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Amazon is committing $10 million to L.A. wildlife relief efforts, the company announced on Monday (Jan. 13). The donation comes from Amazon’s entertainment division (Amazon Music, Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios), along with Ring and Whole Foods Market.
According to a blog post on the Amazon website, the money “will go directly to national and local disaster and response organizations including the American Red Cross of Southern California, FireAid, MusiCares Fire Relief Effort, World Central Kitchen, Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, Habitat for Los Angeles Wildfire Fund, and Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Small Business Relief/Recovery Fund, among others, as well as in-kind advertising opportunities on Prime Video for nonprofits supporting LA fire relief efforts.”
Amazon has already donated more than 145,000 essential items to 17 local organizations working on the wildfire response, including fire stations, community fire brigades, the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Dream Center and multiple YMCA chapters. This includes 30,000 items to the Los Angeles County Salvation Army, 5,000 shelter items, more than 300 wildfire response items, gift cards to LAUSD to support teachers who lost their classrooms in the fires and 1,000 items to support fire stations, among many others.
The company says it’s also “deploying” its AWS cloud technology, including drone support, “to help emergency responders better understand and react to the evolving wildfire situation.” Additionally, it says it’s “curating opportunities” for its Southern California employees to volunteer with organizations including the LA Regional Food Bank and LAUSD.
Amazon’s announcement follows similar commitments made by companies including Sony Group Corporation, which on Monday said it would donate $5 million to wildfire relief efforts, as well as the Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund, which pledged $1 million.
Sony Group Corporation has pledged $5 million to support relief efforts related to the Los Angeles-area wildfires. The sum will be allocated to organizations supporting first responders, community relief and rebuilding efforts, as well as employee assistance programs. “Los Angeles has been the home of our entertainment business for more than 35 years. Through our […]
Professional basketball player and “Tweaker” rapper LiAngelo Ball has signed a label deal with Def Jam and Universal Music Group (UMG), according to ESPN reporter Shams Charania. On Monday (Jan. 13), Charania, whose main beat is NBA news, tweeted that the recording deal for Ball, who performs under the name G3, was confirmed by “a […]
Bay Area punk rockers Green Day will join pop icon Justin Timberlake and folk singer/songwriter Noah Kahan to headline this year’s BottleRock festival in Napa, California, May 23-25, topping off a stacked lineup that includes something for nearly all musical tastes.
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Since launching in 2013 and later being purchased by its current ownership group Latitude 38 Entertainment in 2014 (and later selling a majority stake to Live Nation in 2017), BottleRock has become a booking bellwether for the festival business with a lineup that would often provide a preview of the year ahead. Scheduled for Memorial Day weekend each year, BottleRock’s early summer date (late May) places it early on the festival season calendar, with many of the bands announced for one of its half-dozen stages typically booked for other major festivals later that summer.
Green Day, for example, is also booked to play Coachella this year and will headline 10 rock festivals in Europe and the U.K. over the summer, while Justin Timberlake is scheduled to play Lollapalooza festivals in Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Paris. Other acts appearing at this year’s BottleRock festival include “Beautiful Things” singer/songwriter Benson Boone, experimental Texas outfit Khruangbin, alt rock veterans Cage the Elephant and hip-hop legend Ice Cube, who dropped his 11th studio album Man Down in November, garnering 8 million views from the album’s lead single “It’s My Ego” on YouTube.
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Also performing at this year’s BottleRock festival is legendary Bay Area rapper E-40 (a member of hip-hop supergroup Mount Westmore along with Ice Cube), Long Beach reggae and punk legends Sublime (now led by Jakob Nowell), EDM superstar Kaskade, Cali-roots reggae outfit Rebelution, surfer-soul duo G. Love & Donavon Frankenreiter, Mexican singer/songwriter Carín León, jam band Goose, NYC electro-duo SOFI TUKKER, rap icons Public Enemy, Icelandic tour-de-force KALEO, Americana couple The War and Treaty, Texas troubadour Bob Schneider, Hollywood actress Kate Hudson who released her cover of “Voices Carry” last Spring, Beastie Boys turn-tablist Mix Master Mike, Doors founding guitarist Robby Krieger, the Linda Perry led 1990s alternative pioneers 4 Non Blondes and many, many more.
