About Passionato

Passionato's aim is to become the world's most comprehensive online classical resource and offer classical music lovers the largest available collection of high-quality DRM-free classical music downloads. Passionato provides access to catalogues from the two largest major labels (Universal Music and EMI Classics) as well as the key independent classical labels including Naxos (the biggest independent), Chandos (one of the premier British independent labels), Avie and Arts.

Designed for classical music lovers, Passionato's main features are: DRM-free recordings, transferable to any portable device and burnable to CD; high audio quality downloads (320kbps DRM-free MP3 and lossless FLAC); access to free software the Passionato Player specifically developed to help organise users' existing Classical CDs alongside tracks purchased through the Passionato Store; an unprecedented level of recording information which users benefit from when they download a track, work or album, and when they import their own CD libraries to their computers; the ability to search Passionato's recordings using over 20 fields, including by work, composer, conductor, venue and recording engineer.

Passionato does not employ any DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology. This means your purchase allows you to transfer your downloaded audio files to your portable player, CDs and other media for personal use. Purchase does not include file transfer for commercial purpose.

Meet the Team

James Glicker, Founder and CEO

James Glicker has worked in the music industry for twenty years. When James first conceived of the idea Passionato, he had just completed a two year term as President/CEO of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra where he was responsible for setting the orchestra's artistic and business goals, including opening the Music Centre at Strathmore, a 2000-seat concert hall and multi-disciplinary education facility near Washington DC in 2005. His parting shot in 2005 was to appoint Marin Alsop as Music Director, the first woman to be a music director of a major American orchestra.

James was previously President of MusicNow (now part of Napster), where he set up one of the world's first subscription services, (the other three being Rhapsody, Napster and MusicNet). He also secured the first ever 99 cents label deal with Warner in 2001, before Apple developed iTunes.

Prior to MusicNow, James was head of worldwide marketing at BMG Classics (now trading as RCA Victor), where he was charged with increasing sales of classical music across 60 countries worldwide. He was promoted to President of BMG Australia after four years, where he was responsible for sales promotion across not just classical music but also country, rock, hip hop, and pop.

James has held a number of interesting positions outside the music industry, for companies such as Geocities, the world's first online community, where he was part of a team that took GeoCities public and sold it to Yahoo for $4.3 billion. He has also been CEO of his own yoghurt company, Whitney, written speeches for the Chrysler Corporation and, as a Venture Partner at Venture Strategy (a VC fund based in San Francisco), sat on the boards of two AIM-listed companies in the UK, Gameplay and Systems Union.

James has a BA from Yale in English (minored in music) and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He took piano lessons from an early age, but got much of his musical inspiration from his uncle, Joe Mack, a respected studio bass player. 'Uncle Joe' played on a number of recordings including Bob Dylan's album 'Highway 66 Revisited', plus with the group 'The Archies', as well as on other recordings with The Supremes and Frank Sinatra. When James was sixteen he showed up late at a Guarneri String Quartet concert in Nantucket, and was allowed to sit on the floor just a few feet from the group, who after playing a Beethoven string quartet, played Bartok. James was blown away and from that moment on classical was central to his musical tastes. However, while he studied classical music at Yale (including advanced theory with Joan Panneti and a composition tutorial with David Mott), he still found time to participate in Yale's singing group scene, ultimately becoming Pitchpipe (Musical Director) of the world famous Yale Whiffenpoofs.

Patrick Healy, Chief Technology Officer

Patrick joined Passionato from Jetix (formerlyFox Kids) where, as CTO and Head of Digital, he was responsible for all aspects of the Digital business including running the platform, product development and production teams. Over a seven-year period he managed the roll out twenty commercial websites across Europe as well as a number of interactive TV and games services.

Prior to Jetix, Patrick spent eleven years with ICL/Fujitsu as a systems developer and managing consultant. One of his major clients was the BBC, for whom he headed up the technical team that developed the beeb.com commercial websites, which include The Radio Times, Top of The Pops, Gardner's World and Top Gear.

