Capitol Music Group
Jacqueline Saturn
President, Caroline; president, Harvest
Capitol Music Group’s wins under Barnett,
67, came from across the board in 2019.
At the flagship label, Halsey’s “Without
Me” ruled the Billboard Hot 100 for two
weeks, while U.K. newcomer Lewis Capaldi
spent three weeks at No. 1 on that chart
with surprise crossover hit “Someone You
Loved.” (At year’s end, Barnett confirmed
Jeff Vaughn as the new president of Capitol
Records.) Motown’s partnership with Qual-
ity Control sent Lil Baby’s “Woah” to No. 16
on the Hot 100, while Miami duo City Girls
crowned the Rhythmic airplay chart in July
with “Act Up.” Astralwerks scored a massive
victory with “Happier” from Marshmello and
Bastille, which finished at No. 1 on the Hot
Dance/Electronic Songs year-end chart,
after a record 69 weeks in the top slot.
Meanwhile, distribution company Caroline
doubled its market share over the past two
years. Says Barnett: “I’m very proud that we
are achieving such consistent success by
welcoming and embracing diversity.”
Darcus Beese
President, Island Records
Eric Wong
COO, Island Records
In Beese’s first full year leading Island
Records in the United States (after previ-
ously running its U.K. operation), he and
Wong oversaw Shawn Mendes’ two big-
gest Hot 100 hits (“Señorita” with Camila
Cabello at No. 1 and “If I Can’t Have You” at
No. 2) and the first Grammy nomination for
fast-rising R&B artist Jessie Reyez (best ur-
ban contemporary album for her late-2018
release Being Human in Public). Beese and
his team celebrated Island’s 60th anniver-
sary in 2019. He also signed Jac Ross, pop-
R&B duo Emotional Oranges, Vietnamese-
American singer-producer keshi and queer
artist Baby Rose, among others. “We’ve got
to revel in our history while driving toward
the future,” says Beese.
Scott Borchetta
Founder/president/CEO,
Big Machine Label Group
In June, Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings ac-
quired Big Machine Label Group for more
than $300 million and named Borchetta,
56, a board member with a “significant,
but minority” share in the company, which
is home to Florida Georgia Line, Thomas
Rhett, Reba McEntire, Lady Antebellum,
Sheryl Crow and others — as well as the
pre-Lover catalog of Taylor Swift. “The
heart and soul of the Big Machine Label
Group is beating stronger than ever,” says
Borchetta. “The staff and artists are even
more unified; the new music being made is
blowing my mind.”
Aaron Bay-Schuck
Co-chairman/CEO, Warner Records
Tom Corson
Co-chairman/COO, Warner Records
In their first full year running Warner
Records together, Bay-Schuck, 38, and Cor-
son, 59, oversaw a name change for the six-
decade-old label (no more “Bros.”) and an
office move to Los Angeles’ downtown Arts
District while also pruning the label’s roster
and beefing up its A&R team. The duo has
tallied some notable talent successes, like
launching No Love Entertainment with
rapper NLE Choppa, scoring a No. 1 hit on
the Rhythmic airplay tally with Saweetie’s
“My Type” and securing its rock/alternative
stature with Gary Clark Jr., Green Day and
The Black Keys. “To have done all that in
our first 12 months — Tom and I are really
proud of that,” says Bay-Schuck. “It’s set-
ting us up for a pretty remarkable 2020.”
Mike Dungan
Chairman/CEO,
Universal Music Group Nashville
Cindy Mabe
President, Universal Music Group Nashville
In a year that has brought success for
the 35-plus artists on the UMG Nashville
roster — from Kacey Musgraves to Keith
Urban to Carrie Underwood — Dungan
singles out the ongoing development
of Jon Pardi as 2019’s biggest win. The
neotraditionalist’s third album on Capitol
Records Nashville, Heartache Medication,
bowed at No. 2 on Top Country Albums,
spawning Pardi’s fifth Country Airplay
top 10 and a headlining theater tour.
“When we launched Jon Pardi, the entire
industry raised a collective eyebrow:
‘What do you expect to do with this? It’s
far too “country”!’ ” says Dungan. “He is
now a legitimate ‘automatic’ at country
radio, a platinum artist and a commanding
headliner in the touring world.”
