Independent artists are a dynamic presence in the music world, and behind every artist, there is a universe of players — record stores, labels, distributors, executives— supporting and advocating for the music they believe in. For his entire career, Dave Hansen has been one of those players, working hard ensure that independent music is heard.Hansen first dipped his toes into the music industry waters, as a sound and lighting technician working his way through college. He would continue into concert promotion while at University of Southern California, presenting shows by artist from The Ramones to Cyndi Lauper.Hansen became a partner and GM at Doctor Dream Records. During this time, he realized the uphill battle faced by indie labels was distribution, inspiring him to start Insomnia, a mail order company for independents. Insomnia bought directly from over 100 labels inserting over 1,000,000 catalogs into magazines. In 1996, Hansen sold Insomnia to Epitaph, home to a string of incredibly successful punk bands – Pennywise, Descendents, Bad Religion, NOFX, Rancid – before joining Epitaph himself. He began his 21-year career there as a marketer and soon became the GM, stewarding the company through the creation of the ANTI label (which immediately scored a gold record with Tom Waits’ Mule Variations) and on through the digital and musical evolution that awaited. A fierce advocate for independents, Hansen stepped up to serve two terms (2010 - 2017) on the board of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM). With Epitaph a founding member, Hansen found himself working closely with Merlin, the global independent digital rights agency, and has served on the board since 2011. Hansen transitioned from Epitaph into a leadership role as Executive Chairperson at Merlin, helping the organization build a business voice for independents in the streaming world. As the vinyl resurgence build steam, Hansen partnered with the Secretly Canadian label group in 2015 to start Independent Record Pressing, creating a vinyl pressing plant for the express purpose of serving independents. He partnered with Coran Capshaw to expand the plant in 2017.In 2021, Hansen has joined four of the independent music industry’s most influential executives in launching Exceleration, a partnership of global music industry leaders who invest in the future of independents from a wide range of culturally important genres. The move continues Hansen’s decades-long mission of ensuring that independent music is heard, valued, and protected — today, tomorrow, and forever.