Known for its high-end food and wine pairings and embrace of the culinary world, this year’s BottleRock festival will once include the Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage, featuring a number of world renowned chefs, celebrities, performers and artists. Organizers also announced that it will be supporting California wildfire relief by matching every dollar donated by fans for the first $50,000 to support FireAid, a benefit concert dedicated to aiding those affected by the devastating wildfires.
Tickets for BottleRock go on sale Tuesday (Jan 14) at 10 a.m. PT. Three-day general admission tickets, including all fees, begin at $456 per person, and a special layaway plan is available for fans who want to pay as they go, starting with a $100 deposit. Learn more at BottleRockNapaValley.com.
Spotify’s less expensive subscription plans that exclude audiobook listening have been adopted by about 14% of its U.S. subscribers, according to a new Morgan Stanley survey.
In June, Spotify allowed existing subscribers to opt into “basic” plans without free audiobook listening in exchange for a slightly lower price. The basic plans arose from Spotify’s decision to bundle 15 hours per month of audiobook streaming with the standard premium subscription plans. Around the same time, the company increased the monthly premium subscription fee in the U.S. to $11.99 for individual plans and $19.99 for family plans that allow up to six people per account. The basic tiers provide access to music and podcasts while allowing subscribers to opt out of the audiobook offering.
So far, not many Spotify subscribers are opting for the music- and podcast-only tier. Morgan Stanley’s 11th annual Audio Entertainment Survey found that in 2024, 17% of U.S. individual premium subscribers opted into the less expensive basic plan, while 10% of family plan subscribers chose the less expensive basic tier. While the premium family plan’s percentage of all subscribers dropped only slightly to 25% from 26%, the premium individual plan’s share of subscribers fell to 48% in 2024 from 61% in 2023.
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The basic tiers’ light adoption rates help shed some light on the financial impact of Spotify’s decision to pay a lower mechanical royalty allowed for bundled digital services. In May, Billboard estimated that Spotify would pay $150 million less to songwriters, publishers and PROs in 2024 than they would have if Spotify had not bundled music and podcasts with audiobooks in the premium plans. (That estimate was calculated before Spotify raised premium rates again in June and gave subscribers the option to pay a lower rate for a plan that excludes audiobooks.) Less than a fifth of subscribers have opted for the basic plan, meaning the lower royalty rate of the music-audiobook bundle still applies to the vast majority of subscriptions.
The cost of the premium tier appears to have had a slight impact on consumer sentiment, however. The introduction of the basic plan and the second price increase in as many years coincided with a decline in Spotify’s user satisfaction. The survey found that the percentage of Spotify users who are “very satisfied” with the service slipped to 57% in 2024 from 61% in 2023, while “somewhat satisfied” users increased to 29% from 26%. Among streaming services, YouTube Premium was No. 1 in user satisfaction with 87% of respondents either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the premium video platform. Spotify, last year’s No. 1, was No. 2, followed by SiriusXM at No. 3, YouTube Music at No. 4 and YouTube at No. 5. Apple Music had the biggest decline, dropping from No. 2 in 2023 to No. 7 in 2024. Tidal ranked last in user satisfaction with 80% of users either “satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the service.
Spotify fared well among young consumers. Overall, the platform accounted for 11% of listening time, third behind AM/FM radio’s 25% and SiriusXM’s 12%. But amongst the 18-29 age group, Spotify dominated with 19% of listening time, well ahead of YouTube and AM/FM radio’s 13% shares a piece and SiriusXM and Apple Music’s 9% shares a piece.
Spotify ranked behind only AM/FM radio in terms of U.S. active users. The survey puts U.S. AM/FM listenership at 316 million, about triple Spotify’s 106 million (including both subscribers and free users). Pandora ranked No. 3 with 44 million active users, ahead of Apple Music’s 41 million and SiriusXM’s 38 million. Amazon Music was estimated to have 13 million active users.
