President David Bullis named Loudeye CEO

Loudeye (www.loudeye.com) announced that its founder Martin Tobias, is stepping down as CEO. Replacing him is current president and chief operating officer, David Bullis.

Tobias will continue as the chairman of the board of directors. In a statement, the company said that Tobias will guide the long-term strategic direction of the company as chairman.

"We have some tremendous opportunities ahead of us at Loudeye," said David Bullis in a statement. "Martin's strategic leadership and vision have enabled us to be well-positioned to capitalize upon our industry-leading position. I look forward to working with Martin and the entire Loudeye team to execute on our opportunities."

Bullis most recently served as chief executive officer and president of Data I/O Corp. He also holds U.S. patents in the fields of ultrasonics and signal processing.

"Dave's leadership was critical during this high growth period for the company, and his direction will be important in achieving our future goals," said Tobias. "I believe it is time to make his title reflect his contributions to the company."

Loudeye is famous for having employees generate their own titles. For example Bullis is "Minister of Daily Bread" while Tobias' title is "Minister of Order and Reason." No word on whether these unofficial titles will change with this move. The company did state, however, that the COO position is being discontinued.