Allan Benedict

After growing up in Detroit with a strong interest in music, I went to school at Loyola University in Chicago majoring in Communications studies. I got my start in the industry in radio at WLUW-FM in Chicago where I was Music Director for 4 years. Under my guidance the station opened a new state-of-the-art studio in the heart of downtown Chicago and reconnected with the industry as a whole through outreach to labels aroud the country. In 2010 and 2011 I managed a partnership with Toyota’s Free Yr Radio program which led to WLUW broadcasting live from the grounds of Lollapalooza each year. With the partnership I booked all of our performances and interviews for both weekends.

From there, I made my way to New York and began programming the Indie (then MCU) channel for Music Choice, a cable network made up of music audio and video channels. After a year, I moved to the promotion side of the industry as a Promotions Manager at The Syndicate. The Syn is an independent marketing agency and while there I managed college and specialty campaigns for artists from David Bowie to Daft Punk to Spoon and everything in between. We worked with a wide variety of clients ranging from major labels down to small independents. While at The Syndicate, I won CMJ’s Promoter of the Year award in 2014 and 2015.

In 2016, I was recruited to head up the US promotion department at [PIAS], an international record label and distributor headquartered in London. While there I oversaw all radio campaigns for [PIAS] and its partner labels such as Bella Union, Transgressive, and Heavenly. While we had a large roster of up-and-coming artists such as Let’s Eat Grandma and Ezra Furman, I also led campaigns for legendary acts like Violent Femmes and Pixies which included securing airplay and routing promotional tours. I also accompanied both bands on all of their press. In 2017 I led a Pixies radio campaign that landed their highest charting Alternative radio single in 30+ years.

In 2021 I moved to Play MPE. We’re a music software company that securely distributes music directly to radio stations and media personnel. Headquartered in Vancouver, we manage distribution lists in 31 countries and we are the industry standard in a number of radio formats such as Americana, Triple A, Christian, Country, and more. Originally joining as an account manager looking after the company’s US rock accounts, I now look after the entire business development and marketing team globally. Our clientele ranges from small independent artists all the way up to our global distribution agreement with Universal Music Group. While still managing most rock accounts I also oversee our pricing/revenue, help in the development of new products, and answer to our board of directors quarterly as a publicly traded company. One of the best parts of my job is to help consult independent artists on how to think about a marketing plan. Many of the artists that come to Play MPE are just getting their start and I love being able to give them even a small leg up.