A woman accusing Diplo of sharing “revenge porn” has dropped her lawsuit against the DJ, just weeks after a federal judge ruled she would need to reveal her identity if she wanted to proceed with the case.
In a court filing on Monday (Jan. 13), attorneys for the unnamed “Jane Doe” asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit — a case that claims the DJ (Thomas Wesley Pentz) filmed sexual encounters without the woman’s knowledge and shared them on Snapchat.
The motion asked the judge to dismiss the case “without prejudice” — meaning the woman could still refile it at some point in the future. Her attorneys did not immediately return a request for comment on the decision to drop their case or whether they plan to refile it.
The move came two weeks after Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani ruled that the Doe must use her real name to keep pursuing her accusations against Diplo. The judge acknowleged that the allegations were “sensitive and of a highly personal nature,” but said the accuser had failed to legally show that she needs to remain anonymous.
“Those using the courts must be prepared to accept the public scrutiny that is an inherent part of public trials,” the judge wrote, quoting from another old ruling. “Plaintiff has not sufficiently demonstrated that this case warrants an exception.”
At the time, Doe’s attorneys vowed to appeal that ruling, saying revealing her name “risks permanently linking a survivor to their trauma.” The status of any such appellate effort is unclear after Monday’s voluntary dismissal.
Diplo’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the voluntary dismissal of the case against their client. In previous statements, they have strongly denied the lawsuit’s allegations, calling it an “obvious shakedown attempt.”
In a complaint filed in June, Diplo’s accuser alleged she’d had a consensual sexual relationship with the DJ from 2016 to 2023, and that she occasionally “gave defendant Diplo permission to record them having sex.” But she said she later learned that he had sometimes secretly recorded them and then shared footage on the internet “without plaintiff’s knowledge or consent.”
“Plaintiff brings this action to recover for the emotional and physical injuries she endured because of Diplo’s actions and to make sure no one else is forced to suffer the privacy invasions and physical and mental trauma she felt and continues to feel to this day,” Doe’s attorneys wrote.
The lawsuit accused Diplo of violating the federal Violence Against Women Act, which was amended in 2022 to ban the sharing of “intimate” images without the consent of those depicted in them. The case also cited an earlier revenge porn law enacted by the state of California.
The abrupt dismissal of the Jane Doe case came a week after lawyers for Diplo announced a deal to resolve a messy legal dispute with Shelly Auguste, another former romantic partner of the DJ/producer, as reported by Rolling Stone.
In that case, which had been set to go to trial this month, Diplo accused the woman of stalking, trespassing and releasing revenge porn of him. She had also leveled her own set of legal claims against him, including sexual battery and assault.
Just hours after the Recording Academy announced that it plans to go ahead with the 67th annual Grammy Awards telecast on Feb. 2 as scheduled despite the wildfires that have devastated parts of Los Angeles in the past week, Universal Music Group (UMG) announced it is canceling all of the company’s Grammy-related events, including its artist showcase and after-Grammy party, and will instead “redirect the resources that would have been used for those events to assist those affected by the wildfires.”
“Our deepest gratitude goes to the first responders and emergency personnel, who continue to perform heroically,” said the company in a statement. “L.A. is home to so many of us. We are committed to helping and supporting the music community, our artists, our teams and the people of Los Angeles get through this horrific episode.”
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The Recording Academy made a similar statement of concern even as it came to a different conclusion.
“Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles,” Recording Academy and MusiCares CEO Harvey Mason jr. and Tammy Hurt, chair of the board of trustees, said in a statement released earlier today. “This city is our home, and we mourn the loss of life and destruction that have come to it in recent days.
“In close coordination with local authorities to ensure public safety and responsible use of area resources, the 67th Grammy Awards telecast on CBS on Feb. 2 will proceed as planned,” they continued. “This year’s show, however, will carry a renewed sense of purpose: raising additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts and honoring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect ours.”
