Jump to content

Adam Curry

Listen to this article
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 150.192.0.4 (talk) at 22:55, 11 April 2013 (→‎Personal life). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Adam Curry
Snapshot of Adam Curry
Curry in 2011
Born (2001-09-03) September 3, 2001 (age 22)
Arlington, Virginia
CitizenshipAmerican & Dutch
Known forMTV VJ
Mevio Inc
Daily Source Code
No Agenda
Height4 ft 1 in (124 cm)
SpouseMicky Hoogendijk (2012)
Children1 (Christina, 1990)
Websitecurry.com

Adam Clark Curry (born September 3, 1964 in Arlington, Virginia[citation needed]) is an announcer, internet entrepreneur and media personality, known for his stint as presenter on MTV and being one of the first celebrities to personally create and administer Web sites.

In the 2000s, he became involved in podcasting, and is often called the 'Podfather' because of his efforts.[1] He also is a licensed airplane pilot, and the self-styled "Jason Bourne of Cheese".[2]

Early broadcast career

Curry was born in Arlington, Virginia, but lived in Amstelveen, Netherlands, from 1972 to 1987. After a time working in Dutch pirate radio at Radio Picasso in Amstelveen and Radio Decibel in Amsterdam in the early eighties under the pseudonym "John Holden", he got a break in broadcasting as the host of the Dutch weekly pop-music television program Countdown, and the English version of the same show, which was broadcast on pan-European music channel Music Box. He also hosted several other radio and television programs for the Dutch broadcast station Veronica. Aside Countdown, in the Netherlands Adam Curry is mostly known for his part in the Curry and Van Inkel radioshow (together with Dutch DJ Jeroen van Inkel), broadcast on Radio 3 for Veronica between 19:00 and 22:00 on friday.

In 1987, Curry became a VJ for MTV. Besides making spot appearances between music videos, he was also host of the programs Headbangers Ball and MTV Top 20 Video Countdown in which he interviewed stars like Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. While working for MTV, he also did radio work, including drive-time host for the New York City radio station WHTZ, and host of the national program HitLine USA.

Web and MTV.com

In the late 1980s, before the World Wide Web, in the days of Gopher, Curry began experimenting on the Net. He registered the then-unclaimed domain name "mtv.com" in 1993 with the idea of being MTV's unofficial new voice on the Internet. Although this move was sanctioned by his superiors at MTV Networks at the time, when Curry left to start his own web-portal design and hosting company, OnRamp Inc, MTV subsequently sued him for the domain name, which led to an out-of-court settlement.[3]

OnRamp eventually grew to 40 employees and was sold to Think New Ideas Inc., another company that he co-founded, becoming Chief Technology Officer of Think. In 1996, as the Internet was undergoing its "bubble", the company made an initial public offering on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol THNK. It subsequently grew to employ over 400 people and with offices in seven countries, and was absorbed into Answerthink Inc., in a later merger.

In 2005, Curry founded a video sharing site called Mevio (formerly PodShow) with Ron Bloom. In May 2008, mevio claimed to have reached 9 million unique visitors. It offers advertisers "brand safe" content on a large scale. It raised a US$15 million third round in July 2008, bringing the total amount it has raised since its launch to over US$38 million.[4] Curry has also gone back to his hosting roots and can be seen daily on the site in the show called "Mevio Today".

Enterprises in the U.S. and Europe

After selling his business in the U.S., Curry and his family moved to the Netherlands in 1999, where Curry hosted a morning talk/music show for Radio Veronica. He also landed various television assignments and his family briefly starred in the reality show Adam's Family.[5]

Curry and two business partners founded the multimedia company United Resources of Jamby in 1999. It was to act as an incubator and cultivator for new internet-related businesses. The business was ultimately unsuccessful. Curry's participation in Kennisnet, another venture to introduce the internet to Dutch schools, ended in a bitter argument and lawsuits.[6] Sportus.nl, an online webshop in collaboration with Dutch athletes like Marcel Wouda, Jacco Eltingh, Ron Zwerver and Daniëlle Overgaag, started in 1999, went bankrupt in 2001.[7] Another content exchange project, Freedom Controller,[8] was cancelled in 2002.[9]

In 2000 he and business partner Simon Cavendish, a participant in his earlier ventures, founded the RotorJet company to offer helicopter services. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2005. In the subsequent dispute, Cavendish seized the assets of the company, and in April 2005, Curry was ordered by a Dutch court to repay approximately US$2 million that he had withdrawn from RotorJet.[10]

In 2002 he produced and starred in the reality soap Adam's Family: een kijkje in het leven van de familie Curry which was aired by the BNN network in 2002.

