AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Antonio "L.A." Reid, president and chief executive officer of Arista Records, will be the keynote speaker at the South By Southwest 2004 Music Conference.
The keynote conversation, to be conducted by Craig Marks, editor of Blender magazine, kicks off three days of panels and workshops on Thursday, March 18, 2004, at the Austin Convention Center.
Reid's tenure at Arista has seen the successes of Outkast, Pink, Dido, Neptunes, Usher, Avril Lavigne and more. In a business atmosphere of consolidation and retreat, Reid has bucked the odds and established Arista as a key player in a changing label landscape.
Reid grew up in Cincinnati, entering the music world as a member of The Deele, a group that also included Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. L.A and Babyface went on to establish themselves as producers and label heads, founding LaFace Records, which established the careers of TLC, Toni Braxton and OutKast among others.
In addition to Reid's keynote address, the music conference will offer a broad range of presentations and live performance from hundreds of bands from all over the world.