Those local authorities reportedly include the office of Mayor Karen Bass, public safety agencies and fire marshals.
The Recording Academy’s plan is to go ahead with the telecast. It has made no decision about other Grammy Week events, such as the MusiCares Person of the Year event (which this year is set to honor the Grateful Dead) and the Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards.
A major ancillary Grammy event, the Milk & Honey party, was canceled on Sunday (Jan. 12) with a pointed message on founder Lucas Keller‘s Instagram Story. “I regret that we will be canceling our annual award season pre-Grammy event in partnership with Reservoir and others. … It would be tone deaf to celebrate and I hope all other companies will follow suit,” he wrote. “Don’t come to town for the Grammy’s and take up hotels that people need desperately. Release your hotel blocks or donate them. In the meantime, if you can, please give money to MusiCares at this link to support wildlife relief. Everything counts.”The Recording Academy and MusiCares launched the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort last week with an initial $1 million donation to support music creatives and professionals. “Thanks to additional contributions, we have already distributed over $2 million in emergency aid to those most in need — and we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing ongoing assistance,” Mason and Hurt said in their statement.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again (a.k.a. NBA YoungBoy) will be released from prison this summer, according to federal inmate records — far sooner than indicated by his formal two-year sentence handed down last month.
The rapper (Kentrell Gaulden) pleaded guilty last year to a pair of federal gun charges — one over possession of firearms in Louisiana, and another over a gun found when he was arrested in Utah. In December, he was sentenced to 23 months in prison and five years probation on those convictions.
But federal innmate records now indicate that YoungBoy is scheduled for release on July 27. It’s unclear when that release date was posted, or whether it could later be changed.
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The reason for the early release is likely time-served — credit for time YoungBoy already spent in jail awaiting trial. The rapper was previously in custody for several months on the Louisiana gun charge and spent several more months in a Utah county jail last year after he was arrested in that state.
Neither the rapper’s attorney nor federal prosecutors immediately returned requests for comment on Monday (Jan. 13)
YoungBoy, a prolific rapper who has had four albums reach the top of the Billboard 200, was indicted by federal prosecutors in March 2021 after he was allegedly found with two guns during a music video shoot in September 2020 in Baton Rouge, La. Because of an earlier felony conviction from 2017, the rapper was charged with violating a federal law that bans felons from possessing guns.
While awaiting trial on those charges under house arrest in Utah, YoungBoy was arrested again in April over accusations that he participated in a “large scale prescription fraud ring.” One of those added charges was another count of illegal gun possession over a semi-automatic pistol found in his Utah bedroom.
In December, the star’s legal team finalized a complex “global” settlement to resolve all his various cases. Under that deal, he admitted to federal charges of owning the illegal guns in both Lousiana and Utah and also pleaded no contest to several state charges in Utah.
Though he had been facing decades in prison over the various charges, the deal saw YoungBoy sentenced to 23 months in prison for the Louisiana charge and sentenced to five years of probation and fined $200,000 for a gun charge in a separate Utah case. At the time, his attorneys said in a statement: “This has been a long road that involved extensive litigation and ultimately extensive negotiation. Kentrell’s defense team is very happy for Kentrell and we look forward to his many future successes.”
While the July release date is now scheduled, it’s unclear if it means that YoungBoy will be released directly onto probation or into some kind of transitional facility, often known as a halfway house.
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence stepped down from the top job and his seat on the board on Monday (Jan. 13) after the speaker company faced months of challenges and laid off 6% of its workforce following a fraught redesign of its mobile app. According to a press release, Sonos’ board of directors named Tom Conrad, […]
These managers on the rise have helped the biggest breakout artists, songwriters and producers of the past year navigate major wins and milestones, from opening for superstars and selling out headlining arena shows to earning Grammy nods and topping the charts — with some even making history. Introducing: Billboard‘s 2025 class of Managers to Watch.