Podcasting

Curry founded PodShow, now mevio, with his business partner Ron Bloom, in January 2005. PodShow is a podcast promotions and advertising company that encompasses the Podshow Podcast Network, the Podcast Delivery Network, and the Podsafe Music Network. Some of Podshow's top podcasts are Curry's own Daily Source Code, The Dawn and Drew Show, and GeekBrief.TV.[11]

From June 2005 to May 2007, Curry hosted a weekday evening show on Sirius Satellite Radio called 'Adam Curry's PodShow'.[12][13]

Since October 2007, he has hosted the twice-weekly podcast NoAgenda with John C. Dvorak, discussing recent news and media memes. The podcast does not accept any advertising and is solely supported by the listeners. In January 2012, No Agenda producer's project, No Agenda Number$, conservatively calculated the show is grossing approximately $275,000 USD per year, solely from listener donations.[14]

Curry has heavily promoted his podcasting endeavors. He promoted his podcast Daily Source Code in Second Life under the name 'Adam Neumann'.,[15] along with a Second Life island called Podshow Island. Curry used podcasting to endorse 2008 Republican Presidential hopeful Ron Paul.[16] He also uses his show to discuss news topics and conspiracy theories such as Free energy suppression[17] and the 9/11 Truth Movement.

Curry is widely credited for popularizing the podcast medium. As Annalee Newitz noted in Wired, "Every new medium needs a celebrity, and Curry is happy to fill that role."[18]

Creative Commons Licensing

In February 2006, Curry sued the Dutch tabloid Weekend for reprinting photos from his Flickr page and publishing details about his daughter.[19] The photos were released under a version of the Creative Commons license that forbids commercial use and requires acknowledgement, but the tabloid printed a few of them without contacting Curry.[20] The verdict did not award Curry any damages, but forbade the tabloid from reprinting the photos in the future, setting a fine of 1,000€ for each subsequent violation. It was one of the first times the license was tested in court.[20]

In May 2009, Curry posted on his blog that another Dutch tabloid had published another Creative Commons-licensed photo from Curry's Flickr account.[21] After Curry asserted Creative Commons license requirements, the publisher settled on Curry's terms.[22]

Personal life

Since 1999, Curry has, at one time or another, owned homes in Belgium, Guildford, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin.

Curry was married to Dutch television/radio personality Patricia Paay from 1989 to 2009. They have a daughter, Christina. Curry describes himself as a "bi-curious male".[23]

In July 2012, Curry married Dutch model and photographer Micky Hoogendijk. They live in Los Angeles and Austin.

Curry has stated on No Agenda that he is the nephew of former CIA employee and United States Ambassador to Korea, Donald Gregg.

References

  1. ^ "LAtimes". Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  2. ^ https://plus.google.com/u/0/100472434934730699552/posts/D5ZxaaKDnxr
  3. ^ "MTV vs. Curry". Archived from the original on 1 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-28. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Mevio, Formerly PodShow, Raises $15 Million Third Round". Retrieved 2008-07-09.
  5. ^ "Adam's Family". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-12-05.
  6. ^ Wilbert de Vries (2003-05-16). "Problems for Kennisnet" (in NL). Retrieved 2007-03-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  7. ^ "Nieuwe sportwinkel mikt op Europese markt" (in NL). Sportus.nl. December 16, 1999. Retrieved 2006-12-05. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  8. ^ Ad Mulder (2001-01-23). "Interview with Adam Curry where he speaks about his Peer2Peer video sharing program Freedom Controller" (in NL). Retrieved 2007-03-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  9. ^ Maarten Reijnders (2002-12-19). "Freedom Controller canceled, Jamby B.V. chapter elevened" (in NL). Retrieved 2007-03-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  10. ^ Miller, Martin (2006-05-25). "'Podfather' plots a radio hit of his own : LA Times". PodShow, Inc. Retrieved 2006-12-05.
  11. ^ "SIRIUS Satellite radio partnering with Adam Curry" (Press release). SIRIUS Satellite Radio. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
  12. ^ "Sirius and Podshow end their contract". April 24, 2007. Archived from the original on 1 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-21. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ http://noagendanumbers.com/
  14. ^ Sekiya, Baron (2006-05-03). "Adam Curry discovers Second Life". MediaBaron.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-28. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ podcastingnews.com
  16. ^ Daily Source Code Episode 781, "Confessions of a multimedia hitman"
  17. ^ "Adam Curry Wants to Make You an iPod Radio Star". Wired. March, 2005. Archived from the original on 9 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Garlick, Mia (2006-03-16). "Creative Commons Licenses Enforced in Dutch Court". Creative Commons. Retrieved 2006-12-05.
  19. ^ a b Marsen, Ingrid (March 21, 2006). "Creative Commons license upheld by court". cnet. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  20. ^ Curry, Adam (2009-05-29). "Defending Creative Commons, Again". Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-31. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ creativecommons.org
  22. ^ "No Agenda". Episode 341. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
Listen to this article
(2 parts, 3 minutes)
  2. Part 2
Spoken Wikipedia icon
These audio files were created from a revision of this article dated
Error: no date provided
, and do not reflect subsequent edits.
(Audio help · More spoken articles)

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adam_Curry&oldid=549920362"