Major Pre-NAMM Pro-Audio Business Moves

Anaheim, CA (January 21, 2025)—The annual NAMM Show may be kicking off its educational offerings today and rolling into exhibition mode on Thursday, but the biggest news of the day hasn’t been on the product front; it’s been the substantial executive moves among some of the industry’s most notable players.

L-Acoustics Brings In Bryan Bradley

Bryan Bradley has been named as the new CEO Americas for L-Acoustics where he’ll oversee all of the manufacturer’s North, Central, and South American operations. Bradley’s time will be split between the company’s global hub in Westlake Village, CA and a new Americas operations and creative hub set to open in Nashville Yards later this year.

Most recently, Bradley spent six years as the president of Group One Limited, the New York-based US distributor for Audiotonix (DiGiCo, Solid State Logic, Calrec, KLANG, Fourier Audio, Sound Devices, Astral RF and others). Prior to that he held multiple executive management positions at Harman, including senior vice president and general manager of the Americas for Harman Professional Solutions, where he managed the retail, live performance, large venue, hospitality and enterprise channels for JBL Professional, AKG, AMX, Crown, dbx, Lexicon, Soundcraft and Martin, among other Harman brands, across the American continents.

Bryan’s experience, management philosophy, and successful track record were a natural fit for the role,” says L-Acoustics co-CEO Laurent Vaissié. “We are excited to welcome him to the team and look forward to solidifying our leadership position in the Americas.”

Group One Refreshes Leadership

With Bradley’s exit, Group One announced that Austin Freshwater has become its new CEO, in addition to continuing in his position as managing director of DiGiCo. Freshwater originally joined the console company as general manager in 2017, coming to the brand after a decade spent with Canon. After four years with DiGiCo at its global headquarters in Chessington, UK, he was promoted to the position of Managing Director in 2021. Now, as CEO of Group One, Freshwater will further oversee all sales, marketing, and support teams for each of the distributor’s pro audio and lighting brands across the United States.

James Gordon, CEO of Audiotonix, parent company of Group One Limited and many of the entertainment technology brands on its line card, explained, “Although Group One primarily functions as a distributor, they’ve been an absolutely integral part of the Audiotonix family and its successes from the start…. Naturally, we’re elated that [Freshwater is] willing to expand his purview to include spearheading the Group One brands and teams in North America.”

SSL Sets SVP, Sales

In tandem with Freshwater’s appointment, Solid State Logic, a key brand in the Group One portfolio, has appointed Rick Naqvi to the position of Senior Vice President, Sales, where he is responsible for the sales of all SSL hardware products in the United States and Mexico, including recording, broadcast, live, and audio creation products (ACP). Based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Naqvi most recently served as vice president of sales for PreSonus Audio Electronics, which he joined in 1995 as one of the company’s first full-time employees nearly 30 years ago.