Abas Pauti, Jared Cotter
Ages: 27, 43Companies: American Dogwood, RangeKey clients: Shaboozey, Paul Russell
“It wasn’t until I met Shaboozey where the thought of artist management became a serious career aspiration for me,” says Pauti, noting that the chart-topping artist gave him “confidence” to succeed in the role. As for Cotter, after entering the industry as a songwriter, he soon became “disenchanted, but still wanted to be a champion for artists.” Together, Pauti and Cotter have helped Shaboozey and Russell deliver breakout hits with the former’s record-tying 19-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and the latter’s viral hit “Lil Boo Thang.” Pauti says, “To know I played a role in helping both my clients get their records heard and loved from people across the globe will always be my greatest success.”
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Abas Pauti, Shaboozey and Jared Cotter
Allan Pimenta
Alex Lunt
Age: 31Company: Type A ManagementKey clients: Dasha, Beauty School Dropout, Dalton Davis, Anthony Ortiz
Since starting his management career a decade ago, Lunt has learned that “it is crucial to surround yourself with knowledgeable colleagues you can trust.” Last year, that approach paid off with country newcomer Dasha, who celebrated a trio of firsts: debuting on the Hot 100 with her viral hit “Austin,” performing at the CMT Awards in April 2024 and to a packed stadium at CMA Fest in June. Lunt says, “The best feeling has not been any accolade, but celebrating the success with a group of incredibly talented and passionate people.”
Alex Lunt and Dasha
Courtesy Alex Lunt
Amy Davidson
Age: 30Company: Volara ManagementKey clients: Sabrina Carpenter, Marina Diamandis, RIAH
Davidson has worked alongside Volara founder Janelle Lopez Genzink from day one, but, as Davidson says, the past 12 months in particular “have been nothing short of a fever dream as we’ve effectively checked off almost every item on our collective bucket lists.” Such items included Sabrina Carpenter scoring her first Hot 100 chart-topper with “Please Please Please” (while “Taste” and “Espresso” hit Nos. 2 and 3, respectively) and first Billboard 200 No. 1 album, Short n’ Sweet; an arena tour; a Saturday Night Live performance; and six Grammy nominations. Plus, Volara celebrated signing Marina Diamandis to its roster. “Effective management starts at the core of why you are there in the first place: to listen and respond to an artist’s needs,” Davidson says. “Understanding that an artist is a person with life happening outside of work is key for me.”
Janelle Lopez Genzink, Sabrina Carpenter and Amy Davidson
Christopher Polk for Variety
Christina Li, Michael Lewis
Ages: 29, 29Company: Nonstop ManagementKey clients: JKash, Michael Pollack, Ali Tamposi, Jake Torrey
Li says working as an assistant to hit-maker JKash “was a crash course in the music industry,” while Lewis feels “incredibly fortunate to call [him] a mentor.” The two also count Nonstop founder Jaime Zeluck Hindlin and president Bianca Minniti-Bean for being instrumental in their careers so far, guiding them through a major 2024 that kicked off with Michael Pollack winning his first Grammy: record of the year, for co-writing Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers.” Other highlights included Pollack and Ali Tamposi co-writing two original songs with Maren Morris for animated film The Wild Robot and Jake Torrey co-writing Marshmello and Kane Brown’s “Miles on It,” which made history as the first single to enter the top five on both Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (No. 1) and Hot Country Songs (No. 4).
From left: Christina Li, Michael Pollack and Mikey Lewis.
Jaynie Karp
Christopher Milano
Age: n/aCompany: The Vision ManagementKey clients: 4Batz, Bear Bailey, Guwop Reign
Milano “learned the ups and downs” of music management after meeting Akon and his brother Bu Thiam through the Bay Area’s “underground scene.” So when he met R&B singer 4Batz in 2023, he says, “opportunity met preparation.” In 2024, the pair celebrated a breakout year as the artist debuted across several Billboard charts — including the Hot 100, Hot R&B Songs and Rhythmic Airplay — with “Act ii: date @ 8,” which featured Drake on the remix. “We preach artist development at The Vision, and young artists who blow up fast don’t usually understand that process,” Milano says. “So it’s important to not only sign talented artists, but someone who’s willing to listen and wants to learn.”