As Passionato's CTO, Patrick's single biggest challenge has been to create the company's exceptional metadata database that enables Passionato's members to benefit from an unprecedented level of descriptive information relating to a particular work of classical music (e.g. composer, conductor, recording engineer, venue). He has also been responsible for developing Passionato's bespoke player and the Passionato store where users can buy hi fidelity classical music downloads.

Patrick's classical music interest developed at an early age as a result of attending outdoor summer performances and he includes Handel's Fireworks and Beethoven's Pastoral among his list of favorite performances.

Patrick studied Telecommunications at The College of Technology Dublin.

Rob Gotlieb, Director of Marketing and Business Development

Rob came to Passionato from Napster, the UK's first major digital music subscription service, where he was Head of Marketing. Rob spent four years there, managing the launch of Napster UK and subsequently building up its subscriber base, overseeing offline and online marketing campaigns, managing viral marketing and customer retention initiatives and developing media partnerships with the likes of FilmFour and Virgin Radio.

Before Napster, Rob spent a short period at BT.com where he was responsible for driving consumer traffic to the telecom provider's commercial website and maximizing the site's return on investment.

For several years prior to that, Rob was European Sales and Marketing Executive for MP3.com during the time of it's expansion from the US to Europe. He worked very closely with record labels and brands to drive revenue across six European countries and he also developed a pan-European advertising campaign system that allowed the business to maximize profits on its available ad inventory.

At Passionato, Rob is responsible for customer acquisition, including developing media plans online and offline and establishing commercial partnerships (e.g. with press and hardware companies). He will also be overseeing Passionato's customer service, public relations and advertising sales operations.

Rob has an eclectic music taste and amongst his classical listening he is currently enjoying Arvo Part's Fratres and Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez.

Rob holds a BSc in Business from The Manchester Metropolitan University.

Jeremy Wilkinson, Content and Merchandising Director

Jeremy has spent twenty years in the classical record industry. He joined Passionato after spending six years running Britannia Music's Classical Club, one of the largest CD & DVD mail order clubs in Europe. During his time there, he expanded the range enormously, introducing many new labels and developing several exclusive boxed sets with major labels including DG and Decca. He also expanded Britannia's links with Gramophone magazine, culminating in the sponsorship of the 2003 Gramophone Awards.

Before joining Britannia Music, Jeremy spent twelve years in store-based retail, starting out as a Christmas temp working at HMV's original megastore in London's Oxford Street, ending up as manager of the Classical Department there, where he introduced radical new merchandising techniques that won the company's Merchandiser of the Year Award in 1995. He was also closely involved in the design and planning of the new flagship department, which opened in 2001.

At Passionato, Jeremy is responsible for the website content and design, including all commercial activity on the site related to Passionato's extensive range of recordings. A major part of his role is the development of the extensive databases necessary to provide the detailed information available to Passionato customers. He also manages the relationships with all the record labels and other repertoire suppliers, and is responsible for the acquisition of new labels.

Jeremy's interest in Classical music was kindled at an early age by regular visits to see the Halle Orchestra. An occupational hazard in CD retail, Jeremy's musical interests are somewhat eclectic, ranging from Early and Baroque to the Twentieth Century, though he has a particular passion for British music, piano and chamber music, film music, and unearthing gems from the lesser-known masters of the repertoire.

Jeremy has a B.A. in Modern History from The Queen's College, Oxford.

David Kuehn, General Manager USA

David has held a wide variety of positions in the classical music business over the past 20 years, including retail, distribution, sales, marketing, A & R, production and promotion.

David was previously a consultant whose clients included the San Francisco and Chicago Symphonies and AVIE records. Before that, David was Vice President of Marketing and A&R for BMG Classics Worldwide (RCA Victor).Prior to BMG, David was National Sales Director for Warner Classics.

David held the position of Vice President of Marketing and A&R for BMG Classics Worldwide, overseeing the labels RCA Red Seal, RCA Gold Seal, Living Stereo, deutsche harmonia mundi [sic], Conifer Classics and Melodiya. Under his leadership, his division, known as the "Red Seal Group," witnessed steady growth, increased market share and numerous successes, including the major label debut of Denyce Graves (Voce di Donna), the highly lauded recordings by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony and London Symphony Orchestras. While at BMG Classics, he managed the world-wide recording, release, marketing and promotional plans for a wide range of artists and catalogue initiatives.

