Meet California’s 101 Top CEO’s in the Digital Media Space

Brian D. Litman

President & CEO of PlayMedia Systems, Inc.

Brian D. Litman is a media and technology entrepreneur operating out of both the United States and Europe. He is currently the CEO of PlayMedia Systems, Inc. is a principal of the stealth investment entity Qontinuum™ developing media monetization project “Qovert™ | SPON™ and the advanced digital assets project “MediumRare™”. In 1997, Litman conceived and co-founded PlayMedia® Systems, Inc., the firm that developed the core AMP® MP3 technology used in WinAmp® and the original Napster®. Facebook’s co-founder Sean Parker and his partner Sean Fanning licensed Litman’s AMP for use in the massively popular Napster client of the late 1990’s through early 2000’s until the pioneering file sharing client failed to survive a strategic bankruptcy. PlayMedia “.nap” technology was core to the Bertelsmann’s planned acquisition of the digital media sharing platform. PlayMedia’ global technology footprint pivoted and became ever-wider when they were contracted by the dominant “background music” operator (currently known as Mood Media | Muzak) to develop the first Internet-based music playback system (PlayCore). PlayMedia’s strategic relationships have also include Intel, STMicro, France Telecom|Orange and the Hughes Corporation. Litman’s career has spanned the spectrum of media, including: Radio (Bonneville Broadcasting), journalism (Knight-Ridder’s Kansas City Star), Recorded Music (CBS Records Group), Cable Television (Time, Inc. and Hearst/ABC/NBC), Digital Telephony (AT&T spin-off US West), Russian Media Development (E.C.H.O.: Entertainment & Communications Holdings Group and Digital Music (Advanced Multimedia Products, PlayMedia Systems). In 1988 Litman served as the founding Chairman of the Cable Television Committee for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Emmys) and also sat on the Emmy Awards Committee. Along with now-Chairman and CEO of Comcast / NBC / Universal Brian Roberts, Litman also served on the Board of Directors of the California Cable Television Association, (CCTA) from June 1987 – October 1990. In 1992, Litman negotiated the first intellectual property development agreement with the Soviet KGB pursuant to new material related to the Cold War and other topics. This included the release of the critical Soviet archives on JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. The archives revealed hitherto unknown degree of violent psychopathology inherent to Oswald’s character. Litman also was a media consultant in the pre and post-perestroika eras to Soviet Central Television (Ostankino Teleradio), Pravda, Komsomolskaya Pravda and Moskovski Novosti. In 1993 he formed a brief business partnership with ex-Soviet Premier Nikolai Ryzhkov to create the “Ryzhkov Group”. Ryzhkov had been head of government under Mikhail Gorbachev and was massively connected in state industrial circles. Litman holds a Patent for the “System and Method for Advertisement Sponsored Content Distribution”. Litman also has investments outside of PlayMedia in the fintech project “Bitzerland” and stealth projects in artificial intelligence/machine learning. Litman travels frequently and is usually domiciled in Europe. In the US he maintains residences in the West.

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About MediumRare™, PlayMedia Systems, Inc., Qovert Systems, Qovert Systems: Digital Audiovisual Technologies, Background Music Playback Systems

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