Press Release

PreSonus announced today that Mark Stone has joined the company as its National Sales Director, effective January 1, 2010. A long-time industry veteran, Stone has worked for more than 25 years in the record industry, in manufacturing, and as a touring and recording musician.

 
As a young man, Stone worked his way up from a job in a record store to running a group of stores in the New York metropolitan area, to directing store planning, nonretail purchasing, and visual merchandising for the entire chain of stores. After almost two decades in the record business, he spent a year playing guitar full time for Walker Smith’s Chicago Nights Blues Band, appearing on the band’s Ahead to the Past CD.
 
Like many people in the music industry, Stone concluded that as much as he loved performing, he needed a day job. He joined Gator Cases as National Sales Manager and became a driving force in developing the brand into a market leader during his 7 ½-year tenure, eventually becoming the vice-president and general manager of the company. “An important part of my role was being the conduit between the dealer and our product-development team,” says Stone. “We were rewarded with a Product of the Year award in each of the past four years.”

Stone’s sterling reputation is well known at PreSonus. “I’ve always been impressed with Mark and the relationships that he has with dealers and reps,” comments PreSonus Vice President of Sales Rick Naqvi. “He is widely known as one of the hardest working men in show business, a team player, and an all-around awesome guy. We are happy to have him on board as part of the PreSonus sales team.”
 
 “It is a tremendous honor to join such a respected organization,” responds Stone. “I have known Rick Naqvi for a number of years and have worked on several projects with him. His passion for the brand and product knowledge is contagious! PreSonus is known for providing high-quality, innovative tools for musicians at a great price, and I look forward to working very closely with our dealers as we rapidly grow the brand in the market place.”
 
Stone will make his public debut for PreSonus at the upcoming Winter NAMM show in Anaheim, California. He can be contacted at mstone@presonus.com.
 
***
 
About PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc. – Founded in 1995, PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc., is a leading designer and manufacturer of audio-recording software, hardware, and related accessories. PreSonus’s software, microphone preamps, signal processors, digital audio interfaces, mixers, control surfaces, and other products are used worldwide for recording, sound reinforcement, broadcast, sound design, and Internet audio.