MusicNet has made several additions to its executive management team including technology pioneer and entrepreneur Ganapathy “Krish” Krishnan, Ph.D., as SVP of products/technology and chief technology officer. Alan McGlade, president and CEO of MusicNet, also named Shashi Karan as VP of finance and David Halprin as director of product management to MusicNet’s growing executive team.
Ganapathy “Krish” Krishnan, Ph.D. will be responsible for managing product development and technical operations for MusicNet and directing the MusicNet platform into future evolutions of the service offering. Before joining MusicNet, Dr. Krishnan was a founding member, CTO and EVP of Network Commerce, Inc., where he provided technology vision and operational management in nurturing the company from a fledgling startup with 10 employees to a 700-person Internet Services company. He also managed the domains and hosting business unit and facilitated its acquisition by Verisign, Inc. Prior to that, Dr. Krishnan was CEO and founder of Web Solutions, Inc., and Intelligent Software Solutions, Inc. where he created a digital distribution and licensing product (XNet License) that he licensed successfully to over 120 customers including Xerox and Macromedia. Network Commerce, Inc. acquired both of these companies.
“Krish understands our business and has the experience and vision to evolve the MusicNet platform as we move forward in the emerging era of digital music. He has a proven track record in creating technology and management solutions that provide superior products for the end-user,” said McGlade. “This is an exciting time for the digital music industry and I’m confident these three accomplished executives will provide unparalleled contributions in their respective roles as we enter future phases of our service offering.”
Shashi Karan has been appointed VP of Finance for MusicNet and will be responsible for finance and administrative functions at MusicNet. Previously, Karan was senior director and corporate controller of PathoGenesis Corporation where he was responsible for all financial management and controls from its inception as a private research and development company to a publicly traded, fully integrated pharmaceutical company with international subsidiaries and revenue of $100 million.
David Halprin joins the MusicNet team as director of product management and will report directly to Alan McGlade in the New York office. Halprin is charged with managing and prioritizing features and content for the MusicNet service and acting as liaison between the technology team in Seattle and the management team in New York. Halprin has been with MusicNet since its inception and provided critical expertise in the incubation period of the company while inside RealNetworks. Prior to joining MusicNet, Haplrin was a product manager in the consumer division of RealNetworks.