Christopher Milano and 4Batz
Maurice Tyrone Holloway
Haley Evans
Age: 27Company: Mega HouseKey clients Peter Fenn, Casey Smith, Caroline Pennell, Mon Rovîa
While attending the University of California, Los Angeles, Evans spent Friday nights working at Ricky Reed’s Nice Life studio. “[I] became incredibly inspired by the way Ricky built intricate worlds with the artists he worked with while simultaneously building his own businesses,” Evans says. She continued to “learn from the best,” including Mega House co-founders David Silberstein and Jeremy Levin, who hired her in 2020. In March 2024, Evans was promoted to president as her client Peter Fenn celebrated the success of Myles Smith’s “Stargazing,” which hit No. 1 on the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart in December. “With new artists breaking online every day, the biggest challenge for songwriter-producer managers is helping guide clients to choose the right projects to focus their time and energy on,” she says. “Other than that, it’s getting our clients fairly compensated for their work — songwriters especially.”
Haley Evans and Peter Fenn
Olivia McDowell
Hayley Corbett
Age: 28Company: Punchbowl EntertainmentKey clients: Megan Moroney, Kristian Bush
At 15, Corbett started working with the Grammy Foundation as a volunteer, “networking as much as possible in New York and L.A., which is where I first became aware of artist management as a career,” she says. That commitment more than prepared her for Megan Moroney’s takeoff, which in 2024 included opening stadiums for Kenny Chesney and winning the Academy of Country Music Award for best new female artist of the year and the Country Music Association Award for new artist of the year. “One key to managing effectively is being intuitive to your clients’ needs, wants and dreams while being able to implement strategy that allows for continued growth,” Corbett says. “The biggest challenge for managers is avoiding burnout and oversaturation.”
Megan Moroney and Hayley Corbett
Mason Goodson
Holt Harmon, Parker Cohen
Ages: 31, 30Company: MetatoneKey clients: John Summit, Layton Giordani, Max Styler, Ranger Trucco
After a couple of years working in the label sector of the industry, Harmon was craving a longer-term partnership with artists. Similarly, Cohen “hit a ceiling of my own” on the events side of the business. “I wanted to work on building projects from the ground up,” he says. “Artist management quickly became the no-brainer to satisfy those needs.” They accomplished that goal with the success of John Summit, from releasing his debut album, Comfort in Chaos (which peaked at No. 2 on Top Dance/Electronic Albums), to his sold-out performances at New York’s Madison Square Garden and the Kia Forum in L.A. “One of the most valuable things we’ve learned along the way is that we are not the artist,” Harmon says. “It is not our project or vision, ultimately, and instead of trying to make it ours, we’ve placed our focus into being the best catalysts possible for them.”
From left: Holt Harmon, John Summit and Parker Cohen.
Ethan Garland
Jacob Epstein
Age: 34Company: Lighthouse Management & MediaKey clients: H.E.R., Towa Bird, Petra Collins
From a young age, Epstein was “obsessed” with both music and film — his management roster also includes Paul Rudd — yet as he puts it, “I knew I didn’t want to be the star. I wanted to be the engine and person breaking down the doors for those artists and guiding and architecting those creative decisions.” Today, he says even the smallest wins make him as proud as his artists’ biggest moments, which most recently include rocker Towa Bird capping off 2024 by opening at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum for Billie Eilish. “Only do this job if you truly are passionate about art and culture,” he cautions. “It’s too difficult if that love for it isn’t there.”
