Shannon Connolly is Senior Vice President and General Manager, Music at New York Public Radio.
Ms. Connolly leads WQXR, one of the country’s leading classical music stations and New York’s only classical music station. Her role includes a strong focus on expanding the digital reach and footprint for classical music. She also advances digital music strategy and audience development across WQXR and WNYC’s digital music offerings, which include a roster of music-focused podcasts – such as the Peabody Award-winning Meet the Composer – and music streams, including WQXR’s live webstream, Q2 Music (contemporary classical), The Jonathan Channel (American Standards with Jonathan Schwartz), and Operavore.
Shannon Connolly brings over two decades of digital music experience to the role, including product management, ad sales, and business development. As Senior Vice President, Music Strategy & Operations for the Viacom Music Group, she built and managed a cross-functional team responsible for growing digital reach and revenue for the world’s largest music channels (MTV, CMT), shows (Unplugged, Crossroads), and live events (Video Music Awards). As Vice President, Digital Music, her team helped put the “M” back in MTV by launching mobile apps, original programming, and strategic partnerships that doubled MTV’s music traffic in one year. Shannon Connolly was also the co-founder and General Manager of Ripcord, Viacom’s first creative studio and digital lab, whose goal was to make hits on new platforms for a global youth audience.
Most recently, Ms. Connolly founded her own company, The Yams, a chat-based recommendation service. She began her career as a consultant in the Media and Entertainment practice at Accenture.
Shannon Connolly is the recipient of many industry awards. She was named to Billboard’s 40 Under 40 Music’s Young Power Players in 2014, and Billboard’s Top 40 Women in Music in 2011. She won a Webby Award in July 2012 for co-creating and producing the world’s first 24-hour, live music awards show.
