Roy Elkins was born and raised in Michigan where he began his career as a musician. Shortly after moving to Memphis, he secured a job with Amro Music and soon became the top keyboard salesman in the company’s five-store chain. He was heavily recruited by ENSONIQ Corporation who asked Roy to move to Washington, D.C. to acquire large market experience and he quickly became the top ENSONIQ retail salesperson in the world. After a year in D.C., ENSONIQ hired Elkins to start and operate their company’s dealer training program. During his tenure as a director for ENSONIQ, he traveled all over the world and managed several initiatives in the company including Training, Media Production, Marketing and most importantly for his career, Artist Relations.
Roy then joined the fledgling Sonic Foundry in 1997 as Vice President of Sales & Marketing, a music software, and Internet media services company based in Madison, Wisconsin. Through some slick marketing and very aggressive sales, the company grew from $1 million to $20 million in just two-and- a-half years. He was a key part of the road show for the company’s successful IPO in 1998.
Roy left Sonic Foundry in September of 1999 and started Broadjam. Now with over 180,000 musician members, Broadjam is one of the most influential music sites in the world. Broadjam’s consulting group has indexed the works of Gershwin, Usher, Green Day, India.Arie, Madonna, and Led Zeppelin. It’s past and present customer list includes ASCAP, Academy of Country Music, Warner Chappell, Warner Music Group, Yamaha, and many others.
In 2009, Broadjam was recognized as Wisconsin Entrepreneur of the Year by Marian University. In 2010, the prestigious Wisconsin Companies to Watch award was presented to Broadjam by the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network, Wisconsin DOC and the Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (DEED) at the UW-Extension.
Roy maintains a database of over 5,000 music industry contacts including executives at virtually every company in the music industry He is an accomplished musician and songwriter who thoroughly understands the musician's world as well as the business of the music industry. He has served on numerous charity boards in the Madison area and is currently and proudly the Chairman of the Madison Area Music Association, whose mission is to put musical instruments in the hands of kids. Past and/or present boards include Wisconsin Foundation for School, Music, Milwaukee Area Technical College – Music School, Madison Media Institute, Minneapolis Media Institute and the MIDI Manufacturers Association.
