Robbin Ahrold

As Vice President, Corporate Relations, Robbin Ahrold oversees BMI's marketing, advertising, media relations, online communications and creative services activities.

Ahrold oversees the company's award-winning Internet site, bmi.com, now among the most visited professional websites in the music industry. His understanding of digital technology led him to establish BMI’s web site in September 1994, making it one of the first entertainment industry sites on the World Wide Web, more than a year before Microsoft released Internet Explorer 1.0.

He also oversees the BMI corporate Archives and is a Vice President of the BMI Foundation.

Ahrold joined BMI in March 1987 from RCA Records where he served as Vice President, Communications. At RCA, he also served as worldwide director for the launch of the Compact Disc, and represented RCA in the industry’s Compact Disc Group. He directed the company’s industry relations and public policy agenda, testifying before Congress on copyright and First Amendment issues. He oversaw all aspects of the company’s media relations, and directed worldwide promotion and publicity campaigns for RCA international artists including David Bowie, Hall and Oates, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross and Latin phenomenon Menudo, working closely with future superstars Ricky Martin and Robi Rosa.

Prior to that, Ahrold was Director, Corporate Affairs for Home Box Office (HBO) from 1978 to 1983, overseeing national program publicity and corporate public affairs activities. He served in marketing, programming and television production positions for HBO from 1972 to 1978. He produced the cable industry’s first music video series, “Celebration,” three years before MTV was launched. Before joining HBO, he served for seven years on the staff of Time magazine in its Washington, D.C. and New York news bureaus.

Ahrold currently serves as Chair of the Communications Committee of FastTrack, the international technical alliance of copyright organizations developing a global database of musical works. He serves on the Communications Committee of CISAC, the international policy organization of the copyright community, having completed two terms as its Chair.

He is a member of the Board of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and chairs its Media Committee, overseeing its website and member publications. He is a Governor of the New York chapter of the Recording Academy, and a voting member of the Rock ’N Roll Hall of Fame, The Country Music Association and The Gospel Music Association.

Ahrold holds a B.S. in International Economics from Georgetown University’s Foreign Service School.