Music Industry 40 Under 40: Execs & Power Players 2024 (2024)

When Republic Records offered Tyler Arnold a full-time assistant role five months into his six-month internship with the label in 2014, taking it was “a no-brainer” — even if it meant dropping out of Northeastern University one year before graduating. “This is my dream,” Arnold recalls thinking. “I have to go for it.”

Arnold quickly became an A&R executive extraordinaire: His first signing to the label, in 2015, was a young Post Malone (“I signed him on my 23rd birthday,” Arnold recalls); his second was superproducer Metro Boomin in late 2016. By 2020, Arnold was Republic’s executive vp of A&R. “I really loved discovering music in high school and college, finding new artists and seeing them grow,” he says. “I also wanted to work really closely with the artists, and I felt like A&R, if you do it right, there’s such a personal connection that you can build.”

Today, the fast-rising executive is applying that same mentality as president of Mercury Records, the Republic division that relaunched in April 2022 with major names like Post and Noah Kahan and strategic partnerships with Big Loud (Morgan Wallen) and Imperial Music (Bo Burnham). And though Arnold says he wasn’t sure he was ready to head a label, “I wanted to grow as an executive.”

Read the full profile on Tyler Arnold here.

Glenne Azoff

Director of artist services

Apple Music

“It’s such a challenging time to be an artist,” says Azoff, who with Apple’s tools helps artists “cut through” and reach their audiences. As Apple Music’s director of artist services, Azoff — the daughter-in-law of legendary music mogul Irving Azoff — also works with the likes of Rihanna and Usher and their teams to strategize “major music milestones” like the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show. “From building out new music campaigns to planning major [events], we’re there, collaborating closely with artists and their teams to bring valuable partnerships to life across the Apple ecosystem,” the 34-year-old says.

Ten years ago, I was

“Working at CAA, considering a job offer to go ‘do music’ at a startup in Venice [Calif.] called Snapchat.”

Nick Bral

Senior vp of creative

Sony Music Publishing

Promoted to senior vp of creative in 2024 after nearly a decade at Sony Music Publishing, Bral identifies, signs and advocates for the publisher’s talent — and helps its writers “build an annuity that will pay them for many years to come.” Bral, 33, is particularly proud that SMP, with its roster including Noah Kahan, Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo) and Rob Bisel (SZA), represented writers in every BigFour category at the 2024 Grammys.

My favorite piece of merch I own is

“My By the Way-era Red Hot Chili Peppers T-shirt. RHCP were some of my first musical heroes and helped lead me down the path to where I am today.”

Callender

Senior vp

Wasserman Music

With his clients — who include Jack Harlow, Brent Faiyaz, PJ Morton, Jpegmafia and FERG — the 39-year-old Callender (who professionally only goes by his surname) aims to “bring their music to life, foster long-term careers and forge meaningful connections with fans.” Take Harlow, who sold out arenas nationwide in 2022 and scored his third Hot100 No.1 in 2023 but continued to honor his Kentucky roots with five sold-out arena shows last year in the state and his inaugural Gazebo Festival, which debuted in Louisville in May.

If I wasn’t working in the music business, I’d be

“A guidance counselor helping kids to see their full potential and be excited for all of the amazing possibilities the future can hold.”

At Jon Coombs’ wedding in 2017, Angel Olsen performed her song “Some Things Cosmic.” Several years prior, it was the first song by the singer-songwriter that Coombs had ever heard, and it was, he recalls, “a true game-changer for me, personally.” It was a game-changer for Olsen, too: After Coombs heard it, the A&R executive signed her to the Secretly Group sublabel Jagjaguwar.

As vp of A&R for Secretly Group — which, in addition to Jagjaguwar, encompasses Dead Oceans, Secretly Canadian, Saddest Factory Records and Secretly Publishing — Coombs has shaped the face of indie music today from Olsen, his first signee, through many others now including Mitski, Faye Webster and Mustafa.

It all might’ve seemed unlikely for Coombs, now 38, who as a kid growing up in southern Indiana pored over the thank-you’s in the liner notes of the CDs he bought with his allowance. “I was just like, ‘OK, sure, Mom and Dad.’ But then it was like, ‘Everyone at label name,’” he says. “That’s when I started to connect the dots — there’s labels. I started getting fascinated with label culture.”

