Publishing where he created some of the breakthrough laserdisc and CD-ROM titles that defined the emergence of video and music on the personal computer, including the first video on a PC. [5] Jasmine's technological breakthroughs include creating the first interactive videodisc arcade game in 1982 and the first laserdisc-based interactive movie theater for the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. [5] Partnering with leading technology firms such as IBM, Microsoft, and Intel, Samit published over 300 titles ranging from Inside the Vatican to Wild West to the award-winning Vid Grid with David Geffen featuring Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Gabriel, Metallica, Van Halen, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, and Guns N' Roses. [6] Samit and his innovations at Jasmine Multimedia received numerous awards, including Best of Show COMDEX, Best of RetailVision, Best of E3, Multimedia Producer Top 100, and Newsweek’s Editor’s Choice Award. [7]

Universal Studios New Media Group

After Jasmine Multimedia Publishing was acquired, Samit was brought on as the first head of business development for Universal Studios in the New Media Group. Later, as VP of Universal Studios' New Media arm, Samit developed a number of content driven opportunities for the company to make their new media initiative profitable. [8] In 1998, he created the first million-member social media site for college students called animalhouse.com, which was the first online community to feature free web-based email, VOIP, and ecommerce. [9] [10] Animalhouse.com was hailed as “the leading online community for college students” by Variety in 1999. [8]

EMI Recorded Music (Capitol Records)

In April 1999, Samit joined EMI (Capitol Records) as EVP of New Media and rose to Global President of Digital Distribution. [8] Under Samit’s leadership, EMI was able to make the company’s entire music catalog Internet-ready. [11] With the goal of being the “first digital label,” Samit led EMI’s strategy to make money by signing deals aimed at developing and owning the technology to distribute music over the Internet and wireless networks. [11] As noted in Wired, the “venture-capital strategy paid big dividends” and EMI “realized a substantial gain in operating profit by using its technology investments wisely” quadrupling its stock price.

Samit was recognized for his expertise in “untangling technological and legal knots," enabling EMI to sell traditional content in new digital formats. [12] Under Samit, EMI became the first record label to offer digital albums for sale (David Bowie Hours), win a Grammy for a digital release (Lenny Kravitz's Dig In), sign the Beatles to their first digital distribution deal, and record and distribute mobile ringtones. [11] According to Variety, when Samit joined EMI in 1999, EMI had a "negligible Internet presence" but soon became "arguably the most innovative music major spearheading the shift into digital distribution." [13]

At the time, the music industry was encouraged to follow EMI's digital model which Samit pioneered. [14] In 2001, Samit was quoted in Forbes magazine in response to criticism about the music industry's slow transition to digital music distribution. He said, "My job is to make buying music easier than stealing it. It's faster and easier to rob a liquor store than it is to build a grocery store, which is what we're doing." [14]

Samit led EMI Recorded Music to receive an RIAA honorary Gold Record, marking the first time a CD available only on the Internet was given this honor. [15] Samit also won Music Executive of the Year at Gavin's first ever Wammy Awards in 2000. [16] Spearheading the development of digital music distribution, Samit sat on the boards of Musicmaker, Musicnet(MediaNet), Pressplay (Napster), OD2, and Loudeye. [17] [18]

Sony

Samit left EMI to join Sony where he was the creator and general manager of Sony Connect and later rose to executive vice president. According to The New York Times , Samit's post leading Sony's digital music initiative was seen as "a way to unite the sometimes conflicting electronics and content divisions." As Sony, once the biggest player in the portable audio market, was quickly losing market share to Apple and the iPod, Samit was brought in to launch Sony's online music store and "bridge the gap between Sony's engineers in Tokyo and its music team in the United States." [12]

To promote the launch of Sony Connect, Samit executive-produced the first ever in-flight concert at 30,000 feet featuring Sheryl Crow. He also executive produced 350 live concert and in-studio sessions for exclusive digital tracks ranging from Crosby & Nash and John Legend, to Kelly Clarkson and Train. [19]

Samit has been called "guru for the entire industry" by Variety and, according to Wired , the guy with "the coolest job in the industry" for dreaming up new ways for Hollywood to capitalize on emerging media.” [11] [20]

