Lady Gaga has said that she has "embraced the Internet in a pop-cultural kind of way" by thinking about what pop artists of the 70s and 80s would have done if they had the social technologies we have today. With the disruption of the music industry, artists, managers and record labels discuss the importance of evolving with technology and embracing the power of the Web.
MEREDITH CHIN is a Manager of Corporate Communications at Facebook where she oversees communications for numerous Facebook products and specializes in helping music artists, managers, and music labels maximize their Facebook presences. Meredith is an early employee of Facebook, joining the company in 2005 shortly after graduating from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism.
Cubano and Miami Native PEREZ HILTON is the Internet's most notorious gossip columnist. The LA Times calls Perez, "like US Weekly, the Star, the Enquirer and Life & Style all rolled into one sweet yet snarky, sagacious yet salacious gay man." Rolling Stone writes, Perez is “The Queen of mean”, The New York Times describes him “Love him or (he prefers) hate him… [He] has become a hard-to-ignore Hollywood player. Perez was named the #1 Web celebrity for ’07, ’08 and ‘09 by Forbes Magazine and as one of the 15 most influential Hispanics in the US by People in Espanol. PerezHilton.com averages over 280 million page views and 13.5 million unique visitors per month.
Since launching in 2004, PerezHilton.com has become one of the leading go-to sites for celebrity news. In February 2008, eMarketer identified perezhilton.com as one of the top 5 websites for college aged women, beating out MySpace! The UK's prestigious Observer newspaper named perezhilton.com (#6) one of the 50 most powerful blogs. In May 2008, Perez kicked off a daily nationally syndicated radio show in 7 of the top 10 markets in North America that still airs nationwide. 2007 he premiered his own show, What Perez Sez on VH1.
He has been featured in/on the L.A. Times, The View, The Wall Street Journal, MTV’s TRL, Larry King, CNN, E!, Time, Paper Magazine, LIFE, SPIN, CBS News, Business Week, Much Music, LA Magazine, The Advocate, Dateline, Howard Stern, Us Weekly, InTouch Weekly, NY Times, LA Times, Billboard and many more. P Nasty has created an empire which includes his own a record label, Perezious Music, introducing acts such as Slimmy and Semi Precious Weapons to the world. He also launched his mobile website at m.perezhilton.com, a new fashion website CoCoPerez.com and two best sellers in 2009, Perez Hilton’s Red Carpet Suicide and Perez Hilton’s True Bloggywood Stories.
In what has now become one of Perez’s most infamous and most important appearances on television, Hilton made headline news around the world while serving as a judge for the 2009 Miss USA pageant. During the Q& A portion of the contest, Perez was randomly selected to ask Miss California, Carrie Prejean, a topical and relevant question concerning America. When he asked whether she believes states should continue to legalize same- sex marriage, her response advocating only “opposite marriage” quickly launched a national debate. Disappointed by her response, Perez used his voice and prestige to try and unite the country rather than alienate individuals and sparked a new discussion about equal rights in America. Because of his positive influence for the cause, Perez has been asked to appear on Larry King three times, ABC’s The View, has been covered in Time Magazine, featured in The LA TIMES, appeared on the cover of The Advocate and recently was named “Hispanic of the Year” by Hispanic Magazine. Hilton plans to continue to speak out for the cause of equal rights and provide a positive viewpoint on the issue. Perez is capturing the excitement of what is left of 2009 in a new book Perez Hilton’s TRUE BLOGGYWOOD STORIES, The Glamorous Life of Beating, Cheating, and Overdosing. Perez’s second best seller had an explosive first week of sales (December 1st), publishers were forced to reprint within the second day of its release due to “high demand and incredible media”. 2010 was the year of change for Perez’s expanding empire with now 8 platforms, which consist of PerezHilton.com, PerezTV.com, CocoPerez.com, FitPerez.com, TeddyHilton.com, UnratedPerez.com, as well as the nationally syndicated Radio Perez and Fab 30 countdown show. The biggest change of all came after the sudden span of gay teen suicides that resulted from bullying. Perez sat down with Ellen DeGeneres to make a now famous announcement to change to a “funnier or smarter Perez”. Gone are the days of “outing people or calling names”. In 2010 Perez was featured in OUT Magazine, Reuters, Rolling Stone, LA Times, Billboard Magazine. Associated Press, IN TOUCH Magazine spread, and made appearances on Ellen DeGeneres, George Lopez Tonight, Jimmy Fallen, Wendy Williams, Jimmy Kimmel, and Ryan Seacrest.
As the company's General Manager, FRED SANTARPIA is responsible for all operations at VEVO. Previously, Fred was Vice President, Operations and Finance at Universal Music Group's (UMG) eLabs division, where he was responsible for the expansion and operation of UMG's digital media business across its network of artist & label web properties and syndicated affiliates. He has also held senior roles in the UMG Finance and Technology organizations. He began his career at Arthur Andersen. Fred holds a MS from Boston University and graduated with a BS from Villanova University.
