Tristan Jehan, Ph.D. (Co-Founder & CTO)

Tristan earned a doctorate in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT in 2005. His academic work combined machine listening and machine learning technologies in teaching computers how to hear and make music. He first earned an MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Rennes in France, later working on music signal parameter extraction at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies at U.C. Berkeley. He has worked with leading research and development labs in the U.S. and France as a software and hardware engineer in areas of machine listening and audio analysis. Tristan plays keyboards for Boston-based Brazilian combo Brazilnut and builds software and interactive projects for musicians.

Brian Whitman, Ph.D. (Co-Founder & CTO)

Brian is recognized as a leading scientist in the area of music and text retrieval and natural language processing. He received his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005 in Machine Listening and a masters degree in Computer Science from Columbia University's Natural Language Processing Group. His research links community knowledge of music to its acoustic properties to "learn the meaning of music." Brian is an electronic musician that teaches computers how to do it for themselves.

Jim Lucchese (CEO)

Jim is the CEO of The Echo Nest. Jim has worked in digital music strategy and corporate development for about 10 years. Before The Echo Nest, Jim was a music lawyer at Greenberg Traurig, specializing in music and digital media deals. Clients included multi-platinum and independent artists, music publishers, digital entertainment companies and branded entertainment. Prior to GT, Jim held sales and corporate development positions at Hughes, where he managed market development and sales with annual revenues exceeding $20 Million. Jim was also Chief Strategy Officer of Webnoize/DMN, a digital entertainment research and advisory company serving over 500 clients. Jim holds a B.A. from Boston College and a J.D., Magna Cum Laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center. When he’s not at the Nest, Jim plays drums and still represents a few indie artists pro bono for fun. Right now, his favorite clients are Game Rebellion and Kemp Harris.

Don Rose (Executive Chairman)

Don has a 30-year history of successfully applying new technologies in the music industry. Don provides leadership on overall corporate strategy and business development. Most recently, Don served as President of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), a non-profit trade association representing over 200 independent record labels. At A2IM, Don provided industry leadership on a host of critical digital music issues including advertising-based deals between labels and online services, iTunes royalty rates, DRM-free downloads as well as industry-wide podcasting and webcasting initiatives. Don has deep relationships throughout the digital entertainment market as the result of his leadership on industry-changing new technology issues.

Prior to A2IM, Don was the cofounder and Chairman / CEO of Ryko Corporation, the world's first "CD-only" record label and digital music pioneer. Under Don's leadership, Ryko Corporation generated in excess of $80MM in revenues and employed 150 people around the world. Ryko was acquired by Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures in 1999. Don is a past member of the Board of Trustees of the Berklee College of Music and the Board of Directors of SoundExchange.