SocialVibe

From 2009-2012, Samit was the CEO of SocialVibe, a digital advertising technology company that powers engagement advertising for some of the world's top brands, including: Microsoft, Visa Inc., Apple Inc., Disney, Coca-Cola, Kia Motors, Kraft Foods, Macy's, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Discover Card. Samit managed the company during a time of rapid growth. During his tenure, SocialVibe developed partnerships with major sites like Facebook, Zynga, Pandora, The Huffington Post, IMVU, Zinio and Causes. [21] [22]

ooVoo

Samit served as president of ooVoo, a free, social video-chat service growing the service to a top teen App with more than 100 million registered users worldwide. [23] ooVoo enables people to connect with their friends, family and community via 12-way video chat over the Web, Facebook, desktop and any Android or iOS-based mobile or tablet device using cloud-based connectivity. The ooVoo mobile application was awarded the 2013 Best App Technology by Appster, the “Best of the Year” distinction in 2011 and named 2012 Venture Summit Company of the Year. [24]

SeaChange International

Samit served as CEO of SeaChange International a NASDAQ company, the world's leading provider of multi-screen video products and services that facilitate the aggregation, licensing, management, and distribution of video programs and television advertisements to cable system operators, telecommunications companies, mobile communications providers and media companies worldwide. [25] SeaChange pioneered the field of Video on Demand and won a number of awards, including three Emmy Awards in the category Technology & Engineering and in 2015, the Technology Services Industry Associations STAR award. [26]

Published Writings

In addition to his books, Samit has written articles and columns about entrepreneurship, technological innovation, and disruption for publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Ad Age, Harvard Business Review, and Wired. Samit worked with Ralph Nader on the book Selecting a President 1980. [27] and in college was presented the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Sigma Delta Chi top national award honor for Spot News reporting. [28]

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Paintings

A watercolorist, Samit paints predominantly in a Pop Art style with subjects that explore the tension between technology and humanity. Samit's interplay between familiar comic book imagery and pentrating text takes the viewer on a dystopian journey of the information age. [29] In 2020, Richard Taittinger Gallery presented his inaugural New York solo exhibition, America Disrupted, featuring a series of watercolors painted during the COVID-19 quarantine. A record of the artist’s emotional response to our current era, it is also a time Jay Samit found himself conflicted about his nation’s history. Part therapeutic, part social commentary, Samit’s palette reveals the fissures in American society further exposed by this unsettling period. [30]

Samit's 2022 show Dots & Pixels shined the spotlight on how humans have become the commodities. Our lives reduced to pixels of data sold to the highest bidder millions of times every day. [29] Critics have described his unique art as deeply evocative, sharing an uncanny charm that conspicuously communicates the disruption that defines our time and Hopperesque. [31]

Other

Samit is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and a performing member of the Magic Castle (Academy of Magical Arts). [32] According to Variety, Samit "put himself through college with magic, an art he still practices." [13] He was also the host of the popular Wall Street Journal documentary series Startup of the Year. [33]

Philanthropy

An active philanthropist, Samit was appointed to the White House's initiative for education and technology by President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore where he helped gain Internet access for the nation's schools. [8] Through this program, Samit spearheaded the Internet's first auction, a Net-a-thon fundraiser, benefiting the National Education Technology Initiative. [34] Samit also helped produce some of the most successful charity concerts including Tsunami Aid and Katrina Relief. Samit is an adjunct professor at University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering and teaches a course in building high-tech startups. [35]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital video</span> Digital electronic representation of moving visual images

Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises a series of digital images displayed in rapid succession, usually at 24, 25, 30, or 60 frames per second. Digital video has many advantages such as easy copying, multicasting, sharing and storage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sony</span> Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation

Sony Group Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group comprises entities such as Sony Corporation, Sony Semiconductor Solutions, Sony Entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Financial Group, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video</span> Electronic moving image

Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems, which, in turn, were replaced by flat-panel displays of several types.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Music Group</span> Dutch–American music corporation

Universal Music Group N.V. is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the "Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music Group and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The company went public on September 21, 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music industry</span> Companies and individuals that create and sell music

The music industry refers to the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, represent and supply music creators. Among the many individuals and organizations that operate in the industry are: the songwriters and composers who write songs and musical compositions; the singers, musicians, conductors, and bandleaders who perform the music; the record labels, music publishers, recording studios, music producers, audio engineers, retail and digital music stores, and performance rights organizations who create and sell recorded music and sheet music; and the booking agents, promoters, music venues, road crew, and audio engineers who help organize and sell concerts.