Jacob Epstein and Towa Bird
Alex Fleck
Jeff Burns
Age: 35Company: Reynolds MGMTKey client: Benson Boone
For Burns, the best part of Benson Boone’s breakout year has been “watching [him] love his career… He’s funnier, can sing and backflip better, is nicer and more humble than everyone — he has it all.” Such assets have helped Boone score a No. 2 hit on the Hot 100 with “Beautiful Things” and a Grammy nod for best new artist. For Burns, it’s all about not getting lost in the “million little things” and focusing on what matters most: “making the best music, marketing it better than anyone else, doing the best shows and staying happy and healthy.”
Jeff Burns and Benson Boone
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Justin Greenberg, Joe Izzi
Ages: 32, 38Company: Ocean AvenueKey client: Addison Rae
Three years ago, Greenberg and Izzi, along with their partner and Ocean Avenue co-founder, Sharon Jackson, left WME for management, launching with a roster that includes multihyphenate Addison Rae. Her 2024 single “Diet Pepsi” marked her major-label debut on Columbia and became her first Hot 100 entry; earlier in the year, Rae teamed with Charli xcx on a remix of “Von Dutch.” Greenberg and Izzi believe having “a deep understanding of your artists’ vision” is key to cutting through. “It’s not about us — we’re just here to make it happen.”
Lucas Barbosa
Age: 30Company: Habibi ManagementKey clients: Grupo Frontera, Mora, Tommy Torres
As a 17-year-old in Colombia, Barbosa helped an artist friend with “various tasks” before becoming his full-time manager; later, he launched his own company dedicated to producers and songwriters, who scored placements with Eladio Carrión, Maluma and Anitta. “That gave me the opportunity to expand my network,” Barbosa says. Now he’s helping his artists expand their fan bases, including Grupo Frontera, which toured arenas across the United States and Mexico last year. “We’ve taken the time as a company to build [our artists] from the ground up, ensuring that every step of the way is intentional and aligned with their artistic vision,” Barbosa says.
Lucas Barbosa (middle) with Alberto Acosta (left) and Juan Javier Cantú of Grupo Frontera.
Phraa
Luke Conway
Age: 29Company: Trade Secrets MGMTKey clients: Teddy Swims, Lø Spirit, Father of Peace
“I’ve always wanted to be involved in music one way or another,” says Conway, who spent high school in the metal and rock scenes, making merchandise for bands, directing music videos and planning DIY tours. His first management gig helped him “self-educate on every aspect of this business,” which today has helped him guide Teddy Swims through his breakout year. After “Lose Control” topped the Hot 100 in March 2024, the smash hit finished at No. 1 on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 Songs chart. Conway says, “This year has been a nonstop roller coaster, but everyone on the team has stepped up and delivered at a superstar level.”
Teddy Swims and Luke Conway
Bryce Hall
Mariana López Crespo
Age: 27Company: 1k DojoKey clients: Young Miko, Mauro
“To be honest, I never imagined I’d be involved as a manager in the music industry,” López Crespo says. “The opportunity came from acknowledging the potential around me and gaining confidence to develop it.” That combination has led to a major year for urbano star Young Miko, who started 2024 with her now-Grammy-nominated debut album, att. (which debuted at No. 9 on Top Latin Albums, her first entry on any Billboard albums chart), and in the spring made her Coachella debut following a sold-out U.S. tour. “However,” López Crespo says, “being able to build a solid team around creatives in Puerto Rico and providing them the resources to keep developing on a bigger scale has been the biggest blessing and main reason to keep working toward success.”
Young Miko and Mariana López Crespo
Christopher Polk for Variety
Max Gredinger
Age: 33Company: Foundations Artist ManagementKey clients: Laufey, mxmtoon, rainbolt, Ricky Montgomery
Inspired by managers Scooter Braun and Dan Weisman, Gredinger started managing acts as a high school student “and never stopped,” he says. In 2023, he was named partner at Foundations, and the following year, he and Laufey experienced a string of wins — he’s most proud, however, of her August performance at The Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which was released as a concert film in IMAX theaters worldwide. “Her ambition and goal of bringing classical and jazz music into the mainstream, and seeing that manifest in front of 17,000 people in her adopted home market and then in theaters, was unforgettable,” he says.
