The Chairman of the Board, Eugene Mthethwa, resigned during the course of his tenure, and another Board member TW Malgas tragically passed away during the year. The remaining Board Members, listed below, completed their term, and resigned from office in terms of the Constitution at the AGM of October 21st 2008. All Board Members with the exception of Jake Larsen made themselves re-available for election to the 2009 Board.
name: Antos Stella
portfolio: Acting Chairperson / Membership & Marketing (Chair)
Antos Stella is one of the few women to have reached the topmost levels
of the South African music industry. Starting in the legal department
of Gallo Music
("assisting with artist's contracts") in 1984, Antos rose through the
ranks, becoming first Public Relations Manager and then Managing
Director of South Africa’s longest standing record company. In 2005
Antos started her own music company AS Entertainment,
which manages acts like the Mahotella Queens, and releases African and
World music titles. Antos is the South African representative for Reed
Midem, who host Midem,
the world’s largest music industry trade show in Cannes every year, and
has been instrumental in the growth of South African presence at Midem
over the past years. Antos also co-ordinates a number of large scale
music events such as the annual Africa Day Concert in Johannesburg. She currently heads the AIRCO Membership and Recruitment Committee
name: Harvey Roberts
portfolio: International Affairs (Chair)
Harvey was born and reared in the UK, arriving in South Africa in 1972.
He played tenor sax with The Dynamics in the early 80’s, relocating
with the band to the UK from 1984 – 1986, after which he returned to
South Africa and joined EMI in 1987. At EMI he took the position of
Trade Marketing Manager handling Indies business from 1989 – 1993. He
was promoted to MD of CCP Records and the EMI Board in 1993, where he
served until 1998. He also served on the board of ASAMI (now RISA) during this period. In 1998 he left EMI and started Bula Music
with Clive Hardwick and Peter Tladi, which is a leading gospel and
traditional music label and one of South Africa’s largest independent
record companies. Harvey was instrumental in the formation of AIRCO,
was elected to the board in 2006, and currently represents South Africa
and AIRCO on the board of WIN internationally.
name: Ken Haycock
portfolio: Broadcast & Needletime (Chair)
While studying at Wits University in the early 70s, Ken played bass
for a number of bands and achieved 4 Top 20 Hits. After completing a
B.Com Honours at Wits and UNISA, Ken joined the music industry in 1975
as African Market product manger for EMI’s racking operation MFP. In
1976 he began working with Clive Calder heading up marketing at his
label CCP Records. In 1979 Calder sold CCP to EMI, and by 1982 Ken had
risen to Managing Director. During 1983 – 1988 he headed CCP and was a
director for EMI, responsible for developing a roster of
platinum-selling artists such as Brenda Fassie, The Big Dudes, Condry
Ziqubu, Cheek To Cheek, The Winners and CJB. In 1988 Ken left EMI to
start his own label Cool Spot, distributed by EMI, and achieved
platinum sales with his debut 2 releases on the label. Some 20 years
later and Cool Spot has become one of the longest standing independent
record companies with its own premises, recording studios, publishing
company and numerous gold and platinum selling artists. In 2006, Ken
was elected to the AIRCO board.
name: Alex Agulnik
portfolio: Sponsorship (Chair)
Alex was born in Israel, schooled in Cape Town and studied Law and
commerce at Rhodes Univeristy, Wits University, and Wits Business
School. After travelling extensively, Alex entered the Property market,
joining Richland Properties, a market leader in GASH housing, and
becoming a partner at 29. The company developed hotels under the name
The Premier Hotel Group, and in 2000 sold the Hotel Group to ACCOR (the
largest hotel group in the world). In 2001 Alex entered the music
industry as a partner in The Digital Cupboard, one of South Africa’s
first online music destinations. In 2002 Alex started his own record
label African Cream Music, releasing South African and African music compilations and artist albums. He is also founding partner in SonicSpaza
an Online B2B Licensing House for South African music. Alex was the
Business Affairs Director at AIRCO during the 2006/7 year, handing over
the reins to Teboho Rammile in order to focus on the new portfolio of
Sponsorship.
name: Dodo Monamodi
portfolio: Skills Development (Chair)
Dodo began his career in the music business as a professional
musician in 1988. From 1992 to 1995 he completed a music diploma at
Funda Arts College, Soweto. He also studied sound engineering and
worked as engineer and producer at Inhouse Sound College, and at
Cyberforce studios, producing veterans like Blondie Makhene, Dan Nkosi
and Nana coyote. In 1998 he worked part-time for Universal Brotherhood
Consortium as music contract consultant, and was recruited by Cool Spot
Productions as sound engineer, producer, songrwiter and programmer,
working with the likes of Brenda Fassie, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and
Oleseng. In 2002 he launched his own company Dojam Productions, and in
2003 launched the publishing division, Dodo's Music. In 2006, he was
elected to the AIRCO Exco, and to the Midem Committee. He is currently
working with North West procince to develop local talent, organise
events and mentor emerging labels.