The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards, or Technology and Engineering Emmys, are one of two sets of Emmy Awards that are presented for outstanding achievement in engineering development in the television industry. The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards are presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), while the separate Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards are given by its sister organization the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NAB Show</span> American annual trade show

NAB Show is an annual trade show produced by the National Association of Broadcasters. It takes place in April, and has been held since 1991 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show's tagline is "Where Content Comes to Life". NAB show is the largest show for media, entertainment and technology. The NAB shows covers: broadcast TV, radio, production, post production, news gathering, streaming, cable TV, satellite TV, film restoration, data storage, data management, weather forecasting, industrial TV, FX, CGI, connected media, cybersecurity and more. NAB had 103,000 attendees from 161 countries and more than 1,806 exhibitors in 2016. There are also exhibitors in Las Vegas hotels not counted in the official convention center displays. In addition to the exhibitors' booths, there are lectures, panel discussions and workshops. In 2017, there will be over 200 of these sessions. Before 1991 the show had moved around to a number of cities: Atlanta (1990), Washington DC, Chicago, New York, Atlantic City, Dallas, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, St. Louis, White Sulfur Springs, W. Va., and once in West Baden Springs, Indiana

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Q-Games</span> Japanese video game developer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gracenote</span> American metadata company

Gracenote, Inc. is a company and service that provides music, video, and sports metadata and automatic content recognition (ACR) technologies to entertainment services and companies worldwide. Formerly CDDB, Gracenote maintains and licenses an Internet-accessible database containing information about the contents of audio compact discs and vinyl records. From 2008 to 2014, it was owned by Sony, later sold to Tribune Media, and has been owned since 2017 by Nielsen Holdings. In 2019, Nielsen Holdings announced plans to split into two separate publicly traded companies, Nielsen Global Connect and Nielsen Global Media. In October 2022, Nielsen Holdings, including the Gracenote subsidiary was acquired by a private equity consortium.

The online service imeem was a social media website where users interacted with each other by streaming, uploading and sharing music and music videos. It operated from 2003 until 2009 when it was shut down after being acquired by MySpace.

<i>The Grey Album</i> 2004 remix album (bootleg) by Danger Mouse

The Grey Album is a mashup album by Danger Mouse, released in 2004. It mixes an a cappella version of rapper Jay-Z's The Black Album with samples from the Beatles' self-titled ninth album, commonly known as "The White Album". The Grey Album gained notoriety when the Beatles' record label EMI attempted to halt its distribution despite approval of the project from Jay-Z and the two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

Gaikai is an American company which provides technology for the streaming of high-end video games. Its technology has multiple applications, including in-home streaming over a local wired or wireless network, as well as cloud-based gaming where video games are rendered on remote servers and delivered to end users via internet streaming

ooVoo was a video chat and messaging app developed by ooVoo LLC and owned by Krush Technologies, LLC. ooVoo had applications for Android, iOS, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Windows Phone, and Facebook. The original Microsoft Windows app was released in 2007. It was discontinued on November 25, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4K resolution</span> Video or display resolutions with a width of around 4,000 pixels

4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 3840 × 2160 with a 16:9 aspect ratio is the dominant 4K standard, whereas the movie projection industry uses 4096 × 2160.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warner Music Poland</span> Polish record label; imprint of Warner Music Poland Sp. z o.o.

Warner Music Poland Sp. z o.o., is a Polish subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it was founded in 1994 in Warsaw. The label's CEO is Piotr Kabaj.

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EMI Music Poland Sp. z o.o., was a Polish subsidiary of EMI Group Limited, it was founded in 1995 in Warsaw. Labels CEO was Piotr Kabaj.

