GERSON:^ ILYA^S.SAVENOK/GETTYIMAGES.^ G
RAINGE:MICHAEL^KOVAC/GETTY^IMAGES.PERRY:^ DAVID^LIVINGSTON/GETTY^IMAGES.^ K
ALLMAN:BRYAN^BEDDER/GETTY^IMAGES.^ G
REENWALD:^ ROY^ROCHLIN/GETTYIMAGES.KARP:^ DAVIDNEEDLEMAN.AS THE MUSIC BUSINESS CONTINUES TO GROW
and change, we’ve decided that it’s time for our annual
Power List to do the same. This year, instead of attempting
to compare the relative influence of the top label executives
with that of the biggest managers and concert promoters,
we’ve decided to organize the industry’s most powerful fig-
ures by sector, then listed them alphabetically. (That sound
you hear is the business’ publicists breathing a collective
sigh of relief.)
As the music business enters a new decade — and
continues its remarkable turnaround — we want to inspire
a new generation of music executives with awards that
honor leadership instead of power. In that spirit, we’re
recognizing individuals who are not only excelling at their
jobs, but going beyond them to elevate the entire music
business. Our Executive of the Year, Universal Music
Publishing Group chairman/CEO Jody Gerson, was chosen
not only for her power in the business but for how she has
used it — to foster inclusion in an industry that needs much
more. (She’s no slouch in the power department, either: She
has grown revenue of the world’s second-biggest publishing
company by over 40% since taking the helm in 2015.)
Our Executive of the Decade, Universal Music Group
chairman/CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, may well be the most
powerful person in the music business, but we’re honoring
him for the role he played in helping the entire recorded-
music sector rebound to over $19 billion in sales in 2018.
Just a few weeks ago, corporate parent Vivendi finalized
its sale of 10% of UMG to Tencent in a deal that values the
music company at $33 billion — and could spark higher
valuations across the industry.
We’re also saluting three other leaders driving the
business to ambitious new heights. After less than two
years in his first job running a major label, Columbia
Records chairman/CEO Ron Perry earns our inaugural
Breakthrough Award for his label’s work with Lil Nas X,
who went from a little-known meme-maker to a bona fide
superstar with a record-breaking run atop the Billboard Hot
100 and six Grammy nominations, including for best new
artist, record of the year and album of the year. The Clive
Davis Visionary Award goes to Atlantic Records chairman/
CEO Craig Kallman and chairman/COO Julie Greenwald,
whose label dominated the Billboard 200 last year for a
third year running.
Like the industry itself, our annual Power List will
continue to evolve, and we want to hear your thoughts
— even if you’re too powerful to care about such things.
Stay tuned for details on how to weigh in (no frantic
publicists’ calls necessary) as we begin to plot the future
of this list. For now, though, congratulations to everyone
who made this one and played a role in the industry’s
hard-fought comeback.
A Letter From The Editor
Hannah Karp
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
From left: Gerson, Grainge, Perry, Kallman and Greenwald.
24 BILLBOARD • JANUARY 25, 2020