April 27, 2022
The George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center
1205 N. Rampart Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70116
April 27, 2022
The George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center
1205 N. Rampart Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70116
Panos A. Panay serves as Co-President and Chief Revenue Officer for the Recording Academy®. In his role, Panay drives business growth across the entire organization to further expand the service offerings for Academy members and the industry. With a focus on identifying new partnerships, global expansion and leveraging new technologies, he drives strategic advancement for the Academy’s objectives and fosters a culture of innovation.
Prior to joining the Recording Academy, Panay served as the senior vice president for Global Strategy and Innovation at Berklee College of Music and is a fellow at MIT Connection Science. At Berklee, he led the development and execution of the college's overarching strategic plan; founded the Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship; oversaw its campuses in New York City, Valencia (Spain) and Abu Dhabi, as well as the Music + Health and India Exchange Institutes; and steered new partnerships, program development and the incorporation of new technologies. He also led Berklee's expansion to China and the K-12 sector. Prior to Berklee, Panay was founder and CEO of Sonicbids, the leading platform for emerging artists to connect with music promoters, resulting in over 1 million gigs booked in over 80 countries around the world. He led the company for 13 years until after its successful acquisition in 2013. He started his career as a talent agent and vice president at The Kurland Agency, booking the international tours for GRAMMY®-winning artists such as Pat Metheny, Chick Corea and Branford Marsalis.
Panay has been recognized in Fast Company's Fast 50, Inc Magazine's Inc 500, Mass Hi-Tech All Stars, and Boston Globe's Game Changers. For his work with Sonicbids, Panay was also profiled in the book Outsmart by best-selling author Jim Champy and spoke at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland as part of his work with Open Music. He has been a guest on programs such as CNBC's "Squawk Box" and a guest writer about entrepreneurship for Forbes, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fast Company, and Inc Magazine, among others. He is a public speaker at many universities and events around the world. His first book Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation, co-authored with R. Michael Hendrix of IDEO, was released earlier this year and was named as a business book of the month of April by the Financial Times.
Panay holds a music business & management degree from Berklee College of Music and is a current candidate for an Executive MBA from IE Business School / Brown University.
The George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center
1205 N. Rampart Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70116