<i>Vid Grid</i> 1994 video game

Vid Grid is a tile-matching full motion video puzzle game originally developed by Geffen Records and published by Jasmine Multimedia Publishing for Windows on September 13, 1994. It was later ported to the Atari Jaguar CD by High Voltage Software in 1995, where it was included along with Blue Lightning as one of the pack-in games for the peripheral when it launched. It is the first entry in the series of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audible Magic</span> American digital rights company

Audible Magic Corporation is a Los Gatos, California-based company that provides content identification services to social networks, record labels, music publishers, television studios, and movie studios. The company also provides digital platform music management services for Internet radio, subscription music services, on-demand streaming, and fitness and gaming applications. The services help companies identify and protect copyrighted content, manage rights and monetize media.

References

  1. ↑ "VR/AR Gets Down to Business as Deloitte Digital Taps Entertainment Vet Samit". 2017-05-16.
  2. ↑ "The Art of Opportunity: How to Build Growth and Ventures Through Strategic Innovation and Visual Thinking | Wiley".
  3. ↑ "Disrupt You! Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation - Publishers Weekly". Publishersweekly.com. 2015-07-07.
  4. ↑ Samit, Jay (23 March 2021). Future-Proofing You: Twelve Truths for Creating Opportunity, Maximizing Wealth, and Controlling your Destiny in an Uncertain World. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-1119772064.
  5. 1 2 [ dead link ]
  6. ↑ "Vid Grid for Jaguar (1995)". MobyGames. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  7. ↑ Archived November 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  8. 1 2 3 4 Adam Sandler (1999-04-13). "EMI confirms Net vet Samit online". Variety. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  9. ↑ CIO - Google Books. 1998-06-01. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  10. ↑ ""Animal House" Web site offers free e-mail, chat - Campus - the Lantern - Ohio State University". Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Archived November 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  12. 1 2 "Infighting left Sony behind Apple in digital music. Can it come back?; Teaching an Old Walkman Some New Steps - New York Times". The New York Times . 2004-04-19. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  13. 1 2 Erich Boehm (2001-01-15). "Like a rolling stone". Variety. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  14. 1 2 "Other Labels Must Follow EMI's Lead". Forbes. 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  15. ↑ "/FROM PR NEWSWIRE NEW YORK 800-776-8090 WITH PHOTO - TO BUSINESS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS:. - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  16. ↑ "Wammy Award Winners Announced. - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 2000-09-22. Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  17. ↑ Billboard - Google Books. 2002-02-23. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  18. ↑ "News - CNET". News.cnet.com. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  19. ↑ "Sony USA – Press Releases". Sony.com. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  20. ↑ Erich Boehm (2001-01-15). "Like a rolling stone". Variety. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  21. ↑ "Zynga Grows One Thing Advertisers Want: Mass Reach | Digital - Advertising Age". Adage.com. 2010-10-25. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  22. ↑ "SVnetwork Empowers Over 30 Million to Use Social Media for Social Good". Business Wire. 2010-11-19. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  23. ↑ "OoVoo wants to bring TV viewing, gaming & dating to video chat — Tech News and Analysis". Gigaom.com. 2012-08-21. Archived from the original on 2012-11-24. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  24. ↑ "OoVoo Named Venture Summit Mid-Atlantic 100 Company of the Year | AlwaysOn". Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  25. ↑ "Yahoo Finance profile". Yahoo Finance. 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  26. ↑ "SeaChange Wins STAR Award for Services Excellence" (Press release). 26 October 2015.
  27. ↑ "New Guard". 1981.
  28. ↑ "The Quill". 1980.
  29. 1 2 "Dots & Pixels: Pop Art Reflections of Our Digital Lives". Portraymag. 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  30. ↑ "AMERICA DISRUPTED | Richard Taittinger Gallery".
  31. ↑ "Dots & Pixels: Pop. Art Reflections of Our Digital Lives at Richard Tattinger Gallery". White Hot Magazine. 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  32. ↑ "Jay Samit". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  33. ↑ "About the Mentor: Jay Samit - WSJ Startup of the Year 2013". Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  34. ↑ "VAN NUYS MAN VOWS TO PUT ALL SCHOOLS ON-LINE". Highbeam.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  35. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111001013120/http://itp.usc.edu/news-events/2011/07/26/jay-samit-to-co-teach-itp-499-%E2%80%93-building-the-high-tech-startup/. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2012.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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