Ralph Simon, FRSA, is a business executive, first in the music industry, and now in the mobile entertainment industry.
He was raised in Johannesburg, South Africa where he went to the University of the Witwatersrand, and left South Africa in 1975 and settled in London. In 1990 he relocated to San Francisco, California and then in 1993 relocated to Los Angeles where he lived for over a decade.[ citation needed ]
Simon co-founded the independent Zomba Group of music companies (now a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment) with Clive Calder in the 1970s growing it over two decades to become the leading independent record label, music publishing company and producer management company of its era. Zomba's record label, Jive Records signed the American musical artists the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Britney Spears and Janet Jackson. [1] In the mid-1990s, he was executive vice president of Capitol Records and Blue Note Records in Hollywood and started EMI Music's global New Media division. [2] He started Yourmobile (later renamed Moviso), the first ring tone company in the Americas, Europe, UK, Australia and Africa, in 1997. [3] In 2001, Simon co-founded YourMobile Group with Anthony Stonefield, Hilton Rosenthal Shane Dewing and Cliff Brigden. [4]
Simon is the founder and chief executive of Mobilium Global Ltd (based in London, England, Los Angeles, Mumbai, with associate offices in Helsinki, Finland. [3] [1] [5] In 2013, he was appointed Global Ambassador for the CTIA – The Wireless Association. CTIA is the Washington, DC–based wireless trade association driving wireless device certification, policy and all aspects of the wireless and mobile industry innovation and development. [6] He has also been a regular speaker and moderator in the United States and Canada, officiating since 2008 at the annual Canadian Music Week conferences and also the Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles, Musexpo in Los Angeles and Start Up in New Orleans. [7] He is on the board of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment. [6]
Jive Records was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, and dance acts in the 1980s and 1990s, along with teen pop and boy bands during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Neustar, Inc. is an American technology company that provides real-time information and analytics for risk, digital performance, defense, telecommunications, entertainment, and marketing industries, and also provides clearinghouse and directory services to the global communications and Internet industries. Neustar was the domain name registry for a number of top-level domains, including .biz, .us, .co, .nyc, and .in until the sale of the division to GoDaddy in 2020.
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a global music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Publishing has been ranked the #1 music publisher in market share by Billboard for multiple consecutive quarters.
The Zomba Group of Companies was a music group and division owned by and operated under Sony Music Entertainment. The division was renamed to Jive Label Group in 2009 and was placed under the RCA/Jive Label Group umbrella. In 2011, the RCA/Jive Label Group was split in half. Multiple Jive Label Group artists were moved to Epic Records while others stayed with Jive as it moved under the RCA Music Group. In October 2011 Jive Records was shut down and their artists were moved to RCA Records.
CTIA is a trade association representing the wireless communications industry in the United States. The association was established in 1984 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit membership organization, and represents wireless carriers and suppliers, and manufacturers and providers of wireless products and services.
Clive Ian Calder is a South African-British billionaire record executive and businessman primarily known for co-founding the Zomba Group with Ralph Simon, and its subsidiary Jive Records. As of October 2021, Calder has an estimated net worth of US$5.5 billion.
RCA/Jive Label Group was an American record label group, owned by Sony Music Entertainment and representing the merger of the RCA Music Group and JIVE Label Group. The umbrella group was formed in 2007 under the name BMG Label Group, was rebranded as RCA/Jive Label Group in 2009. In July 2011 it was finally dissolved into two separate labels: the RCA Music Group and Epic Records which took Jive subsidiaries until October 2011 when it retired Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. The artists on those three labels were moved to RCA Records.
Michael Mark Lynton is a businessman and current chairman of Snap Inc. He previously served as chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In 2017, Lynton stepped down as CEO of Sony Entertainment to become Chairman of Snap, makers of the Snapchat mobile app. On February 12, 2019, he was named as chairman of Warner Music Group.
The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) is a not-for-profit industry organisation representing suppliers in the mobile communication industry. GSA actively promotes 3GPP technology such as 3G; 4G; 5G. GSA is a market representation partner in 3GPP and co-operates with organisations including COAI, ETSI, GSMA, ICU, ITU, European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT-ECC), other regional regulatory bodies and other industry associations.
MWC Barcelona is an annual trade show dedicated to the mobile communications industry.
Lucille Anne Hood, commonly known as Lucy Hood, was the founder of Fox Mobile Entertainment and the Executive Director of the Institute for Communication Technology Management (CTM) at the University of Southern California. Hood guided the Institute's strategy and its consortium of corporate members, which include AT&T, Verizon, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Qualcomm, Motorola Mobility, Alcatel-Lucent, Disney, Fox and Ogilvy & Mather. Hood was also a member of the faculty at USC's Marshall School of Business.
Barry Weiss is an American music executive. He co-founded the record label RECORDS in 2015, an imprint of Sony Music Entertainment which specializes in young recording artists.
RCA Music Group was an umbrella group of labels distributed by Sony Music Entertainment that existed between March 2004 and 2009, and for a short period of time between July 2011 and October 2011 as all RCA Music Group labels were merged with RCA Records.
RCA Inspiration is a gospel music group operating under Sony Music.
Ken Rutkowski is founder, president and host of KenRadio Broadcasting which is syndicated on CBS Radio, He is also the founder of the media, entertainment and technology alliance known as METal. Rutkowski is the Local Partner of Founder Institute Chapter Los Angeles.
Meredith Attwell Baker is the president and chief executive officer of CTIA, an industry trade group that represents the international wireless telecommunications industry. From 2009 to 2011, Baker was a member of the United States Federal Communications Commission, nominated by U.S. President Barack H. Obama. She also served in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration as a political appointee, and was subsequently named a deputy assistant secretary of the Commerce Department by President George W. Bush in February 2007.
Todd Boehly is an American businessman. He is the co-founder, chairman, chief executive officer and controlling member of Eldridge Industries, a holding company headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. He is also the interim CEO of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and co-controlling owner and chairman of Premier League football club Chelsea, and co-owner of Ligue 1 football club Strasbourg under BlueCo. As of 2024, Forbes estimates his net worth at US$8.5 billion.
John Legere is an American businessman, former chief executive officer (CEO) and president of T-Mobile US. He previously worked for AT&T, Dell, and Global Crossing. He resigned as CEO following the approval of the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.
Viva Móvil, LLC, branded as Viva Móvil by Jennifer Lopez, was an American retail service founded by American entertainer Jennifer Lopez.
CCP Records is a South African music entertainment company founded by Clive Calder and Ralph Simon. It is a production company. They envisioned the company while working for EMI South Africa in 1972. CCP Records was distributed by EMI Records South Africa. EMI purchased the company in that same year.