Sharooz Raoofi

Proposed for appointment by: Robert Aitken, Francesca Bergami, Crispin Hunt, Per Ljungqvist, Stefano Miele, Neil Pollard, Robin Stout, Liam Westbrook, Jonathan Williams, Paul Wilson

Biography

I'm Sharooz Raoofi - an artist, songwriter and serial music tech founder. I've recorded and written for labels as diverse as Motown, Modular and Fool’s Gold - and founded ventures including Sample Magic, Attack Magazine and the beat marketplace Wavetick.

I've recently written for Vince Staples on the Ramona Park Broke My Heart album, remixed Grammy winning artists such as Moby and Robyn, and produced music for motion pictures including Netflix’s Baby and the Palme D’Or nominated Rust and Bone. I've featured on the cover of DJ Magazine, Future Music, Music Tech and helped design musical instruments and software for companies such as Roland, Korg, Splice and Apple.

As a founder I've seen many exits. Often referenced as the originator of the modern sample pack, my company Sample Magic pioneered the market for downloadable sounds and was recently acquired by Splice. My production music library Dynamic was acquired by BMG in 2020, now publishing thousands of tracks by fledgling young artists.

Over the last two decades, I've written on over 250 tracks and remain a fiercely independent, self-published, self-managed artist.

Above all I'm intensely passionate about the preservation of human artistry - ensuring we thrive, not just survive - in the age of AI.

Current and recent directorships:  Audiaire Limited, Monofonic Productions Limited, Sample Magic Limited, Wavea Limited, and Wavetick Limited

Manifesto

Over the last 22 years I have worked in virtually every aspect of the music industry - as a fiercely independent writer of over 250 songs, a music tech founder, a label owner, an indie publisher, an electronic music artist, international DJ and a senior employee at companies such as Beatport and Splice.

I believe this experience has given me an ideal vantage point to campaign for meaningful representation and impactful change for songwriters.

I intend to do everything in my power to ensure AI companies cannot legally license our works for their products without proper compensation to writers - and that the tools created by Big Tech exist to supplement our creative process - not replace us.

As an ardent technologist and a passionate advocate for diversity and change, I believe creators should and can get better representation, improved reporting and ultimately a greater share of revenue than they currently do. I intend to campaign for the advancement of tracking technologies and the deployment of "good AI" to aid in the accuracy of logging, improving metrics and bettering collection and payments on plays across all mediums.

I care deeply about the future of human artistry - and will do everything in my power to ensure it is preserved by every means possible.

Above all - I am here to serve YOU, our community and address your concerns as a creator of musical works.

Your vote would be deeply and warmly appreciated in helping achieve this.

IMPORTANT: Publication of this statement, or any subsequent communication of it, does not constitute endorsement or the promotion of the candidate by the Society, or any member of its management or staff.

The statement has been written by the candidate and has not been altered in any way. The views and/or opinions expressed are the candidate’s own.