He first noticed Bloomington, Ind.-based Secretly Canadian on the back of The Impossible Shapes’ 2003 album, We Like It Wild, and ended up interning at Secretly Distribution while a student at Indiana University. A series of pivotal events followed: Shortly before Coombs graduated, Bon Iver released the seminal For Emma, Forever Ago on Jagjaguwar (already affiliated with Secretly Canadian; the Secretly Group moniker would come later); a key employee on Secretly Group’s small staff departed; and Coombs landed a job there. He hasn’t left.

Back then, Coombs wore “a lot of hats” — something he still points to as a benefit of working at an indie label, for those starting out in the industry — but once he moved to New York in 2010 to open the label’s office in the city, he gravitated toward project management, A&R and synch licensing. In the mid-2010s, Coombs was also heavily involved in launching Secretly’s publishing division. But regardless of his role or which artist on the label group’s eclectic roster he’s working with, Coombs says his guiding principle has been “championing the unobvious.”

Today, Secretly’s artists are among the indie world’s most visible. Phoebe Bridgers recently opened dates on Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, genre-melding trio Khruangbin plays to sizable crowds around the world, and Mitski and Webster both went viral on TikTok in 2023. (Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine” spent a record six weeks atop the TikTok Billboard Top50 chart last fall.) “It shows that maybe there’s room for more voices — for more adventurous music in the mainstream,” Coombs says when reflecting on the label group’s crossover successes. “Audiences are excited for adventurous songwriters — and that’s what we excel at.”

—Eric Renner Brown

Jingu Jang

Vp

BIGHIT MUSIC

After one-and-a-half “transformative” years as part of HYBE chairman Bang Si-Hyuk’s corporate staff, Jang, 36, applied his learnings to the solo projects of six BTS members in 2023, for which he oversaw budgeting, team selection, overall creative vision and strategy, and more. Among the results: With “Like Crazy,” Jimin became the first K-pop soloist to top the Hot100, and Jung Kook’s huge Golden opening week set a record for the biggest week for an album (210,000 equivalent album units) by a Korean singer.

If I wasn’t working in the music business, I’d be

“Working for a sports team. Funny enough, being in artist management now feels like a parallel universe — just a different kind of stage.”

Rachelle Jean-Louis

Co-founder/manager

Tell Your Friends

Tell Your Friends’ roster includes Victoria Monét, whose five-year journey from go-to songwriter (Ariana Grande) to solo star landed her three Grammys in February, including best new artist. “Each creative I work with, I identify with some piece of their story personally and figure out the best ways to get their art to the world, with hopes it helps others that identify with them, too,” says Jean-Louis, 33. “From idea to execution, I’m building talented, dedicated teams around artists like Victoria and laying the foundation of a sustainable business.”

The best concert I’ve seen is

“Beyoncé. Most recently, Renaissance. But I’ve seen multiple shows of hers, multiple times… they’ve all been incredible in their own ways.”

Moody Jones

GM of EMPIRE Dance

EMPIRE

Jones’ mission of building EMPIRE’s presence in the dance space includes signing and developing talent, marketing the genre to new audiences and overseeing the company’s dance department. EMPIRE acquired the influential Dirtybird label in 2022 — and, in 2023, guided it to its biggest streaming year ever. Jones, 36, executive-produced the company’s African/dance crossover album, House of EMPIRE, which featured African artists including Fireboy DML, Kizz Daniel and Black Sherif. He says he’s excited about artists from across genres “using dance music to enter new dancefloors and reach broader audiences.”

If I wasn’t working in the music business, I’d be

“An actor. It would be cool to live a different life every six months.”

Justin Macchio

Senior vp of marketing

AWAL

As head of AWAL’s artist marketing team, Macchio, 35, collaborates with a global crew to lead campaigns for select artists — notably genre-defying singer-songwriter Laufey, whose Bewitched debuted in the top25 of the Billboard200 in September, became the biggest jazz album debut in Spotify history and won a Grammy. Her success — along with that of other AWAL artists like Djo — affirms his belief that “there is still incredible value in artist development, connecting with a core fan base and building fans one by one from the ground up.”

