Chris Gorog
Encyclopedia
William Christopher “Chris” Gorog is an entertainment and technology executive that has served in senior leadership positions in Hollywood
and Silicon Valley
, including as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Napster
, a top digital music brand, and Roxio
.
Gorog played a central role in efforts to monetize digital music downloads and streams. He oversaw Roxio's conversion to a digital music subscription and download service through the acquisitions of Pressplay and Napster. Gorog was a key ally of the record labels in the digital music market but was also a vocal critic of the licensing terms and DRM restrictions that labels imposed on digital music services.
Gorog began his entertainment career as a business affairs executive at The Walt Disney Company
, continued his work in film and television as CEO of ITC Entertainment
, moved to Universal Studios
as Executive Vice President of Group Operations for the Recreation Group, and then on to CEO positions with Roxio
and Napster as the entertainment business converged with new technologies.
Gorog was born in Fontainebleau France, raised in Dayton Ohio and graduated from San Diego State University
with a B.A.S. in Tele-Communications and Film. Gorog comes from an entrepreneurial family. His father, William F. Gorog, was co-founder and Chief Executive of Data Corp, which created LexisNexis
.
After ten years of developing Napster, Chris Gorog stepped down in January 2010 and started gorog.net to serve as a foundation to explore new opportunities in entertainment, media and technology.
, the peer-to-peer network that made music downloading a phenomenon, in 2002. He re-launched the pioneer digital music brand as a legal music provider in 2003, which became a public company in 2004. Under Mr. Gorog’s leadership as Chairman and CEO of Napster, the company assembled one of the largest digital music catalogs in the world and expanded its global presence by offering its service in the U.K, Germany and Japan. Napster created a number of digital music product innovations under Mr. Gorog’s management, including the introduction of portable subscriptions, a free advertising supported version of Napster, as well as a variety of mobile music offerings.
Gorog also oversaw the development of a number of advertising campaigns for the company, including “Its Coming Back,” Napster’s re-launch campaign featuring a series of original animations that received both the Cannes Lion Award
and the Silver Effie. Napster was also awarded Billboard magazine’s “Best Digital Music Community” award for its U.S. music service.
Best Buy
acquired Napster in 2008, and Gorog served as Napster’s Chief Executive Officer until January 6, 2010.
, Gorog led the company’s successful spin-off from Adaptec, took the company public in May 2001 and drove the creation of the Roxio consumer brand. Roxio became the leader in CD burning software, with 70% market share led by its brands Easy CD Creator and Toast. In January 2002, Gorog led Roxio’s acquisition of MGI Software that expanded the company’s portfolio to include photo and video editing software, as well as the top-selling system-recovery software for crash and virus recovery.
In December 2002, Gorog led Roxio’s acquisition of Napster – and followed with an acquisition of Universal Music’s and Sony’s Pressplay
in May 2003, which served as the new technology platform for the company’s release of Napster 2.0, the revitalized legal version of the original Napster. In August 2004, Roxio sold the software business in order to focus entirely on developing the Napster digital music business. The company officially changed its corporate name from Roxio (NASDAQ: ROXI) to Napster (NASDAQ: NAPS) in January 2005.
Recreation Group where he helped manage Universal Studios Hollywood
, Universal Studios Florida
and Universal’s multi-billion dollar theme park expansion in Florida and Japan. Gorog later served as President of New Business Development for Universal Studios Recreation Group. Prior to Universal, Gorog served as President and CEO of ITC Entertainment
and as Vice President Business Affairs Motion Pictures and Television for The Walt Disney Company
.
, Guitar Center
and Critical Path
, in addition to serving on the boards of Roxio and Napster as its Chairman. He also has served on the board of directors of NARM
, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers.
