You have 1,000 fans on Facebook and 500 followers on Twitter, but what do you with them? How do musicians keep, engage, and grow their online communities to boost their brand, fuel their inspiration, shape their craft and… ultimately make money?
As Billboard’s Editorial Director, BILL WERDE leads the editorial strategy and vision for the brand, which includes the weekly print publication, leading music fan site Billboard.com, business site Billboard.biz and other digital content offerings, as well as industry-leading conferences and events.
In the first year under the new ownership of Prometheus Global Media, Mr. Werde and his team have enhanced editorial coverage with interactive access to artists and exclusive reports, and increased full year web traffic on Billboard.com by 65% over the year prior as reported on Google Analytics. The recently upgraded consumer site won the 2010 National Magazine Award for Digital Media, New Design. New charts have been added to capture artists’ reach all over the Internet, including the new Uncharted ranking for undiscovered musicians.
Mr. Werde joined Billboard in July 2005 as Senior News Editor and has steadily climbed the ranks of the organization, having been promoted to Deputy Editor and later Executive Editor of the brand.
Prior to Billboard, Mr. Werde was the Associate Editor for Rolling Stone. Before that he worked as a freelance journalist for a number of publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Village Voice and Wired Magazine writing about culture, politics, business and technology.
Mr. Werde frequently appears as a guest expert on the music industry for CNN, NPR, Today show, The Early Show, NBC Nightly News, Nightline, MSNBC, Fox Business, the O'Reilly Factor and others.
Please follow Bill on Twitter @Bwerde
From 2006-2010, MICHAEL FIEBACH ran the legendary DJ Shadow’s online operation, marketing, project and merchandising management. Michael has also worked and/or toured with many other notable artists, including: Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), Lateef The Truth Speaker (Latyrx), The Green, Giant Panda, Tame One, Lifesavas, The High and Mighty, and Pigeon John, among others. In 2011, Michael started a digital marketing and management company, Fame House. Michael continues to work with DJ Shadow and others, and is an Adjunct Professor at San Francisco State's Music/Recording Industry Program.
DAN SCHEINMAN is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco Media Solutions Group. He is responsible for developing and marketing infrastructure products that help digital media content owners improve the content experience for consumers. Previously, he led Corporate Development and helped define how the network can serve as an innovation platform in emerging markets and completed more than forty acquisitions. These acquisitions, in addition to Cisco partnering and internal engineering efforts, have positioned CMSG as a valuable partner for companies navigating the digital disruption of the media and entertainment industry.
