Billboard Power 100
In early December, Island Records co-chairmen/co-CEOs Justin Eshak and Imran Majid traveled to the north coast of Jamaica to visit the 87-year-old founder of the label they now run, Chris Blackwell. The executives were coming off one of the best years in Island’s recent history, and three weeks before their visit, two of Island’s recent breakthroughs, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, both scored Grammy nominations in the categories of record, song and album of the year and best new artist — the first time in history a label had two acts nominated for each of those honors in the same year.
That wasn’t the reason for the trip, however. It was about “respect,” Majid says. The two had visited Blackwell at his Goldeneye resort in 2021, before they officially took over Island at the beginning of 2022, to meet him and pay homage to the institution he had launched in 1959, which became the label home of Bob Marley, U2, Cat Stevens and Grace Jones.
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This time, “It kind of felt like visiting family or a friend,” Eshak says. “As opposed to last time when we were like, ‘Oh, f–k!’ ”
During those three years, Eshak and Majid have taken Island from a label with an illustrious past but moribund present to one of the premier destinations for artists to break — and 2024 was when it all came together. First came Carpenter, who scored her first top 40 hit on the Hot 100 in January with “Feather” before steadily building momentum through the spring. “Espresso,” her first top 10, followed, and by June, Carpenter had her first No. 1 with “Please Please Please.” At the end of August, her album Short n’ Sweet debuted atop the Billboard 200.
Roan’s ascent was almost simultaneous, fueled by strong word-of-mouth and a series of increasingly bigger festival appearances that crested in the summer, when her single “Good Luck, Babe!” reached No. 4 on the Hot 100; her album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, climbed into the top five of the Billboard 200; and she broke an attendance record for her Lollapalooza performance in Chicago. So when the Grammy nominations arrived, Island’s chief executives were not surprised. “Once the two of them started to control the zeitgeist,” Eshak says, “it just felt like the appropriate result.”
From the outside, the rise of the two artists — one a former Disney star who refashioned herself through clever live shows and radio, the other a budding queer pop icon who had been dumped by the major-label system early on and rebooted her career by touring and building a fan community — appeared to have reached that point through different paths. Eshak and Majid don’t see it that way. “You almost had to be at the shows before the success to understand,” Majid says. “That was what we bet on really early — [they were] artists that had such an engaged fan base from touring, streaming almost came secondary to that. At one point we were like, ‘Once this hits the masses, it could have a global impact.’ ”
By mid-2024, the narrative was set: Carpenter and Roan were leading a roster of artists who built cross-sectional fan bases that pushed beyond typical genre or cultural tropes. And for the first time in years, Island Records had returned to the roots Blackwell had nurtured in the latter half of the 20th century — a label where artists felt comfortable, heard and supported, and where good music was more important than commerciality.
Which is not to say that Island hasn’t succeeded commercially. The label ended 2024 with a 2.49% current market share — quadrupling the 0.62% it had in 2023. Island’s market share is included under Republic Records, but broken out on its own, it is the ninth-best of last year despite a wide reorganization at Universal Music Group in February that included extensive layoffs that affected all labels at the company.
Eshak and Majid’s greatest achievement, then, was to take a label with 30 dedicated employees (sharing some services like radio and marketing within REPUBLIC Collective) and create a culture that let its artists and staff flourish creatively, commercially and artistically.
They are now reaping the rewards. As 2024 wound down, new signees Gigi Perez and Lola Young landed their first Hot 100 hits, “Sailor Song” at No. 22 and “Messy” at No. 54, respectively.
Now, some in the industry are comparing Eshak and Majid’s success to that of John Janick’s at Interscope, which has turned young artists like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo into superstars at a time when it’s becoming increasingly difficult to break artists.
The trick is to maintain that success and future-proof against inevitable cold streaks. “What humbles you is when you think you have magic and it doesn’t work,” Majid says. “Justin and I are fortunate that we have 20 years of experience of what we think the right attitude to have is and what is not.”
