Schmelzer got his start writing, recording and producing songs and playing 1,000’s of live gigs in the 80’s throughout Washington, D.C. Metro area landing him and his band Avante-Garde a coveted spot on Baltimore’s 98 Rock Volume IV “best of” album in 1986. Already well versed in computer programming, it was the introduction of MIDI that really expanded his musical ambitions when he saw the convergence of computers, video and audio. Quickly adapting, Schmelzer began using the nascent technology while in high school interfacing midi/computers with video and audio during live musical performances in the early 80’s. 

 

Obsessed with the idea that all analog music and video would eventually be converted to digital, Schmelzer founded Global Entertainment Systems which became the first company to digitally compress and stream video and music in a broadcast environment which was demonstrated at the National Cable Television Association convention in Anaheim, CA in 1988.  After licensing the technology for commercialization to Scientific-Atlanta (acquired by Google/Motorola) Schmelzer focused on building computers and software to store and playback/stream digital media to the masses by founding SkyConnect before being sold to Oracle founder Larry Ellison in 1999 for his company nCube. Schmelzer then founded ipArchive in 2000 to protect the copyrights and ownership of digitally distributed music and video whose technology became the core IP for Audible Magic winning a technical EMMY in 2017. Today Audible Magic with Schmelzer’s patents and technology protect content creators worldwide and used by companies such as YouTube, FaceBook, DistroKid, Sony, BMG, Disney, UMG, and more

 

Grounded in his musical roots, Schmelzer co-founded consumer products company Jibbitz which are adorned by musicians such as Post Malone, SZA, Justin Bieber, Bad Bunny, Nick Jonas, Justin Timberlake, Ariana Grande and many more selling over 1 billion units to date. Schmelzer and his products have been featured on multiple media outlets including The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNBC, People Magazine, The Today Show, WSJ, NYT, London Times, Washington Post and LA Times.