Laufey and Max Gredinger
Junia Lin
Maytav Koter
Age: 32Company: Good CompanyKey clients: Hayley Gene Penner, Buddy Ross, Andrew Sarlo, Spencer Stewart
After starting her career in publishing working for Justin Shukat at Primary Wave, Koter “discovered my passion for the songwriting community.” In 2019, she launched her own company “rooted in empathy and a long-term approach… I set out to create a family.” Last year, she joined client Buddy Ross at the Ivor Novello Awards, where he was nominated for his work on Fred again.. and Brian Eno’s track “Enough.” “I am deeply invested in [my clients’] lives beyond their careers,” Koter says, “which allows for more trust and transparency in our business relationship.”
From left: Spencer Stewart, Buddy Ross, Hayley Gene Penner (in front), Maytav Koter, Andrew Sarlo and Mona Khoshoi.
Kendra Hope
Nick Bobetsky
Age: 44Company: State of the ArtKey clients: LP, Livingston, Em Beihold, Debbii Dawson (Previously: Chappell Roan)
Bobetsky enjoyed a front-row seat for former client Chappell Roan’s rise, which he calls “a huge success not just because of the size it grew to, but because of how we did it differently with strategy that isn’t customary to the mainstream music business. It also helped that she’s a one-of-a-kind, generational artist.” After releasing her debut, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, in 2023, the album grew into a Billboard 200 top 10 mainstay while 2024 single “Good Luck, Babe!” became her biggest hit, climbing to No. 4 on the Hot 100 and scoring two of her six Grammy nods, for record and song of the year. Meanwhile, Dawson scored a breakout hit with “Turn the TV On” and opened on tour for Orville Peck. As Bobetsky says, “Patience is key to getting it right on an artist’s own terms.”
Debbii Dawson (left) and Nick Bobetsky
Ruby Anton
Sam French
Age: 34Company: Mixed ManagementKey clients: Ian, Jasper Harris, bülow, Henry Kwapis
While working in publishing at APG, French “fell in love with the process of connecting writers and producers with artists and having a front-row seat to watching big records come together.” In 2022, he became a partner at Mixed and has since watched that play out time and time again. In 2024, songwriter-producer Jasper Harris worked on Camila Cabello’s C,XOXO, Charli xcx’s brat and more. Meanwhile, newcomer rapper Ian’s “Magic Johnson,” which peaked at No. 1 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100, was among the U.S. Top 10 TikTok Songs of 2024. “There’s a lot of noise right now, and it’s very loud,” French says. “Focus on what you can control and what you believe in.”
Sarah (Muise) Scardilli
Age: 35Company: Muise ManagementKey clients: Shygirl, COBRAH
While studying international business, Scardilli says she “spent 75% of my time partying across the U.K. and making friends with DJs and promoters.” After college, she landed a job with a Bristol, England-based management firm as its first full-time employee: “I was given responsibilities very early on — jetted to Ibiza two days after my first day at work, and the rest is history.” She formed Muise Management in 2019 and watched her artists reach new heights last year, as Shygirl was an opener on Charli xcx and Troye Sivan’s Sweat Tour and COBRAH’s “Brand New Bitch” scored a key synch in Kinds of Kindness. Scardilli describes the latter as “a powerful moment where underground club culture met mainstream audiences.”
Sarah (Muise) Scardilli with Shygirl (left) and COBRAH (right).
Courtesy Shygirl; Axel Ahlgren
Stephen Timothy Nana
Age: 37Company: n/aKey client: Asake
While Asake’s third album, Lungu Boy, spawned the chart-topping “Active,” featuring Travis Scott (which topped Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs), Nana considers Asake’s arena tour, which included stops at London’s O2 Arena and New York’s Madison Square Garden, their biggest success of 2024. “Not because of output, but because of the work ethic and ability of Asake to stay focused, determined and disciplined,” Nana says. “It’s not every day you get creatives who have achieved so much and still be human.”
This story appears in the Jan. 11, 2025, issue of Billboard.