“We just feel like there’s a new wave of artists that fit our ethos and that we can plug into what we do and give them a bespoke campaign,” Eshak says. “And we feel like we have the team. It felt really great going to Jamaica. Imran and I were sitting there like, ‘Our team’s got this.’ ”
This story appears in the Jan. 25, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Billboard’s peer-voted Power 100 Players’ Choice Award is back for 2025 and asking music industry members from all sectors to honor the executive they believe had the most impact across the music industry in the past year. Voting is open to all Billboard Pro members, both existing and new, with one vote per member per […]
Billboard celebrated the launch of Billboard Korea with style Tuesday (Aug. 27), honoring numerous K-pop trailblazers and bringing together countless other business executives, entertainment leaders and global artists under one roof at the Billboard K POWER 100 event in Seoul.Set at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan, the event recognized innovators in the Asian music industry. More than 30 acts were in the house to celebrate, including The Boyz, Jay Park, EXO-CBX, CHUNG HA, FIFTY FIFTY, BamBam, STAYC, Be’O, Kang Daniel, The Rose, Wave to Earth, ONE OR EIGHT and Louiza Sonja, while a handful of key people received honors for their contributions to the expansion of Asian music. Jeong Tae-young, for instance, won the Culture Impact Award for shaping music trends through his marketing work as the vice chairman of Hyundai Card, and CMO Todd Pendleton accepted the Exceptional Experience Award on behalf of Dolby Atmos for the company’s innovations in sound technology.
Plus, Lee Young-hee, head of global marketing at Samsung Electronics, took home the Innovative Brand Award, CEO Joseph Chang of Kakao Entertainment received the Power Players Award and Filipino groups SB19 and BINI won the Voices of Asia Award. Billboard also took time to honor the many K-pop stars who have achieved historic milestones on the Billboard Hot 100, presenting custom art panel music frames to acts such as Wonder Girls, PSY, 2NE1, BTS, BLACKPINK and more.
“We’re thrilled to officially launch Billboard Korea,” said Billboard CEO Mike Van in a statement. “Our mission is to champion the growth of K-culture and foster global recognition of its incredible talent.”
Acquired by PMC Group in 2020, Billboard Korea is the Korean branch of Billboard Media. On Aug. 27, the brand released a special edition of the 2024 Billboard K-Pop Artist Biographical Dictionary ahead of its inaugural issue in October.
“Our goal is to expand K-pop and K-culture worldwide and leverage our role as cultural ambassadors to make a positive impact,” publisher Kim Yuna, who will lead Billboard Korea, said of the venture.
“We’re eagerly anticipating the K-content we’ll create together with Billboard Korea,” added Billboard‘s Editorial Director Hannah Karp.
Below, see photos of some of the best moments, A-list guests, prestigious awards and more at the 2024 Billboard K POWER 100 event.
The Boyz
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
The Boyz attend Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
Hannah Karp, Yuna Kim & Mike Van
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
Hannah Karp, Yuna Kim and Mike Van attend Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
FIFTY FIFTY
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
FIFTY FIFTY attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
Agnez Mo
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
Agnez Mo attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
Luísa Sonza
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
Luísa Sonza attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
BamBam
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
BamBam attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
The Rose
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
The Rose attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
BINI
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
BINI attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
SB19
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
SB19 attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
Kang Daniel
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
Kang Daniel attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
Jay Park
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
Jay Park attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
The Boyz
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
The Boyz attend Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
Viviz
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
Viviz attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
EXO-CBX
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
EXO-CBX attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
Baek Hyun
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
Baek Hyun attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
BamBam
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
BamBam attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
Mike Van, Yuna Kim & Hannah Karp
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
Mike Van, Yuna Kim and Hannah Karp attend Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
The Boyz
Image Credit: Billboard Korea
Viviz attends Billboard Korea’s ‘Billboard K POWER 100’ event held on Aug. 27, 2024 at THE SHILLA Seoul Yeong Bin Gwan.
Grammy week is in full swing! Billboard’s Power 100 party was a celebration of some of the biggest names in music. NMPA and Billboard teamed up to honor some of this year’s most iconic songwriters. Justin Tranter stopped by Billboard News to talk about their Grammy nomination, the importance of recognizing songwriters and working with […]
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