David Maher-Roberts appointed as new CEO for "The Filter"

Bath, Somerset (PRWEB) October 6, 2007 -- Entertainment recommendation engine The Filter has appointed new media and marketing expert David Maher-Roberts as Chief Executive Officer.

Formerly Chief Marketing Officer for The Filter, David has already played a major role in re-shaping the unique and free software package into a user friendly product that is changing forever the way people discover music and digital media they like.

Speaking on his appointment David said: "I am really excited about taking The Filter to the next phase. Personalised recommendations are extremely powerful at giving people reasons to discover new stuff. When it comes to trying new things, people react to recommendations from friends and trusted sources in a more open minded and positive way. My goal is to turn The Filter into the place where people can filter the entire world of entertainment just for them and their tastes."

At 38, David has an entrepreneurial background of new media publishing and internet consultancy. He'll be based at parent company Exabre software's HQ in Bath, South West England and replaces co-founder Rhett Ryder as CEO.

The Filter, backed by music legend Peter Gabriel, in its current form, is a neat, free piece of software that helps you build fantastic playlists from the music stored on your PC, Mac, iPod or Nokia mobile phone. It's like a musical assistant who knows exactly which songs will fit together, and which songs won't, based on your personal tastes. Going forward there are exciting plans to integrate the application into a compelling web proposition.

Former Genesis front man and digital media pioneer Peter Gabriel: "Co-founder Rhett Ryder did a fine job of getting everything up and running. I'm delighted that David Maher-Roberts has now agreed to come on board as CEO. He's got great plans to open up the Filter to include all sorts of recommendations and move toward the original vision of something more than a great disc jockey - a life jockey. What David will achieve with the Filter as it develops is freedom from the tyranny of choice. A bit like a smart chef who knows you well, and offers you a wonderful meal full of surprises and the familiar, saving you from the stress of a thousand page menu".

Background:

The Filter was initially launched as a beta for PC/Win XP in 2006. It's now available as a free download for Windows (iTunes and Windows Media Player), Mac (iTunes) and Nokia (Series 60) Mobile Phones.

The developers behind The Filter are world leading British software company Exabre. They're been backed from the beginning by high profile investors including Peter Gabriel's Real World Group and Eden Ventures. The Filter's user base is growing at 25,000 a month and has been downloaded in 164 countries. The engine can identify 5 million songs, 4.5m of which have clips. The Filter works by using Bayesian mathematics. It was developed by Martin Hopkins, a physicist who was struggling to manage his growing digital music collection.

Further reading:
The Filter Blog
BBC Digital Planet