New Universal Audio execs talk pro audio industry trends

In a Headliner world exclusive, new Universal Audio chief digital officer Ethan Kaplan, and chief operating officer Dana Ruzicka, discuss their new roles with the pro audio giant and share their vision for the brand moving forwards…

At the end of July, Universal Audio revealed that it was expanding its leadership team with the addition of Kaplan and Ruzicka to its ranks. The pair, who will each be reporting directly to CEO Bill Putnam Jr., bring a combined experience of over 55 years to the company.

Ruzicka is a lifelong musician and accomplished leader with nearly 30 years of industry experience, most notably at Avid Technology where he held senior roles including vice president of strategic alliances, vice president of product management, vice president of market solutions, senior vice president and general manager, and chief product officer.

Kaplan, meanwhile, joins as a longtime leader in digital music technology, with 25 years creating digital transformations at Fender Music, Live Nation Labs, Warner Music Group, and most recently leading AI investments at Smash Capital.

Here, the new Universal Audio arrivals outline their ambitions for the brand, open up on their respective background in the audio business, and explore the trends shaping the market as we know it.

What was it that drew you to your new role with Universal Audio?

Kaplan: I love building teams and products, especially when they’re built with the ultimate goal of making the world more creative. UA is such a storied brand, with a rich heritage and innovative products that hold a special place in the world of music recording and production, and it's an honor to be building upon that for the future.

Ruzicka: There's no other industry I'd rather be in. Music creation has been my life’s creative passion. It’s an honor to be joining UA, where this same passion is shared by so many. There's such a rich heritage here, and a very bright future ahead.

What will be your top priorities in your new role?

Kaplan: We have the unique ability to form direct relationships with our customers, and a lot of my first priorities are around enabling us to create a rich community of creators who are passionate about the products we sell.

Ruzicka: Continuing to build industry-leading hardware and software products with superior sonics and craftsmanship for our core customers

Extending UA’s reach to the next generation of music creators and meeting them where they are with innovative new offerings leveraging mobile, cloud, and AI

And over the next several years, solidifying UA as the leader in end-to-end music creation for creators who are serious about their craft.

What’s your background in music and audio, and how does this experience lend itself to Universal Audio?

Kaplan: I’ve been involved in the music industry and artist community since I was a teenager. I started working with a band named R.E.M. when I was 16, and over time ended up working at their record label as their head of technology. After that, I held similar roles at Live Nation and Fender. I am a music fan and sometimes musician, but mostly I love how music can move people by moving air. It’s so powerful in that way.

Ruzicka: Like many UA’ers, I fell in love with music early on – writing, performing, and recording music as a teen, and spending a number of years producing music for film, TV, and Multimedia. I eventually transitioned into media tech as a member of the product development team behind Avid Pro Tools and Media Composer, collaborating with some of the industry’s top talent across film/TV/music, to transform the music creation and storytelling process. I spent 30 years at Avid in product, marketing, and executive roles including General Manager and chief product officer, and I’m excited to bring this experience to UA.

What are the key trends shaping the audio production industry right now?

Kaplan: There has been such a surge in research around generative AI over the last few years that it's hard to find a business that isn’t affected by it, including music production. I view AI as a way of smoothing the rough edges of user experience, and that applies in a big way to something as complicated as music production. I am also encouraged by how the new generations growing up with creator tools in their pockets will shape what it means to create and consume music. You now have kids like my ten-year-old daughter writing, animating, and scoring little animated films on tablets. The creative literacy kids are growing up with is astounding.

Ruzicka: The barrier to enter the music creation space continues to be lowered by technology. First in the 2000s, advancements in host processing, cloud computing, and storage enabled a new generation to create great-sounding music on the desktop. Then in the 2010s, the advent of mobile computing and ubiquity of social media opened the floodgates for new creators to share their art. Now in the 2020s, anyone can use GenAI to participate in the music making process, and I think the next five years are going to be a whirlwind – in a good way!

Tell us about the role AI has to play in the audio production industry. What opportunities and challenges does its rising prominence pose to both the industry as a whole and to Universal Audio specifically?

Kaplan: AI as a blanket term encompasses a lot, from generative AI to ways of predicting user behavior. All aspects of AI and Machine Learning are assets to music production in general. Creating music or audio is often a technical task, especially from a cold start. Where generative AI shines is how it shifts the technical aspects from “click and do” to “do as I say.” That is hugely powerful in smoothing out the rough edges of music production user experience and the “dialog” that exists between a creator and their tools.

More generally, what are the biggest challenges facing the industry? What are the biggest opportunities?

Kaplan: Post-pandemic normalization has affected everyone in different ways. When people were at home working and creating remotely, our business did well, as did others in the music industry. But that also created a huge opportunity for the future, because creating music or audio isn’t as restricted to just professional musicians. It expanded the definition of what it means to create noise, which ultimately, is what we can enable.