tor, Finneas O’Connell) and they’re
anticipating the night of the Grammy
Awards, where their young super-
star client has been nominated in six
categories, including best new artist.
“Billie’s impact on culture has been
incredible to see,” says Goodman. “She
is redefining pop music by showing
that [an artist’s] approach to their
music, visuals and overall brand can be
unique and different and still appeal
to the masses.” Rukasin and Goodman
have also worked with Eilish to meet
her goal “of having a more eco-friendly
business, including working to offset
carbon emissions while touring and
making a more green space on both her
photo and video shoots.”
Zeina Grenier
Head of North America music publishing,
Anjai Malhotra
Director of international music
publishing, Facebook
“Everything we do around music at
Facebook is rooted in community
building and connections for artists,
writers and fans,” says Malhotra, 38,
who works with Grenier, 40, on the
company’s relationships with publish-
ers and related deals. Their efforts have
helped make it possible for users to
add music to Facebook and Instagram
Stories, share live singalongs with Lip
Synch Live and (through an agreement
with Musixmatch) add lyrics to these
features. “I’m really inspired by the
opportunity we have in adding new
avenues for fans to connect with the
music that they love,” says Grenier.
David Klein
Agent, music leadership; UTA
In his second full year at UTA, Klein,
38, signed Jason Derulo and, with col-
league Jbeau Lewis, Chance the Rap-
per, who enlisted the agency to handle
his touring outside North America,
as well as other projects. Klein also
orchestrated a “totally sold-out” tour
for electronic-music duo Empire of the
Sun, he says, and launched a live career
for Scarypoolparty, the recording name
of recent American Idol runner-up
Alejandro Aranda, who staged a 28-city
tour during 2019, according to Klein.
Soo-Man Lee
Executive producer, SM Entertainment
SuperM, the “supergroup” recruited
from members of other Korean boy
bands and described by Lee as his “new
vision for K-pop,” became the first Ko-
rean act to debut its first album on the
Billboard 200, in October with its self-
titled EP. Active in entertainment since
the 1970s, Lee says SM’s dedication to
“culture first, economy next” shapes
his partnerships with Capitol Music
Group and Global Citizen. For the latter
organization, he will be executive direc-
tor for the Seoul date of the Global
Goal Live: The Possible Dream charity
concert in September.
Justin Lubliner
CEO, The Darkroom
“I felt it in my chest,” says Lubliner
of the moment he heard Billie Eilish,
then just 13 years old, sing “Ocean
Eyes.” “I knew she was going to
be the biggest star in the world.”
Through a joint venture between The
Darkroom, led by 29-year-old Lub-
liner, and Interscope Records, Eilish,
now 18, closed 2019 at No. 1 on the
year-end Top Billboard 200 Albums
chart with When We All Fall Asleep,
Where Do We Go? Lubliner, along
with Eilish’s managers Danny Rukasin
and Brandon Goodman, says the
strategy from the start was to “focus
on her body of work, not just individ-
ual songs,” an approach that included
custom campaigns for Spotify, Apple,
YouTube and Amazon. “I truly believe
Billie is the first artist to break purely
off of streaming,” says Lubliner. “As a
company we’ve really made an impact
on the way artists are promoted to a
new generation of listeners.”
Kenny MacPherson
Co-founder/CEO, Big Deal Music Group
MacPherson rose to his CEO role in
June, halfway through a groundbreak-
ing year in which Big Deal Music inked
partnerships with Diplo’s Mad Decent
Publishing and Ricky Reed’s Nice Life
Copyright Co. — the latter bringing
writer-producer Tele (co-author of
Lizzo’s Hot 100 No. 1 “Truth Hurts”)
into the Big Deal fold. Shawn Mendes’
primary collaborator, Teddy Geiger,
also renewed her contract with the
independent publisher in 2019, while
Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) scored
placement on Taylor Swift’s latest
Billboard 200 No. 1, Lover, with a
songwriting credit on “Cruel Summer.”
Says MacPherson, who has been in
publishing for nearly 40 years, “I still
can’t believe I get to do this day in and
day out.”
Jon Ollier
International booking agent, music;
Creative Artists Agency
Ollier, 36, is a rising star at CAA, a com-
pany “that puts philanthropy, diversity
and opportunity at the center of its
business model,” he says. Focused
abroad, he brought British singer-
songwriter Anne-Marie to the main
stage at England’s Glastonbury Festival
in 2019 while indie star Lauv toured
Europe, Asia and Australia. But he’s also
From left: Reece,
O’Connell,
Bollwinkel and
Eilish in 2019.
GRENIER
KLEIN
LUBLINER
OLLIER
MALHOTRA
LEE
MACPHERSON
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UBLINER:^ MATTYVOGEL.^ K
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OLLWINKEL:COURTESY^ OF^SUBJECT.