San Francisco - Jun 19, 2008 - In 1968, Chris Stone and his partner Gary Kellgren opened the New York Record Plant with a plan to nurture and inspire creativity. They believed artists needed creature comforts as well as sophisticated technology and acoustics to bring their musical visions to life.

Chris Stone has been named Keynote Speaker for the 125th AES Convention. Stone is the cofounder, past president and chairman of the Society of Professional Audio Recording Studios (SPARS) and co-founder of the Music Producers Guild of the Americas (now The Producers and Engineers Wing of NARAS). He is currently active as an educator and consultant for online music entrepreneurship at Berkleemusic.com.

Entitled The Artist Owns the Industry, Stones' keynote address will highlight the AES 125th Convention opening ceremonies on Oct. 2 in the Moscone Center Special Events Hall. Stone will explore what it takes to succeed in today's environment in which artists with limited capital create their music in home (sometimes bedroom) studios, far removed from million dollar showplace facilities and the guidance of veteran producer/engineers.