Prior to joining BMG Classics, David was National Sales Director for Atlantic Classics/Warner Classics International. He was also active in the areas of artist relations and marketing, working closely with such artists as Daniel Barenboim, Chanticleer, Richard Goode, Jennifer Larmore, Kronos Quartet, Dawn Upshaw and Maxim Vengerov.

David's classical favourites include impressionistic piano music, 19th century opera, and works from the minimalist movement.

David holds a Bachelor of Music degree from UCLA. During his college career, his diverse experience included teaching, accompanying, chamber music and solo performances with the university orchestra.

Tony Barnes, Marketing Manager UK

Tony joined Passionato in April 2008 from UK independent record label Cherry Red Records, where he worked as New Media Manager for nearly 3 years.

Releasing more than 40 albums per month in over 45 territories, Tony was responsible for marketing and distribution of the Cherry Red and associated label's brands and content to digital and online media platforms and retail partners; strategic development and management of the label websites and download shop; social networking; customer acquisition and retention; email marketing campaigns; product promotions; and business development.

In an earlier life Tony studied Art and Theatre at college before embarking on a career as a musician. At the age of 22 Tony returned home from traveling the USA and beyond to study Music & Entertainment Business Management at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College.

Having played guitar since childhood Tony particularly enjoys the works for Spanish guitar of Joaquin Rodrigo and George Bizet. Elsewhere Tony is very fond of the violin sonatas of Mozart, Poulenc and Grieg.

Dimple Mistry, Customer Service Manager

Dimple graduated with a BA(hon) Sociology from Middlesex University in the year 2000. After taking time out to do some travelling, she entered into the customer service industry by joining the Playstation careline as a customer service representative, dealing with all hardware and software queries. Having enjoyed the fast pace of the industry a year later she joined The Carphone Warehouse as a correspondence advisor and then become Team Manager six months later. Dimple also managed the Lifeline Claims team, where she managed the day to day running of a team, training, motivating and coaching staff, so that they were able to provide the utmost in service to all incoming customer queries.

Dimple's motto for the customer service department at Passionato is to provide a first time fix to all customers by using a personal approach.

Dimple enjoys romantic classical music, especially the works of Tchaikovsky.

Kathy Toher, Head of Advertising Sales and Promotions, UK

On graduating from Brunel University with a BSc (hon), Kathy started her working life in the Travel Industry for Thomson Holidays, before moving into Advertising Sales for 14 years, working for Thames TV and Channel 4 Television, where she was a Senior Sales Manager, working across a wide portfolio of agencies, building and managing the day to day agency relationships, along with negotiating annual and short term deals.

On leaving Channel 4 she took some time out of media to combine her love of travel and her interest in property, she joined Prestigious Properties as Sales Director where her belief in good customer service and meeting the customers' needs proved successful.

Kathy is now bringing that belief to Passionato and combining her love of all things music, to head up the Advertising Sales for this new and exciting website, with the aim of attracting advertising that provides an added benefit to the Passionato offering for our advertising partners and our customers alike, in the form of Sponsorship, Promotions and traditional Banner Advertising.

In the Classical genre, Kathy particularly likes choral works such as Handel's Messiah (having sung this as part of the Goldsmiths Choir at the Royal Albert Hall), Faure's Requiem, Rachmaninov's Vespers and Haydn's Creation. In the more crossover area she is a big fan of Josh Groban.

Gerard Davis, Content and Merchandising Manager

Gerard has been working in Classical music retailing for over 10 years. This has included spells at various HMV stores, including Oxford Street in London, and also several enthralling years as Classical Music Specialist at HMV.co.uk. 3 years at the Royal Opera House followed where a hitherto untapped love for Opera and ballet developed before he took up the exciting challenge at Passionato.

Gerard's philosophy is simple: he feels that Classical music is for everyone to enjoy and he is always ready to encourage anyone who shows an interest in learning more.

Despite relishing music from all different parts of the repertoire, with his hand on his heart he'd probably admit that the Romantic/late Classical periods were his eras of choice, particularly the music of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. A complete set of Beethoven symphonies is what he'd take to his desert island.