David “Beno” Benveniste is an American-born music executive, Founder and CEO of Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group. The company was founded in 1997 by Beno, expanding out of his independent music management practice.
Born and raised in Beverly Hills, California, Beno graduated from Beverly Hills High School and subsequently, the University of Southern California. He began a career in the music industry after developing the band System Of A Down. Through creation of the marketing company Streetwise Concepts and Culture, a fan volunteer network that assembled over the Internet for grassroots promotion, Beno tapped into the power of youth marketing to promote the alternative group. Three years later, he was able to build an army of over 60,000 kids through the platform to distribute swag to their friends on behalf of bands he managed through “hand-to-hand” promotion, and “word of mouth.”
Using information and insight gleaned from his network of tastemakers, aged 13 – 34, Benveniste created successful campaigns for big-name clients in the music, film, TV, gaming and lifestyle arenas, including Jack in the Box, Fox Television, Activision, EB Games, Universal Studios and many more.
In 2004, Beno signed a joint venture deal to move his Velvet Hammer music label from Atlantic Records to Columbia Records over a several year period. Under the terms of the deal, Velvet Hammer clients Taproot, Poison the Well and Gratitude would continue to record with Atlantic, while Benveniste signed OneRepublic to Columbia. Afterwards, Sony/ATV and Velvet Hammer Music collaborated to publish ASCAP award winning songs "Apologize", "Stop And Stare", and "All the Right Moves" by OneRepublic.
Beno has accurately shaped the music industry around him by creating a full-service music Management/Record label/Publishing Company that has worked with a litany of great acts and roster that includes: System Of A Down, Deftones, Cypress Hill, Coheed and Cambria, Alice in Chains, Afghan Raiders, Pepper, Jackson Guthy, Touche Amore, Scars On Broadway, and OneRepublic on the Label/Publishing side.
Aside from his Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group, Beno is a member of The Beverly Hills High Athletic Association, an avid contributor to animal rights and shelters among other charitable efforts.
