Gerald "Gerry" Kearby (June 22, 1947 – August 6, 2012) was an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

who rose to prominence during the " dot-com" boom of the late 1990s. He worked predominantly with music and audio-related electronics and software companies. He was co-founder, CEO and president of Liquid Audio, Inc. In that position, he testified before the US Congress regarding digital music distribution. At Liquid Audio he also drove development of digital audio

watermarking A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper used to determine authenticity. Watermark or watermarking may also refer to: Technology * Digital watermarking, a technique to embed data in digital audio, images or video ** Audio water ...

technology since acquired and used by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

. At its peak, Liquid Audio had a

market capitalization Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by t ...

close to $1 billion. Prior to Liquid Audio, Kearby was co-founder and chief executive officer of Integrated Media Systems, a manufacturer of computer-based professional audio equipment from June 1995 to December 1995. From January 1989 until June 1995, Mr. Kearby served as vice president of sales and marketing at Studer Editech Corporation, a professional audio recording division of the

Studer Studer is a designer and manufacturer of professional audio equipment for recording studios and broadcasters. The company was founded in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1948 by Willi Studer. It initially became known in the 1950s for its professiona ...

company. Kearby created some of the earliest versions of

digital audio workstation A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device or application software used for Sound recording and reproduction, recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software pro ...

product families working with many colleagues. Gerry served in the United States Marine Corps as percussionist for their premier ceremonial unit, "

The Commandant's Own The United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps is the drum and bugle corps of the United States Marine Corps. The D&B is now the only full-time active duty drum corps in the United States Armed Forces. As one of many United States military bands, the ...

" in Washington, D.C., between 1967 and 1968. Kearby died on August 6, 2012, in

Pescadero, California Pescadero (Spanish for "Fishmonger") is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in San Mateo County, California, two miles (3 km) east of State Route 1 and Pescadero State Beach. The town is south of Half Moon Bay. The ZIP ...

. Half Moon Bay Review
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearby, Gerry 1947 births 2012 deaths American businesspeople Dot-com bubble People from Pescadero, California