The best advice I’ve received is

“Write every email like it’s being read aloud in a courtroom.”

Alex Maxwell

Vp of touring

Live Nation

Maxwell, 37, saw her Spotify Wrapped come to life last year as she promoted shows around the world for her favorite artists. Some of her highlights: Noah Kahan’s sets for 25,000 people over two nights at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, Australia; Jack Harlow’s in-the-round performance at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky.; and Tyler Childers’ show at the Los Angeles-area Forum, a “spiritual experience” for Maxwell with personal significance. “My parents met at the venue in 1985,” she says. “Quite literally, I wouldn’t exist without the Forum.”

Ten years ago, I was

“One year into booking the Troubadour and not taking a moment of it for granted.”

Daniel Merino

Partner/promoter

Bizarro Live Entertainment

Merino started at Bizarro, the Chile-based promoter that operates in several South American countries, at 19, working security and handing out wristbands, which helped him “have a broader view of the business today” as he leads the company’s booking and operations. Bizarro’s recent events include five sold-out stadium shows by KarolG in Chile and Peru and booking and producing the Viña del Mar Festival, where Merino, 34, is executive producer (and which this year featured Andrea Bocelli onstage with 130 musicians).

The best concert I’ve seen is

“Elton John in Rio de Janeiro under torrential rain. It was magical to sing and dance to those songs in a unique atmosphere.”

Across Lillia Parsa’s six-year A&R run at Universal Music Publishing Group, where she rose to senior vp of A&R, her impressive achievements included discovering songwriting phenom Nija Charles and developing writer-producers Blake Slatkin and Omer Fedi into the top hit-makers they are today. “I never really thought about leaving publishing and going to the label side,” the 31-year-old says. “I loved it, and I was super proud of being a publisher.”

But others at UMPG’s parent company, Universal Music Group, had noticed Parsa’s accomplishments — and amid UMG’s recent restructuring, Interscope Records CEO John Janick reached out with a career-altering opportunity: becoming president of Capitol Music Group.

Parsa took the leap, but her presidency comes amid major changes at UMG — among them, a major shake-up of the company’s recorded-music division. So far, Parsa has risen to the challenge of leading the reorientation of the eminent 80-year-old label — now home to influential artists like Ice Spice, Maggie Rogers, Doechii and Troye Sivan — while keeping her love of creative A&R at her core.

How were you recruited for this role?
I was nearing the end of my deal at UMPG, and I’ve always admired Janick. When he told me about this position… he said, “I think you have all the tools for this. Come and try it.” From there, it all happened very fast. When he told me that I would be working closely with Tom [March, Capitol chairman/CEO], I thought it would be a cool way to enter the label system.

In your new role, how involved are you with A&R and creative work?
When you get into this new role, people assume you will take a step back. But I feel that in the way I’ve been positioned in this role, I can stay creative. Obviously, there’s more responsibility and leadership, too, but it’s funny: As I’ve been meeting potential artists and managers, they ask, “Is there a day-to-day on this?” And I’m like, “Yeah, me.” I always want to do it.

How did working in publishing affect the way you approach recorded music?
Working in publishing was a cheat code. As a publisher, I would go meet with every label, every A&R. I got to see how different A&Rs pitched their artists in ways label A&Rs didn’t get to see. I got a really good bird’s-eye view of the industry, including how our competitors maneuver. It’s also so helpful to be close to writers and producers. They are a great sounding board for me when I’m working with the artists signed to Capitol. Publishing really trained my ear and gave me a network of valuable relationships, and those relationships don’t die after six years working with them. In a weird way, I’ve gotten even closer to some of my former clients.

—Kristin Robinson

Justin Spagg

Senior vp of production, operations and experience

Insomniac Events

Spagg works primarily on Insomniac’s flagship festival, EDC Las Vegas, and the promoter’s EDC Orlando in Florida, which together in 2023 marked the largest EDC events in the company’s 30-year history. He also oversees the nearly 60 full-time employees who plan and execute Insomniac’s event portfolio. “Given the dynamic nature of this industry and the logistics of temporary event setups,” says Spagg, 36, “I often find myself devising strategies to overcome all of the challenges involved, all with the ultimate goal of crafting unforgettable experiences for all attendees.”

