Yvon DesRochers

Yvon DesRochers has been working in the music business for 35 years and currently holds the position of Vice-President Retail for the Groupe Archambault, Inc. a division of Quebecor Media.

Yvon worked for several years as a professional musician. He moved into the music retailing when he took a job with Sherman's Music Centres, a division of Capitol Records, in the nineteen seventies as the district supervisor for the eastern region.

Following a successful career with Sherman's Music Centres, Yvon moved to HMV Canada in 1987 and remained with that company until 1996 at which time he held the position of Vice-President Operations for the Quebec region. He opened the first HMV superstore in Montreal in 1989 as well as 16 other successful locations in the province of Quebec. While at HMV, Yvon opened the first retail outlet devoted exclusively to music CDs.

The next step in Yvon's career took him to the wholesale side of the music industry. He joined BMG Canada's Groupe BMG Quebec division as Vice-President and General Manager. In this capacity he was responsible for developing French-language products in Quebec and worked closely with other BMG divisions in la francophonie such as BMG France, Belgium, and Switzerland. While at BMG Yvon worked with the Cirque du Soleil to develop its international artistic repertoire.