• May 1, 2006 - MuseExpo - Hollywood, CA: “Unlimited access – Anytime, Anywhere”
• April 5, 2005 - Leadership Music Digital Summit - Nashville, TN: “Digital Subscriptions: The Future of The Music Industry”
• July 26, 2004 - Jupiter Plug-In - New York, NY: “The State of the Digital Music Industry”
• May 3, 2004 - Financial Times - London, England: “The Best Defense if a Good Offense, The Rise of Legitimate On-Line Music Services”
• April 20, 2004 - Music Board of Ireland and the European Union - Dublin, Ireland: “The Internet & the Democratization of Music”
• December 8, 2003 - iHollywood Forum - Universal City, CA: "Music 2.0"
• July 28, 2003 - Jupiter Plug-In - New York, NY: "The Return of Napster"
• March 3, 2003 - Digital Music Forum - New York, NY: "The Impact of Technology on Music Business Today"
• January 24, 2003 - MidemNet - Cannes, France: "Music and Technology Back on Track"
and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
.
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
and Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
, including as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Napster
Napster (pay service)
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a file sharing service. For more information about its founding mission as a free file sharing service, see Napster.-History:...
, a top digital music brand, and Roxio
Roxio
Roxio is a division and brand of Sonic Solutions . Roxio branded products are sold online, through over 15,000 retail outlets, to organizations through volume license agreements and pre-loaded onto OEM PC's and devices...
.
Gorog played a central role in efforts to monetize digital music downloads and streams. He oversaw Roxio's conversion to a digital music subscription and download service through the acquisitions of Pressplay and Napster. Gorog was a key ally of the record labels in the digital music market but was also a vocal critic of the licensing terms and DRM restrictions that labels imposed on digital music services.
Gorog began his entertainment career as a business affairs executive at The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
, continued his work in film and television as CEO of ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
, moved to Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
as Executive Vice President of Group Operations for the Recreation Group, and then on to CEO positions with Roxio
Roxio
Roxio is a division and brand of Sonic Solutions . Roxio branded products are sold online, through over 15,000 retail outlets, to organizations through volume license agreements and pre-loaded onto OEM PC's and devices...
and Napster as the entertainment business converged with new technologies.
Gorog was born in Fontainebleau France, raised in Dayton Ohio and graduated from San Diego State University
San Diego State University
San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...
with a B.A.S. in Tele-Communications and Film. Gorog comes from an entrepreneurial family. His father, William F. Gorog, was co-founder and Chief Executive of Data Corp, which created LexisNexis
LexisNexis
LexisNexis Group is a company providing computer-assisted legal research services. In 2006 it had the world's largest electronic database for legal and public-records related information...
.
After ten years of developing Napster, Chris Gorog stepped down in January 2010 and started gorog.net to serve as a foundation to explore new opportunities in entertainment, media and technology.
Napster
Gorog led the acquisition of NapsterNapster (pay service)
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a file sharing service. For more information about its founding mission as a free file sharing service, see Napster.-History:...
, the peer-to-peer network that made music downloading a phenomenon, in 2002. He re-launched the pioneer digital music brand as a legal music provider in 2003, which became a public company in 2004. Under Mr. Gorog’s leadership as Chairman and CEO of Napster, the company assembled one of the largest digital music catalogs in the world and expanded its global presence by offering its service in the U.K, Germany and Japan. Napster created a number of digital music product innovations under Mr. Gorog’s management, including the introduction of portable subscriptions, a free advertising supported version of Napster, as well as a variety of mobile music offerings.
Gorog also oversaw the development of a number of advertising campaigns for the company, including “Its Coming Back,” Napster’s re-launch campaign featuring a series of original animations that received both the Cannes Lion Award
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a global event for those working in advertising and related fields. The seven-day festival, incorporating the awarding of the Lions awards, is held yearly at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France...
and the Silver Effie. Napster was also awarded Billboard magazine’s “Best Digital Music Community” award for its U.S. music service.
Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
acquired Napster in 2008, and Gorog served as Napster’s Chief Executive Officer until January 6, 2010.
Roxio
As Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of RoxioRoxio
Roxio is a division and brand of Sonic Solutions . Roxio branded products are sold online, through over 15,000 retail outlets, to organizations through volume license agreements and pre-loaded onto OEM PC's and devices...
, Gorog led the company’s successful spin-off from Adaptec, took the company public in May 2001 and drove the creation of the Roxio consumer brand. Roxio became the leader in CD burning software, with 70% market share led by its brands Easy CD Creator and Toast. In January 2002, Gorog led Roxio’s acquisition of MGI Software that expanded the company’s portfolio to include photo and video editing software, as well as the top-selling system-recovery software for crash and virus recovery.
