A lifelong fan of music and the music business, Joe Kirk left his suit and tie behind in 2003 and joined Paste Media Group, best known for Paste Magazine. As the VP of Business Development, he drove Paste's business strategy, raising the funding to significantly grow the distribution of the magazine and extend the Paste brand. As Associate Publisher, he was responsible for magazine production and distribution. He launched and managed an independent label, Paste Records and a retail listening station program, Paste Recommends and also launched and produced the successful weekly Paste Culture Club podcast. He served as executive producer, producer or mastering engineer for Manchester Orchestra, Bill Mallonee, Mark Heard, Brindley Brothers, F/Stop and 21 Paste magazine samplers. After a brief stint at the music download card startup, DiscRevolt, he left Atlanta and moved to Nashville in 2007 and helped develop what is now NoiseTrade.com. Joe and his wife Betsy are passionate about adoption and have raised seven daughters.