From Vinyl to Digital: Distinguished Alumnus Dick Wingate ’70 Inspires at Hopkins

With a storied career defined by foresight, reinvention, and a passion for music, Dick Wingate ’70 HGS, Hopkins’ 2025 Distinguished Alumnus, returned to campus on November 15, 2024, to speak to students, faculty, and staff during morning assembly. He shared his journey of working with some of the world’s most famous musicians and offered insights into the dramatic changes that have shaped the music industry over the past 50 years.

As Principal of media and entertainment consulting firm DEV Advisors, Wingate has been a trailblazer at the intersection of music and technology. From his beginnings at the Brown University radio station WBRU to his roles at Columbia, Epic, PolyGram Records, Arista, BMG, and Liquid Audio, he has shaped the careers of some of the most iconic artists in music history while reinventing himself to stay ahead of the curve and at the forefront of new trends.

Two years after graduating from Brown in 1976, Wingate became the youngest product manager at Columbia Records, helping promote and market the careers of musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Peter Tosh of The Wailers, and Pink Floyd. "It was really a dream come true working for artists such as this," he said. In 1979, he transitioned from marketing to A&R (Artists & Repertoire), where he signed or nurtured many emerging artists of the time, including Aimee Mann, Garland Jeffreys, Eddy Grant and Robert Cray At Arista Records in the mid 90’s he oversaw the marketing of Notorious B.I.G., Sarah McLachlan, Annie Lennox, Whitney Houston and others.

Wingate described the many pivots he made during his career, crediting Hopkins with enabling him to identify new trends and transition into new roles. "The skillset and curiosity that I developed at Hopkins as a student really fueled my passion to follow my dreams," Wingate said. "Hopkins opened me up to a lifetime of learning, as well as the ability to pivot my interests as needed throughout my career."

As new technologies emerged, Wingate foresaw the massive changes in the industry and was at the forefront of the shift from analog to digital. In the 1990s, an in-store music preview kiosk sparked his fascination with interactive technology. This led to the creation of the industry's first digital music previews database and the negotiation of the first digital license for the Billboard Music Charts. After 2 years working with BMG on their early new media strategy, his groundbreaking work with startup Liquid Audio introduced the first major label-licensed downloads, paving the way for platforms like iTunes and led to him being prominently featured in the NY Times.

Always ahead of the curve, in 2003 Wingate predicted the rise of mobile music in the LA Times (4 years before the iPhone) and subsequently helped develop the earliest mobile streaming apps for music and media companies including Warner Music, MTV and ABC Television.

Following his assembly talk, Wingate spent the morning on campus engaging with students and faculty. He hosted a Q&A session, answering questions about industry trends, working with music legends, and managing diverse personalities. He also visited a concert band class, sharing anecdotes and insights from his storied career.

Wingate will return to Hopkins for Alumni Weekend 2025 to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award and celebrate his 55th reunion with classmates and peers.