Annual Music Industry Event Brings Together All Facets of Content and Commerce

Marlton, NJ – February 28, 2011 – Elevation Partners’ Roger McNamee will be the featured keynote during the Thursday, May 12 “Digital Breakfast” at the 2011 NARM Convention in Los Angeles. The 53rd annual event is the most important conference on the music industry calendar, bringing together all of the players from all aspects of commercial music distribution, including physical, digital, and mobile outlets, as well as gaming, applications, merchandise, video and more. McNamee will give his thoughts on the state of the music industry from the perspective of an entrepreneur and a working musician, and then hold a Q&A session with TAG Strategic’s Ted Cohen.

McNamee co-founded Elevation Partners in 2004 with partners including U2’s Bono and Fred Anderson, formerly CFO of Apple. Together they created a $1.9 billion private equity firm whose active portfolio of companies consists of Facebook, Yelp, Forbes, Move, and MarketShare. McNamee’s 29-year career as a tech investor began at T. Rowe Price Associates, before he left to start three pioneering investment firms: Integral, Silver Lake, and Elevation.

“Roger brings a musician’s sensibility to venture capital – putting together the right team of players to create something greater than the individual parts,” said Jim Donio, NARM President. “I’m looking forward to hearing what areas of the entertainment business are currently grabbing his interest, and his thoughts on what we might see coming in the future.”

The Digital Breakfast will also include a briefing by NARM’s VP of Digital Strategy & Business Development Bill Wilson on the current initiatives of the organization’s Digital Think Tank that now includes four working groups addressing operations, metrics, product innovation, and subscription services, as well as the future development of NARM’s integrated entertainment database.

Roger McNamee has been leading investment in technology-driven companies since he began his career in 1982 at T. Rowe Price Associate. In 1991, he launched Integral Capital Partners, the first crossover fund (combining later stage venture capital with public market investments), in partnership with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and in 1999, he co-founded Silver Lake Partners, the first private equity fund focused on technology businesses.

McNamee has been a professional musician for 35 years. Under the alias Chubby Wombat, he plays guitar and bass in the band Moonalice, whose current single, “It’s 4:20 Somewhere” has been downloaded 754,000+ times. He is also the author of several books, including The New Normal. His board of directors positions include the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Museum and The Grateful Dead’s Rex Foundation.

Early bird registration for the NARM Convention runs through March 4, including special rates for first-time independent retailers, individual members, and music business students. The four-day event —which includes a Music Business Crash Course presented in collaboration with the American Association Of Independent Music (A2IM), an Entertainment & Technology Law Conference, a Townhall meeting for Artist Managers, a Musical Celebration sponsored by UMGD, special interest and genre-specific group meet-ups, the coveted Awards Dinner Finale, special networking receptions sponsored by WEA and Sony Music Entertainment, and more — will take place at the Los Angeles Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.