Experienced NYC Business Leader, Entrepreneur Stephen Blackwell

Stephen Blackwell is the Founder and CEO of The Beam. Prior to this role, he served as the Chief Commercial Officer of Luminate and as CEO of SpinMedia.

Stephen Blackwell is an entrepreneur, executive and investor in media and technology. He has founded and operated multiple businesses to successful exits over the past decade. He was the CEO of SpinMedia, where he ran a powerful portfolio of assets that included the legendary music brands SPIN and VIBE among others. The company was acquired by Prometheus Global Media, where Stephen served as Chief Strategy Officer and managed a $100M revenue business. Prior to joining PMC, Stephen was Chief Strategist of BandLab Technologies, where he oversaw Rolling Stone International's operation and the company's other media assets.

Stephen Blackwell studied English at Fordham University. He continues to support the school as a volunteer and mentor at Fordham Foundry, the university’s entrepreneurial incubator. His personal interests range from cycling to playing the guitar.

The Beam, Founder

2024 - Present

The Beam’s mission is to connect millions of fans and thousands of brands with the best new music artists.

  • Launched in 2025

  • New platform for new music artists to earn online

  • The Beam Charts are a new standard for rewarding awesome undiscovered talent in music

 

Luminate, Chief Commercial Officer

2021 - 2024

Instrumental in driving the company's commercial strategy, forging key partnerships, and expanding the reach of Luminate's extensive data analytics offerings for the music, film, and television industries.

  • Oversaw relationships with Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon for data acquisition, chart, and market-share building

  • Brokered licences with France-based streaming service Deezer, the gaming and music integration company STYNGR, and the South Korean digital music platform Melon.

  • Led industry-standard reporting for the music industry

Alpha Data, CEO

2018 – Present

Joined PMC to launch portfolio sales division by leveraging the brand’ 100M unique audience across Rolling Stone, Variety, WWD, and SHE Media while operating the company’s music-data division

  • Multi-channel sales success across digital, experiential, commerce, and platform partnerships

  • Work with multiple division heads to manage fast-paced sales cycles

  • Leader of SaaS music analytics platform that provides critical insights to the music industry

 

Prometheus Global Media, CSO

2016 – 2017

Served as CSO leading Sales, Revenue Operations, Marketing, and Partnerships. 

  • Managed successful merger between Billboard/ Hollywood Reporter with SpinMedia assets

  • Managed all strategic sales and revenue operations ($100M rev) while executing platform partnerships with Snapchat, Facebook, Google, and more

 

SpinMedia, CEO

2014–2016

Served as CEO from 2014 - 2016. Acquired by Eldridge Industries in 2016. 

  • Executed strategic vision and secured all funding for company during first-year turnaround

  • Managed Sales, Content, Technology, Business Development, and Finance to successful exit