Dan Pelson
{{Short description|American media and experiential-entertainment executive}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dan Pelson
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1966}}
| birth_place = Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
| nationality = American
| education = Colgate University (B.A.)
NYU Stern School of Business (M.B.A.)
| occupation = Media and entertainment executive
| known_for = Co-founding Word Magazine, Concrete Media, Bolt.com, uPlayMe; COO of AREA15
}}
Dan Pelson (born 1966) is an American media and experiential-entertainment executive best known for co-founding a string of early internet ventures, including Word Magazine, Concrete Media, Bolt.com and the social-music network uPlayMe, and for later leading the immersive-retail complex AREA15 in Las Vegas as its chief operating officer.{{cite web |title=The New Old Media |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/1997/03/the-new-old-media.html |website=New York Magazine |date=24 March 1997 |access-date=17 May 2025}}{{cite web |title=XLIST Council Spotlight: Dan Pelson |url=https://www.xp.land/latest/xp-land-xlist-jury-member-spotlight-dan-pelson/ |website=XP Land |date=21 July 2023 |access-date=17 May 2025}}{{cite news |title=Social networking widgets could reshape music biz |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/social-networking-widgets-could-reshape-music-biz-idUSN28490165/ |work=Reuters |date=29 December 2007 |access-date=17 May 2025}}
Early life and education
Pelson was born in 1966 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.{{cite web |title=On a roll: Dan Pelson |url=http://adage.com/article/sound-vision-music/a-roll-dan-pelson/54259/ |website=Ad Age |date=16 July 2001 |accessdate=25 July 2018 |language=en}} He earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and economics from Colgate University and a Master of Business Administration in international marketing from New York University Stern School of Business.{{cite web |title=Dan Pelson |url=https://people.stern.nyu.edu/hassael/B702348/dpelson.htm |website=NYU Stern School of Business |year=2002 |access-date=17 May 2025}}
Career
Pelson began his career in 1988 at Sun Microsystems, holding marketing, sales and product-development roles focused on media-industry clients.{{cite book|last1=Moss|first1=Wes|title=Make More, Worry Less: Secrets from 18 Extraordinary People Who Created a Bigger Income and a Better Life|date=2008|publisher=FT Press|isbn=9780132703949|pages=87|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kyIWqvf_1uUC&dq=dan+pelson&pg=PA87|language=en}} In June 1995, Pelson joined writer Carey Earle and designer Tom Livaccari to launch Word Magazine, one of the web's first ad-supported multimedia webzines.{{cite web |title=Word |url=https://deadword.com/ |website=Deadword.com |access-date=17 May 2025}} Seeing commercial potential in the nascent Internet, he and partners spun the editorial startup into Concrete Media in 1996.
Under Concrete's umbrella, Pelson and illustrator Jane Mount launched Bolt.com in September 1996, an early social-network community for teens that by 1999 hosted three million registered users and 50,000 user-run clubs.{{cite magazine |title=IQ Interactive Special Report: Q &A with Bolt.com's Dan Pelson |url=https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/iq-interactive-special-report-iq-q-boltcoms-dan-pelson-50414/ |magazine=Adweek |date=1 February 2000 |access-date=17 May 2025}}{{cite book|last1=Pasiuk|first1=Laurie|title=Vault Guide to the Top Internet Industry Employers|date=2006|publisher=Vault Inc.|isbn=9781581313840|url=https://archive.org/details/vaultguidetotopi00vaul|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/vaultguidetotopi00vaul/page/45 45]|quote=dan pelson bolt.|language=en}} Pelson served as chairman and chief executive of both Concrete Media and Bolt during the first dot-com boom.{{cite web|title=Dan Pelson: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=432183&privcapId=28560200|website=www.bloomberg.com|accessdate=8 May 2018}}
