Kevin Rivers (songwriter)

Kevin Marlin Darrell Rivers (born June 27, 1987) is an American entrepreneur and founder of Black Ventures (formerly Rivers Company). Through Black Ventures, Rivers owns a majority stake social networking service Bluurp. In 2004, Rivers founded Black Ventures to build innovations through media, social, and digital entertainment. Since then, Rivers has led the company to establish brands that focused on distribution[1] and Social Media.[2] In 2009, Rivers was nominated for the OnHollywood 2009 Top 100 media companies list.[3] Rivers was also interviewed by Vator[4] to speak about his revolutionary business model. On January 13, 2010, Rivers established a new retailing deal with MediaNet, which garnered attention from Billboard.[5] On April 6, 2010, Rivers launched the first full-fledged storefront for Facebook. Rivers has been featured on news including TechCrunch[6] and Music Week.[7] In 2012, Rivers launched Venzo Digital, an award-winning iTunes music distribution service that helped musicians generate over $2 million in revenue.[8] On April 25, 2015, Venzo Digital was acquired by Lester Ventures.

Kevin Rivers
Born (1987-06-27) June 27, 1987
Port Huron, Michigan, United States
OccupationFounder & Managing Partner of Black Ventures
Spouse(s)
  • Aleasha Lewis
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2012; div. 2019)​
  • Yu Mikami
    ​
    (m. 2020)​
Parent(s)Keith Rivers, Marlene Rivers

Early life

Rivers grew up in Michigan with his parents Keith and Marlene Rivers. In 1990, Rivers was introduced into music as a pianist. During his youth, Rivers wrote compositions and arrangements delving off of Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1994, Rivers won many awards, including but not limited to the Grand Prize at the Garfield Elementary School Talent Show. During his high school career, Rivers was fascinated with the world of business. In 2004, prior to founding Black Ventures, Rivers was considered a leader in many retail stores including Macy's, Belk, and Younkers. In 2007, Rivers attended DeVry University, where he studied business administration and social media.

Notable people

Many celebrity musicians and actors have worked with Rivers. These have been partnerships, sponsorships, and general advertising opportunities for both parties. Some of the most notable of these people are:

References
  1. Mi2n: Venzo Music Launches Direct-to-iTunes Service
  2. TechCrunch: WaTunes Signs Warner Music, Opens Store Inside Facebook Walls
  3. Blog: WaTunes is nominated for the OnHollywood 2009 Top 100
  4. Vator: Catchup with WaTunes
  5. Billboard: MediaNet CEO Alan McGlade
  6. TechCrunch: WaTunes Signs Warner Music, Opens Store Inside Facebook Walls
  7. Posterous: WaTunes CEO Kevin Rivers Featured In Music Week Printed Magazine!
  8. Hypebot: Venzo Digital's Free iTunes Distro Adds Music Videos, Passes $2 Million In Artist Payouts
  9. BigNews: NBA Legend Earl Monroe Joins Revolutionary Music Service
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.