Plenty of accomplished executives beyond the scope of Billboard’s
Power List are shaping the industry’s future. This tally of talent
honors 22 of those individuals who are making exceptional strides
Melissa Ormond
COO of festivals, AEG Presents
In 2019, AEG Presents’ festival divi-
sion had its biggest year yet, growing
its portfolio into over 40 properties.
Ormond, among the top women execu-
tives in the live-music business, helped
drive that growth. Each of the AEG
Presents festivals on sale for this year
is already outperforming last year’s
results, including Electric Forest in
Michigan, the Hangout Music Festival
in Alabama, the Buku Music + Art Proj-
ect in Louisiana, the Buckeye Country
Superfest in Ohio and the Stagecoach
Festival in California, says Ormond.
(Stagecoach in 2019 had its most suc-
cessful year to date, drawing 80,000
fans, according to AEG Presents.) “We
worked hard to refine each festival
individually through talent, experience,
branding, partnerships, etc.,” says
Ormond. “The effort is paying off.”
Alana Balden
Manager, Full Stop Management
As part of the Full Stop Management
team (see page 94), Balden, 31, worked
with one of 2019’s most command-
ing young stars, Lizzo, who leads the
field of nominees at the 62nd Grammy
Awards. “There have been so many
proud moments this year,” says Balden,
“from the seven weeks Lizzo’s ‘Truth
Hurts’ spent at No. 1 on the Billboard
Hot 100, to having two songs [“Truth
Hurts,” “Good as Hell”] in the top 10,
to her North American and European
tours [which have sold out, accord-
ing to Full Stop]. However, seeing it
all come together with eight Grammy
nominations was the ultimate highlight,
and such a reward for Lizzo and her
team’s hard work.”
Sara Bollwinkel
Agent, Paradigm Talent Agency
Four years ago, Bollwinkel, 35, signed
Billie Eilish, then just 14, to Paradigm,
with an assist from senior partner
Tom Windish. In 2019, the alt-pop
phenomenon scored No. 1s on both
the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 (with
debut album When We All Fall Asleep,
Where Do We Go? and single “Bad
Guy,” respectively) and achieved a
near-immediate sellout for her first
arena tour, according to Paradigm.
Bollwinkel’s approach to her work mir-
rors that of her successful young client.
“I’m constantly pushing to exceed my
own expectations,” she says. “I won’t
be satisfied until I can look in the mirror
and say, ‘Yo. Not bad, sis.’ ”
Bernie Cahill
Co-founding partner,
Activist Artists Management
Activist Artists Management client
Dead & Company had another block-
buster year, grossing $60.6 million over
24 dates. The band’s four-day stand last
January in Playa del Carmen, Mexico,
was the No. 5 Boxscore of 2019, gross-
ing $17 million. But rather than focus on
ticket sales, Cahill prefers to credit his
longtime co-workers, who are “dedi-
cated to our mission to amplify our
clients’ social impact work alongside
their musical careers,” he says. “When
you are lucky enough to represent
artists like Michael Franti, Bob Weir,
Dead & Company [co-managed by
Azoff/Moir] and The Lumineers, you
The 2020
Billboard
Impact List
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