In 2006, Pelson re-entered the music sector, co-founding uPlayMe, a desktop application that matched listeners in real time; Wired dubbed it an effort to make "music social again" without costly label licences.{{cite magazine |title=Former Label Exec Sees Future Outside Music Distribution |url=https://www.wired.com/2008/09/major-label-see/ |magazine=Wired |date=4 September 2008 |access-date=17 May 2025}} In the same year, Warner Music Group appointed him senior vice-president for global consumer marketing, where he built direct-to-fan businesses across the label group; he left in mid-2008 to return as uPlayMe's chief executive.{{cite news |title=Industry Moves: Pelson Leaves Warner Music; Back at uPlayMe Again |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/industry-moves-pelson-leaves-warner-music-back-at-uplayme-again/ |work=CBS News |date=29 July 2008 |access-date=17 May 2025}} He is also a co-founder of SunPress Vinyl, a record pressing plant.{{cite web|last1=Rodriguez|first1=Rene|title=It's not all about digital music: An old vinyl record factory gets new life|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article127395329.html|website=Miami Herald|accessdate=8 May 2018|language=en}}
From 2009 to 2016, Pelson worked for Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Corporation of America. At Sony Music, he oversaw the Direct to Consumer global operations{{cite web|title=The Hot Seat: Dan Pelson, Executive VP, Sony Music Entertainment - Lars Brandle|url=http://larsbrandle.com/the-hot-seat-dan-pelson-executive-vp-sony-music-entertainment|website=Lars Brandle|accessdate=8 May 2018|date=13 March 2012}} and was the CEO of MyPlay, Sony's music video platform from 2008 to 2013.{{cite web|title=Dan Pelson's schedule for Music Biz 2016|url=https://musicbiz2016.sched.com/speaker/dan382|website=Music Biz|accessdate=8 May 2018}} He also served as an executive producer of The X Factor Digital Experience.{{cite web|title=The X Factor USA - The Webby Awards|url=https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2012/interactive-advertising/individual/branded-content/the-x-factor-usa/|website=www.webbyawards.com|accessdate=8 May 2018}}
In March 2019, Pelson became chief operating officer of AREA15, a 200,000 sq ft immersive retail and entertainment district west of the Las Vegas Strip.{{cite web |title=The comeback of the brick-and-mortar store |url=https://www.retaildive.com/news/the-comeback-of-the-brick-and-mortar-store/570290/ |website=Retail Dive |date=13 January 2020 |access-date=17 May 2025}} Pelson oversaw operations, leasing and events as AREA15 welcomed nearly four million visitors in its first three years. He resigned in November 2024 amid a restructuring that sought a Las Vegas-based COO; the company cited Pelson's preference to remain in New York with his family.{{cite news |title=Las Vegas tourist attraction announces layoffs |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/las-vegas-tourist-attraction-announces-layoffs-3216930/ |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date=22 November 2024 |access-date=17 May 2025}}{{cite news |title=AREA15 confirms layoffs, COO search |url=https://www.fox5vegas.com/2024/11/22/area15-confirms-layoffs-replacing-coo/ |work=KVVU-TV |date=22 November 2024 |access-date=17 May 2025}}
Since 2020, Pelson has been a director and, from 2023, nominating-committee chair, of Urban Art (formerly Urban Arts Partnership), a New York nonprofit delivering technology-and-arts programmes in under-resourced public schools.{{cite web |title=Dan Pelson – Board of Directors |url=https://urbanarts.org/team/dan-pelson/ |website=Urban Arts |access-date=17 May 2025}}{{cite web |title=The Urban Arts Yearbook 2024 |url=https://urbanarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/THE-URBAN-ARTS-YEARBOOK-2024-3-1.pdf |format=PDF |website=Urban Arts |year=2024 |access-date=17 May 2025}} He has also served on the board of Teach For America.
Personal life
Pelson is based in New York City. He is married to Jenny Kwong and has three children.{{cite news |title=Las Vegas tourist attraction announces layoffs |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/las-vegas-tourist-attraction-announces-layoffs-3216930/ |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date=22 November 2024 |access-date=17 May 2025}}
References
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Category:American media executives
Category:American Internet company founders
Category:American technology chief executives