Vincentian presents music technology to US Congressmen

Vincentian Ray Williams last week made a presentation to a select group of US Congressmen, which highlighted state-of-the-art music technology.{{more}}

The presentation, which took place on April 17, was made as part of GRAMMY on The Hill.

GRAMMY On The Hill is an annual event where The Recording Academy honours a prestigious music artist at an event in Washington, D.C. that is geared for legislators.

At this year’s event, 24 congressmen and woman attended. The event is also an opportunity for The Recording Academy to bring to the US Congress some issues that are important to the creative community – this year, it was royalties from Internet Radio.

Williams prepared a piece of music made from a speech made by Representative John Conyers Jr, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Williams was commissioned by Daryl Freidman, Chief Advocacy and Industry Relations Officer of The Recording Academy, to showcase the state of music technology, in part due to the success of the GRAMMY Award winning software called Melodyne that he has been an integral part of.

“This event had a sharp focus on illustrating how technologically vibrant the creative community is. Melodyne was chosen to illustrate this vibrancy. I was therefore invited to illustrate this with a piece of music. In addition, the congressmen and women were treated to performances by songwriters and singers who earn their living from royalties.

“In short, it is a spectacular lobbying event for the creative community. I was honoured to be asked to participate in it,” Williams told SEARCHLIGHT.

The GRAMMY On The Hill event also included an award to and performance by singer Jennifer Hudson. Williams also had a chance to meet Congressman John Conyers Jr, who was surprised and amused by the musical piece.

Ray Williams was born in Chateaubelair and immigrated to Canada with his family in 1980. Since that time, he has been a well-known leader in music technology, culminating in a Technical GRAMMY Award in 2012 with Celemony. Williams currently resides in Toronto with his two children and owns and operates a software distribution business called Music Marketing Inc.