My favorite piece of merch I own is

“Daft Punk Alive Tour shirt. I was lucky enough to see them twice on that tour.”

Kaleb Steele

Tour operations

Parkwood Entertainment

“Mrs. Carter and our team at Parkwood really take pride in her renowned touring legacy and look to bring an incredible show to life and create something that you’ve never experienced,” says Steele, who leads Parkwood’s touring operations, including for Beyoncé’s blockbuster 2023 Renaissance tour, one of the highest-grossing — and most logistically complex — treks ever. “Concerts are not just about hearing your favorite songs live anymore,” the 32-year-old adds. “They have become traveling theaters on the road at a massive scale.”

The best concert I’ve seen is

“2006, Bon Jovi, Have a Nice Day tour. I was a kid from Kentucky and got to see a real-life rock star.”

Emily Stephenson

President

Downtown Music Publishing

“I view my job as ensuring that our company is set up in a way to best serve the songs and rights owners that we have the honor of representing,” says the Nashville-based Stephenson, 34, who has signed The National and Spirit Music Group, among others, since assuming her current role in January 2023. Lately, she has been contemplating how to adopt AI: “We have to make sure we protect the way AI licenses, uses and reimagines original work but also embrace the improvements it can bring to productivity, rights management and creativity.”

The best advice I’ve received is

“Protect your work/life balance.”

Today, Osita “Duke” Ugeh is a pivotal behind-the-scenes player for the biggest Afrobeats concerts in the United States — but his fascination with live music dates back to his youth.

Growing up in Asaba, Nigeria, Ugeh used his training in classical and liturgical music to write and play music in church and train choirs. While studying electrical engineering at Nigeria’s Madonna University, he organized shows and parties, falling in love with “putting events together for people to attend.”

Upon graduation, Ugeh started Duke Entertainment in 2008, but “met a lot of hurdles” producing concerts in Asaba and Calabar, so he opted for a steadier career in Lagos as a technical support engineer. Moving to New York in 2011 rekindled Ugeh’s interest in promoting shows: He found the quality of local Afrobeats concerts lacking. An engineer’s job “is to perform solutions for any issue,” explains Ugeh, 38. With most Afrobeats shows relegated to places like warehouses, he founded Duke Concept in 2013 “to put Afrobeats in proper venues and on main stages.”

In the decade since, he has succeeded and then some. Duke Concept has independently produced and promoted shows and tours for emerging and established Afrobeats artists like Burna Boy, Davido, Fireboy DML, Asake and Olamide. In April 2022, Duke Concept produced Burna Boy’s concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden — where he became the first Nigerian act to headline the legendary venue. “It’s mind-blowing to see how far we’ve gone,” he marvels the day after Davido’s headlining Garden show in April, which he proudly declares “was a 100% Duke Concept production, no partnerships involved.”

Ugeh’s African heritage and long-standing relationships with Afrobeats artists have also established him as a leader in a live Afrobeats market where, he fears, some major companies are investing due to the music’s popularity but without “actually [understanding] the culture”; the crowds may have diversified, but the core audience remains predominantly African, he says.

Now Duke Concept is expanding into the festival market — while maintaining Ugeh’s broader vision to cater to the larger African diaspora. In April 2023, it launched Tribeville in Houston with Adekunle Gold, Simi, Oxlade and more; the festival will return in July with Davido as headliner. The promoter added two Washington, D.C., festivals this spring: Rolling Cocoa (now rebranding as Golden Cocoa) and Colors of the East, which featured lineups of Ghanaian and East African artists respectively. (The latter event was ultimately postponed.) “There’s more music from Africa than just Nigerian music,” Ugeh says. Going forward, he has his eyes set on the gospel space — “Gospel music is an integral part of African culture that has not been celebrated enough,” he says — along with hip-hop and R&B.

Ugeh’s big dreams for Duke Concept don’t stop there: “The next goal is for the company to go public,” he says. “The more financial capacity you have, the more shows you’re able to produce.”

—Heran Mamo