Music And Hearing Rehabilitation Pioneer, Gerry Kearby Dies

Aug. 21, 2012 - PRLog -- Neurotone is sad to mark the death of its founder and CEO, Gerry Kearby.

Gerald Wayne Kearby (June 22, 1947 – August 6, 2012) was a visionary and
entrepreneur who rose to prominence during the late 1990s. He worked
predominantly with music, hearing loss rehabilitation and audio-related
electronics and software companies.

He was co-founder and CEO of Neurotone, Inc. In that position he lead
the development and marketing of auditory rehabilitation software to
assist the hard of hearing. The company will continue to market and
develop the LACE (Listening and Communication Enhancement) and Hearbot
assistive listening product lines. He worked closely with Vint Cerf of
Google, Inc to develop the Hearbot Assistive Listening product.

"Gerry was one of those too-rare people who are utterly committed to
their work and the people who might benefit from it. I am one of those
beneficiaries and I will cherish my time with Gerry, his team mates and
his work on LACE and the Hearbot. Gone from our midst too soon, he will
nonetheless be with us and with me, especially, in the system he
designed and built for my benefit."
Vint Cerf, Internet Pioneer

Prior to this he was co-founder, CEO and President of Liquid Audio, Inc.
In that position, he testified before the US Congress regarding digital
music distribution. He was instrumental in advancing digital
distribution of music while protecting the rights of musicians. At
Liquid Audio he also drove development of digital audio watermarking
technology since acquired and used by Microsoft. Liquid Audio was funded by Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and had its IPO in 1999.  At its peak, Liquid
Audio had a market capitalization close to $1 billion.

“In early 1996 my partners and I went to The Plant in Sausalito to hear a pitch
from Gerry Kearby. In 1996 only 20 million Americans had
access to the Internet, so I am pretty sure we had a time believing Gerry’s
vision of what music today would be on the Internet.  We funded Liquid
Audio because we believed in Gerry;  a passionate, smart, bold yet humble
entrepreneur. His intellectual stamina was never hidden by his burly façade.
He loved the music industry and that kept him moving forward in the
challenging early years of the Internet. He cared deeply about everyone;
his family, his friends and his employees.   Gerry was the real deal and
there is no doubt his vision pioneered the online music industry we know today.”
Ann Winblad,  Hummer Winblad Venture Partners

Prior to Liquid Audio, Kearby was Vice President of Sales and Marketing
at Studer Editech Corporation, a professional audio recording division
of the Studer Revox company. Mr. Kearby created some of the earliest
versions of digital audio workstation product families working with many
colleagues. Studer Revox purchased Mr. Kearby's previous company
Integrated Media Systems in late 1989.

Neurotone co-founder Mr. Rob Modeste will be assuming Mr. Kearby's duties at Neurotone.

" I have been Gerry's friend and business partner for 33 years. This is
a devastating personal and professional loss but Gerry was a fighter and
we will continue his spirit by continuing to move forward with his
vision for Neurotone."
Mr. Rob Modeste

Mr. Kearby died on August 6, 2012 in Pescadero, CA as the result of an
automobile accident.

Information regarding a memorial will be available at the website:
www.gerrykearby.com

Information regarding Neurotone, Inc. can be found at:
www.neurotone.com

Additional Neurotone contacts
Mr. Rob Modeste (650) 241-4589
Mr. Bill Woods (650) 241-0066
info@neurotone.com