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Cindy Charles, Twitch’s boundary-breaking Head of Music, has tragically passed away, a member of her team announced today.
Charles succumbed to injuries sustained from a traffic accident in Amsterdam, according to a blog post shared by Kira Karlstrom, Head of Twitch Music Label Relations. Together with Karlstrom, Charles had been scheduled to moderate a panel during the Amsterdam Dance Event, the world’s leading electronic music summit.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I share the tragic news of Cindy Charles’ passing earlier this week in a traffic accident in Amsterdam,” Karlstrom writes. “Cindy was more than just Twitch’s Head of Music — she was the heart and soul of our team, and a force for good in everything she touched.”
Charles, a visionary agent of change in the intersection of music and technology, has redefined how artists and creators engage with audiences on Twitch. She remains revered for leading Twitch’s label relations and music licensing operations, fostering an ecosystem that allows artists to thrive on the platform.
“Cindy has a deep history in the music business and she has been critical in creating the strong relationships that we have today,” Twitch CEO Daniel Clancy said in a LinkedIn post. “Anyone that uses music on Twitch owes a debt of gratitude to Cindy’s work. She always had a bright smile on her face even as she negotiated unprecedented music licensing agreements for Twitch including the recent DJ agreement. Anyone that worked with Cindy knows how much she cared about everyone with whom she worked.”
Her innovative approach has positioned her as a trailblazer, recognized for breaking barriers in a rapidly evolving music industry. Championing the global electronic music community, Charles played an instrumental role in developing Twitch’s pioneering DJ category, a breakthrough that established the company as the first major service to provide a long-term home for DJs to legally livestream.
Charles was also a fierce advocate for women in the music industry. The late exec co-founded the San Francisco chapter of She Is The Music as well as Women in Digital, a community of over 1,500 members with a mission “to help women define a limitless future for all by shining a light on careers in digital and technology.”
“I’ll never forget sitting with Cindy in the JFK Delta Lounge on Sunday evening, just before we left for Amsterdam — the night before she passed,” Karlstrom recalls. “We reflected on all we had accomplished — the success of the DJ program, the Charlix XCX event at Storm King — and talked about the exciting things ahead. In that moment, Cindy said something I’ll carry with me forever: ‘I finally feel like all my life’s work has been worth it. I’m making a difference for artists.'”
We at EDM.com express our sincere condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Cindy Charles.