Ex-Yahoo Music GM Ian Rogers Launches Topspin Media

Ian Rogers, the former GM of Yahoo Music, has finally taken music startup TopSpin Media out of stealth mode. The new company will offer a marketing software platform for music artists to maximize their fanbase and brand exposure.

Rogers, who was the GM of Yahoo Music until April 2008, is one of the few beacons of common sense in a digital music industry seemingly intent on shoving bad products down consumers’ throats. In October 2007 Rogers addressed a number of music excutives where he explained that consumers aren’t willing to adopt inferior products (namely subscription music services).

I won’t let Yahoo! invest any more money in consumer inconvenience. I will tell Yahoo! to give the money they were going to give me to build awesome media applications to Yahoo! Mail or Answers or some other deserving endeavor. I personally don’t have any more time to give and can’t bear to see any more money spent on pathetic attempts for control instead of building consumer value. Life’s too short. I want to delight consumers, not bum them out.

Yahoo subsequently sold its subscription music service to Rhapsody and acquired FoxyTunes, a Firefox-based plugin that lets users control music players from their browser. Then, during the middle of Yahoo Music’s apparent rebirth, Rogers resigned from the company to become CEO of Topspin Media in April 2008.

TopSpin Media describes itself as a technology company (not a “marketing services” company) aimed at helping artists better market themselves. For now TopSpin’s platform is only available to a few select artists, but the company plans to eventually open it to “anyone who would like to make a living from their art”. You can read more about the company on its first blog post here.