name: Teboho Rammile
portfolio: Legal and Business Affairs (Chair)
Teboho Rammile is a "protégé of the sunflower, tin-fish line guitar
(which was crafted and built by his then ‘DJ’ father)". Born and raised
in the Free State, he studied Commerce at Wits University, graduating
with a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting degree and a Higher Diploma
in Tax Law, and other short-term qualifications in project management,
investments, bond markets and equity capital markets. Having worked for
various corporates, he started consulting on accounting, tax and
business management in 2000. Having pursued musical inclinations since
childhood, he plays guitar, piano and marimba (amongst other
instruments), and was guitarist, musical director and manager for Free
State Afro-pop band Maluti Band. He is also a qualified sound engineer.
Teboho is AIRCO's current Legal and Business Affairs Chair. Teboho is
the Executive Member of T-Dee R Entertainment, a company specialising in productions, recording, publishing, artists management, events and sound.
name: Jake Larsen
portfolio: Anti-Piracy (Chair)
Jake Larsen’s involvement in the music industry started at the tender
age of fourteen when he started his first mobile music business, which
soon blossomed and saw him handling major events at various venues and
working as a DJ in clubs a year later. The company was named Euphoric
Perception and ultimately evolved into a production house concentrating
on the rave scene in the nineties. Following a career in music retail
at various national and independent outlets both in South Africa and
abroad, Jake established ModaMetro - an entirely South African owned
independent record label. Jake has completed studies in both Marketing
Management and Project Management is currently pursuing the completion
of an MBA with a specialisation in Strategic Focus. In addition to
being an AIRCO Director and Chairman of the Anti-Piracy Committee, Jake
is also a member of the Music Managers Forum .
name: Hilton Roth
portfolio: Digital / Website (Chair)
Hilton Roth, commonly known as Roach, has been involved in the Cape
Town music business since 1992, working as music writer, community
radio dj and at a mail-order CD club before starting electronic music
record shop Solid Records in 1995. After it died in 1997 he co-founded
DJ crew Krushed & Sorted, and in 2001 they launched their
influential Cape Town label African Dope Records
, which over the years has spawned publishing company African Dope
Publishing, and commercial studio Krushed & Sorted Studios. Since
2005, inspired by Chris Anderson's Long Tail Theory
, Roach's focus has switched from DIY music to digital and mobile
marketing and distribution of music. He is co-founder and co-owner of
b2b music licensing portal SonicSpaza , digital promotions and distribution consultancy Dig.it.all Solutions and 'underground' mobile portal Dopemobile and sometimes gets to sleep.
name: Ayanda Roda
portfolio: Skills Development / Transformation
Ayanda Roda was born in Eastern Cape, but is based in the Free State.
He matriculated in Bloemfontein in 2005, during which time he was
Chairperson of the Representative Council of Learners. Ayanda's
interests in Community Upliftment and Music started early. His music
events company Danduzatainment, launched while he was doing grade 10,
organised a 3 year Crime Prevention Through Art programme in
partnership with the Performing Art Centre of the Free State (PACOFS)
and the Legal Aid Board. In 2006, in partnership with a reknowned
female musician, he launched his label Tshidi Recordings
. He is also politically active, involved in the Free State Provincial
structure of the Creative Workers Union of South Africa (CWUSA), and a
member of the Provincial Advisory Committee of the MEC on Arts and
Culture (Free State). He was a music adjudicator at MACUFE 2007 Festival, and was instrumental in setting up the AIRCO workshops and membership drives in the Free State during 2007.
name: Ashley Stone
portfolio: Membership & Marketing / Digital & Website
Ashley Stone hails from the Free State, where he was born and schooled.
In 1995 he joined M-Tel, a divison of the MTN group, and spent almost a
decade with the company, assuming several Management roles at MTN
Corporate Sales in the Free State, and developing a wide range of
skills ranging from Management Development (Diploma) and Risk
Management to Firefighting. In 2004, Ashley left the MTN Group to start
his own Recording Company - Ashley Stone Recording and Production,
which is his full-time focus. The studio-based business is one of the
most prominent and active in the Free State, providing the full range
of studio and production services, development of local talent, and
record label / publisher functions for select artists.
