Gang Of Four’s Dave Allen Joins Beats Music As Artist Advocate

Beats Music has hired former Gang Of Four Bassist Dave Allen as its first Director Artist & Music Industry Advocacy. No stranger to music tech, Allen held positions in the early days of eMusic and at Intel; and has become a prolific industry pundit. He describes his new roll as Beat Music's ambassador, "reaching out to artists and the recorded music industry to find common ground and debate real issues and real problems, problems that can hopefully be solved without resorting to rhetoric that inflames rather than assuages doubts."

Even prior to launch, Beats has worked to differentiate itself from other music streamers as more artist friendly. Ian Rogers, former head of direct to fan platform Topspin was hired as the music streamer's CEO; and thanks to a deal with Merlin, Beats Music pays indie artists and labels the same rate as majors. 

Allen is now be the public face of Beats Music, at least within the music industry. "It means I will continue to do what I’ve been doing for many years now," says Allen,  "writing about the issues that artists have with these new music business models; speaking at conferences or giving Keynote speeches on the state of the union as it were; writing op-ed articles to elicit awareness and receive comments on my views that help me refine them; by adjusting to the new while admitting to my mistakes in the past."

He'll also use his status as a LinkedIn Influencer to try to reach a broader audience. "Here I am working at Beats Music, reunited with Ian and spending time with Trent Reznor, having met with him again for only the third time in our careers, and realizing that I am back in the music business after 13 years," says Allen.