Rich Bengloff has been A2IM President since January 2007, A2IM is a not-for-profit trade organization that represents over 300 dues paying Independent music labels located across the country stretching from Hawaii to Florida, that have banded together to form a central voice advocating for the health of the Independent music sector in the areas of advocacy, commerce and member services. Rich has spent much of his career in the music and entertainment industry, during the past 25 years having worked at both music labels and music distributors at both independent (RED, Combat/Relativity/In Effect) and major music companies (Sony Music and Warner Music) as well as WNYC Radio, serving as a senior level operations and financial executive.

Rich’s perspective on the music industry and independent music in particular, has been frequently published in both trade (Billboard, FMQB, etc.) and consumer print and digital publications (NY Times, Hypebot, Huffington Post, L.A. Times, Daily Tech, etc.). Rich also is often called on to be a panel moderator/speaker at events around the world including events as varied as CMJ, Digital Music Forum East, Midem, SXSW and the inaugural International Creative Industries Summit in Shanghai, China in 2009. Rich is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz, has an MBA from Columbia University and is an adjunct professor of Communications and Media Management at the Fordham University Graduate School of Business and Hunter College teaching the introduction to the music industry course.

Richard Laing is the Director of Sales and an A&R Rep at Sub Pop Records where he has worked for over 6 years. Over the years he’s been fortunate enough to work with such artists as Beach House, Fleet Foxes, Iron and Wine, Mudhoney, The Head and the Heart, Flight of the Conchords, Daughn Gibson and Shabazz Palaces.