In December 2002, Gorog led Roxio’s acquisition of Napster – and followed with an acquisition of Universal Music’s and Sony’s Pressplay
Pressplay
Pressplay was the name of an online music store from 2002 - 2003 created as a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. The two record labels provided music via subscription for pressplay along with BMG, EMI, Warner Music Group and various independent labels. It was...
in May 2003, which served as the new technology platform for the company’s release of Napster 2.0, the revitalized legal version of the original Napster. In August 2004, Roxio sold the software business in order to focus entirely on developing the Napster digital music business. The company officially changed its corporate name from Roxio (NASDAQ: ROXI) to Napster (NASDAQ: NAPS) in January 2005.
Entertainment
Prior to Gorog’s technology positions, he served in a variety of senior capacities in the entertainment business including Executive Vice President of Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
Recreation Group where he helped manage Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood is a movie studio and theme park in the unincorporated Universal City community of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood movie studios still in use...
, Universal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida is an American theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Opened on June 7, 1990, the park's theme is the entertainment industry, in particular movies and television. Universal Studios Florida inspires its guests to "ride the movies," and it features numerous attractions and...
and Universal’s multi-billion dollar theme park expansion in Florida and Japan. Gorog later served as President of New Business Development for Universal Studios Recreation Group. Prior to Universal, Gorog served as President and CEO of ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
and as Vice President Business Affairs Motion Pictures and Television for The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
.
Board Positions
Gorog has served as a director on a variety of entertainment and technology boards, including House of BluesHouse of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
, Guitar Center
Guitar Center
Guitar Center is the largest chain of musical instrument retailers in the world with 223 locations throughout the United States. Its headquarters is in Westlake Village, California....
and Critical Path
Critical Path (video game)
Critical Path is a post-apocalyptic full motion adventure video game developed by Mechadeus and published by Media Vision Technology. Critical Path was one of earliest games to be released on CD-ROM, and featured real time video which made it appear to be graphically superior to most games of its...
, in addition to serving on the boards of Roxio and Napster as its Chairman. He also has served on the board of directors of NARM
National Association of Recording Merchandisers
The National Association of Recording Merchandisers is a United States not-for-profit trade association based in Marlton, New Jersey that serves music retailing businesses in lobbying and trade promotion...
, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers.
Keynotes
• May 1, 2007 - Digital NARM - Chicago, IL: “Bridging the Gap between Physical and Digital”• May 1, 2006 - MuseExpo - Hollywood, CA: “Unlimited access – Anytime, Anywhere”
• April 5, 2005 - Leadership Music Digital Summit - Nashville, TN: “Digital Subscriptions: The Future of The Music Industry”
• July 26, 2004 - Jupiter Plug-In - New York, NY: “The State of the Digital Music Industry”
• May 3, 2004 - Financial Times - London, England: “The Best Defense if a Good Offense, The Rise of Legitimate On-Line Music Services”
• April 20, 2004 - Music Board of Ireland and the European Union - Dublin, Ireland: “The Internet & the Democratization of Music”
• December 8, 2003 - iHollywood Forum - Universal City, CA: "Music 2.0"
• July 28, 2003 - Jupiter Plug-In - New York, NY: "The Return of Napster"
• March 3, 2003 - Digital Music Forum - New York, NY: "The Impact of Technology on Music Business Today"
• January 24, 2003 - MidemNet - Cannes, France: "Music and Technology Back on Track"
External links
- IBM Institute for Business Value Study Transcript
- IBM Institute for Business Value Study Podcast
- Napster Rolls Out MP3 Store in Challenge to iTunes
- BusinessWeek Q&A with Napster CEO Chris Gorog
- FTSE Global Markets Cover Story
- The Engadget Interview: Chris Gorog, CEO of Napster
- Q&A: Napster ex-CEO Chris Gorog
- Chris Gorog's official site
Affiliations
Gorog is a member of the Young Presidents' OrganizationYoung Presidents' Organization
The Young Presidents’ Organization is a global network of young chief executives. With approximately 18,000 members in more than 100 countries, YPO and its graduate organization, WPO share a founding mission: Better Leaders Through Education and Idea Exchange....
and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
.