Dan Abrams

All Music Guide:

Dan Abrams is among a new wave of artists bringing the aesthetic sensibilities of digital technologies to bear upon the styles of environmental space music first explored by the likes of Brian Eno, David Parsons, Michael Stearns, and Robert Rich. Abrams began making music as a teenager on his Apple IIe before getting deeper into the capabilities of software synthesis in the mid-'90s. Although he had no intention of ever releasing his music, Abrams sent a demo off to the New York-based 12k after learning about the label through its website. 12k's Taylor Duepree (a designer and musician recording under the names Human Mesh Dance and Prototype 909, among others) quickly added a track of Abrams to a limited-release label sampler called .aiff (released in mid-'99), and then issued Abrams' Optimal.lp a few months later. (Abrams, still a student of product design at Los Angeles' Art Center School of Design when .aiff was released, also designed the compilation's laser-cut mylar, floppy-disc-resembling packaging.) Optimal.lp was quickly lauded for its elegant combination of simple melodic environments with subtly challenging digital experiments, with comparisons to the work of Eno and Global Communication proving as often, and appropriate, as those to Oval or Ryoji Ikeda.

Wikipedia:

Dan Abrams (born May 20, 1966) is an American television host, legal commentator, web entrepreneur and best-selling author. He is currently Legal Analyst at ABC News Good Morning America (GMA), and a substitute anchor for the network. He formerly served as Chief Legal Analyst for NBC News, as General Manager of MSNBC and as an anchor for that network. He is the host of Investigation Discovery's "Chasing Justice with Dan Abrams." His book, Man Down: Proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt That Women Are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies, World Leaders, Beer Tasters, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else., was recently named a Washington Post best seller, and has been translated into Russian, Indonesian, Croatian, Swedish and Hebrew, among other languages. Abrams is currently the publisher of six web properties.

He is also the CEO of Abrams Research, a digital media strategy firm.

Education

Abrams was born in Manhattan to Floyd Abrams, an attorney, and Efrat Abrams. He graduated from Riverdale Country School in 1984. He received his B.A. cum laude in political science from Duke University in 1988. While at Duke, he anchored newscasts on the student run channel Cable 13, and joined Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Columbia University Law School in 1992.

Career

Before MSNBC

Before joining NBC News, Abrams worked as a reporter for Court TV where he was lauded for his coverage of the OJ Simpson case. He also covered the International War Crimes Tribunal from the Netherlands, and the assisted-suicide trials of Dr. Jack Kevorkian from Michigan. His first job, however, was working as an intern for the Manhattan Borough president.

MSNBC

Abrams was an NBC reporter in 2000 when he covered Bush v. Gore. Abrams and partner Pete Williams were on the Supreme Court steps when the pamphlet was handed out, and they became the first network correspondents to correctly interpret the decision as the country anxiously awaited the outcome. No other networks had live coverage of the decision so fast. Shortly thereafter Abrams began hosting his own show at MSNBC, and The Abrams Report began in 2001. Abrams hosted The Abrams Report until he accepted the lead managerial position at MSNBC. Abrams held the position of General Manager of MSNBC from June 12, 2006 until October 2007. With ratings up 62% during his tenure, Abrams left to concentrate on his 9pm show Live with Dan Abrams, which replaced Scarborough Country due to Joe Scarborough's move to mornings. This show would eventually be revamped and renamed Verdict with Dan Abrams, which aired until August 21, 2008. MSNBC announced on August 19, 2008 that Air America Radio host Rachel Maddow would take over that 9 PM time slot beginning September 8, 2008. At that time, Abrams took on additional duties with NBC News including substituting as an anchor on the Today show.

ABC

In March 2011, Abrams left NBC to be a Legal Analyst for ABC News and a substitute anchor on Good Morning America.

Mediaite

In July 2009, Abrams launched Mediaite, a media news site Abrams described as "appreciating the celebrity of the media," with Managing Editor Colby Hall noting that it "plays into the vanity of these individuals" without being "over-snarky or mean and nasty". The site combines editorial content with analytic rankings of media personalities. It has been a runaway success in the year since its launch, and is regularly in Technorati's list of the top 20 blogs in the country.

Gossip Cop

Later that month, Abrams and Michael Lewittes launched Gossip Cop, a media watchdog site that patrols the celebrity gossip universe. The site has been described as "TMZ meets Smoking Gun". The site rates gossip rumors on a 0-10 scale. The site regularly surpasses 1 million unique visitors per month.

Geekosystem

The first official "offspring" of flagship blog Mediaite, Geekosystem, was launched on January 25, 2010. Geekosystem covers "geek" culture, following developments in science, technology, and internet memes and culture. Abrams described the site upon launch as "a broader interest site that will celebrate and cover everything from technology and science fiction to video games and comics." The site recently surpassed 1 million unique viewers per month.

Styleite

Abrams' foray into fashion, Styleite, was launched on March 25. Functioning for fashion the way Mediaite does for journalism, Styleite features both news and opinion content and a fashion version of the "Power Grid," which ranks designers, models, writers, and others in the style business based on influence and following. Styleite also features a social networking wing called "Style Sheets", in which readers are encouraged to offer up their daily fashion choices and comment on others.

Sports Grid

Sports Grid was launched in May 2010. One of the site's features, according to the Sports Business Journal, is a Power Grid "tabulated by using a specially developed algorithm that pools a variety of metrics, including TV ratings; Web traffic and circulation counts; attendance; number of Twitter followers; on-field performance for players and coaches; and franchise values." The site offers sports media news and opinion.

The Mary Sue

The Mary Sue was launched by Abrams Media on February 28 2011. The site was created with the goal of "highlighting women in the geek world, and providing a prominent place for the voices of geek women." similar to sister site Geekosystem.

The Jane Dough

The Jane Dough was originally launched as Mogulite in April 2011, but was rebranded to focus on women in business after seeing how well its female-oriented content performed. As The Jane Dough, the site will explore the world of business through the female prism, celebrate women who’ve found success, call out sexism, and dissect how powerful women are treated in the media.

The Braiser

In May 2012, Abrams launched a site focused on the personalities and lifestyles of the world's best-known chefs. Rather than recipes or techniques, The Braiser's topics will consist of chefs who "have gone from being food icons to becoming mainstream celebrities," according to an interview Abrams gave to The New York Times in late April.

Abrams Research

Abrams Research is a firm dedicated to helping clients develop their social media strategy. The goal is to marry new media tools with old media values, improving businesses' relationships with their consumers and driving traffic to their web properties.

According to industry trade publications such as PRWeek, the business has thrived. In June, 2010 Abrams announced that based on the success of his five web properties, that Abrams Research would shift its focus and advise businesses exclusively on digital media strategy. While continuing to use the expert network model, they would employ only digital media experts rather than journalists.

Other accomplishments

Abrams has also published articles in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today magazine, The American Lawyer, and the Yale Law and Policy Review. He has also written for online media properties such as the Huffington Post and the Daily Beast. He is a regular columnist for Men's Health." He is also one of the owners of The Lion, a restaurant in New York City.

Personal life

Abrams has never married. He dated and later lived with Law & Order actress Elisabeth Rohm from 2003-04. Since 2007, it has been reported that he dated Dexter guest star Jaime Murray, model Elle Macpherson, and Renée Zellweger. He is a vegetarian. In January 2012, Abrams announced that he and his girlfriend Florinka Pesenti were expecting their first child ; Pesenti was part of the winning team on The Amazing Race 3.

Abrams' sister, Ronnie Abrams, was nominated for a federal judgeship by President Barack Obama in 2011.