Daniel Knöll, born in Bonn in 1975, studied German and social sciences at the University of Bonn. He worked as a PR consultant for various DAX companies and advised numerous companies from the automotive and entertainment industries as well as associations and trade unions. Knöll made his first contacts in the music world in the early 2000s: the Volkswagen Sound Foundation and the ECHO were among his clients. He has been working in the music industry since 2008. He joined the Bundesverband Musikindustrie e.V. (German Music Industry Association) as Head of Communications and moved to his current position as Managing Director of SOMM - Society Of Music Merchants e.V., the European association of the musical instrument and music equipment industry, in 2011. Knöll is a founding member of the Forum Musikwirtschaft, the k3d - Koalition der Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft and the EMIA - European Musical Instrument Alliance and sits on the advisory board of the International Coalition of NAMM.