Panos Panay

Panos A. Panay is the President of The Recording Academy and presenter of the GRAMMY Awards. Prior to his current role he served as the Senior Vice President for Global Strategy and Innovation at Berklee College of Music

A serial entrepreneur, Panos A. Panay wears many hats. He is the founder of Sonicbids, Berklee’s Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship, and co-founder of the Open Music Initiative. His first book, Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation, which was co-authored with IDEO partner Michael Hendrix, was selected by The Financial Times as a business book of the month in April 2021 and featured in Harvard Business Review’s IdeaCast.

While at Berklee, Panay led the development and execution of the college’s overarching strategic plan, overseeing its campuses in New York City, Valencia (Spain) and Abu Dhabi (UAE); the Institutes for Creative Entrepreneurship, Music and Health and India Exchange, and steered new partnerships and programme development as well as the incorporation of new technologies across the institution. He led Berklee’s expansion to China and the K-12 sector.

Prior to joining Berklee, Panos A. Panay was founder and CEO of Sonicbids, the leading platform for emerging artists to connect with music promoters, resulting in over 1 million gigs booked in over 80 countries around the world. He led the company for 13 years until after its successful acquisition in 2013 in a deal backed by Guggenheim Partners.

Education

Panay has studied for an Executive MBA from IE Business School/Brown University and holds a Music Business & Management degree from Berklee College of Music, where he studied guitar with Lauren Passarelli.

Awards and honors

Panay was awarded the Fast Company's "Fast 50" honor, Mass Hi-Tech All Stars, Boston Business Journal's "40 under 40", Boston Globe's Game Changers of 2017, and BosInno "50 on Fire" Award for excellence in education.