Mike Easterlin
Co-president, Elektra Music Group
Gregg Nadel
Co-president, Elektra Music Group
The December rise of Australian singer-
songwriter Tones and I to No. 7 on the
Hot 100 with “Dance Monkey” capped a
successful first full year of operation for
the relaunched Elektra Music Group and
confirmed Easterlin and Nadel’s A&R-
driven strategy. The year began with
Panic! at the Disco in January reaching
No. 4 on the Hot 100 with “High Hopes,”
from 2018’s Pray for the Wicked, and, a
month later, Brandi Carlile’s triumphant
performance of “The Joke” at the 61st
Grammy Awards, where she was the most
nominated woman (and took home three
honors). “We want to find the right artists
that fit what we do, that we really believe
in, and then put all of our muscle behind
them,” says Nadel.
Peter Edge
Chairman/CEO, RCA Records
John Fleckenstein
Co-president, RCA Records
Joe Riccitelli
Co-president, RCA Records
“We really take the artistry seriously,” says
Edge, citing the 2019 achievements of
Khalid, P!nk and Chris Brown. Alt-rock act
Tool returned to No. 1 on the Billboard 200
with Fear Inoculum, the group’s first studio
album in 13 years. H.E.R. and Brockhampton
“represent the new world for younger
people in different ways,” says Edge.
“People say to me, ‘You have one of the best
artist rosters in the business.’ We work hard
making sure we keep that intact.”
John Esposito
Chairman/CEO, Warner Music Nashville
Esposito, 64, celebrated his 10th anniversary
as chairman/CEO of Warner Music Nashville
in 2019 with multiple victories, exemplified
by Dan + Shay’s global streaming success
(via the duo’s recent collaboration with
Justin Bieber on “10,000 Hours”), Blake
Shelton’s musical renewal with the CMA
Award-winning “God’s Country” and “the
undeniable talent of our new female artists,
Ashley McBryde, Ingrid Andress and Gabby
Barrett,” he says. “I’m motivated by the
immense satisfaction of finding unknown
artists and doing my part to make sure they
become household names.”
Denzyl Feigelson
Founder/CEO, Platoon
Since Apple’s 2018 acquisition of Platoon,
the London-based artist services company
— responsible for helping develop such
artists as Billie Eilish, Stefflon Don and Jorja
Smith — has continued to grow its global
roster, signing artists in Japan, Australia,
Southeast Asia and over 60 in Africa. “To
have Africa be almost 40% of the overall
Platoon business has been an amazing
achievement for us as a team,” says Fei-
gelson, 63, who previously founded AWAL
before its acquisition by Kobalt and worked
with Steve Jobs during the development
of iTunes. “Apple has given us all the tools
and services to be a better version of what
we are.”
Randy Goodman
Chairman/CEO, Sony Music Nashville
“Our goal has been to be the No. 1 country
label group in current market share, and we
achieved that” in 2019, says Goodman, 63,
who took the helm of Sony Music Nashville
in 2015. Sony’s current country market share
is an industry-leading 21.46%. Bolstered
by the achievement of Billboard’s 2019 top
country artist Luke Combs, as well as hits
by Kane Brown and Maren Morris, among
others, Sony Music Nashville was also
Billboard’s top country label of the past year.
John Janick
Chairman/CEO, Interscope Geffen A&M
Steve Berman
Vice chairman, Interscope Geffen A&M
Joie Manda
Executive vp, Interscope Geffen A&M
FEIGELSON
ESPOSITO
GOODMAN
EASTERLIN
NADEL
MABE
BORCHETTA
BAY-SCHUCK
CORSON
DUNGAN
EDGE
FLECKENSTEIN
RICCITELLI
BERMAN
JANICK
MANDA
BEESE
WONG
SATURN
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108 BILLBOARD • JANUARY 25, 2020
SATURN:^ MAGGIE^SHANNON.BEESE,^ WONG:MEREDITH^TRAUX.^BORCHETTA:^ AUSTIN^HARGAVE.BAY- S
CHUCK,CORSON:JONATHAN^WEINER.DUNGAN:^ ERIC^ADKINS.^ M
ABE:KEVINWIMPY.^ E
ASTERLIN,^ NADEL:^ JIMMY^FONTAINE.^
EDGE:^ ANNAAZAROV.FLECKENSTEIN,RICCITELLI:^ THOS^ROBINSON.^ E
SPOSITO:ERIC^BROWN.FEIGELSON:^ ANDY^EARL.^ G
OODMAN:^ MATTHEWBERINATO.JANICK,^ BERMAN:^ RICH^POLK.^ M
ANDA:^ MATT^SAYLES.