Sylvia Rhone

Chairwoman/CEO

Rhone and her Epic team continue their winning streak. Beginning with Travis Scott’s Grammy Award-nominated Utopia, Epic’s achievements include 21 Savage’s five Grammy nods, including best rap album for his and Drake’s Her Loss collaboration, and, most recently, kicking off 2024 with his fourth No. 1 on the Billboard 200, American Dream. Additionally, South African artist Tyla won a Grammy Award for best African music performance for “Water.”

“Explore outside of your comfort zone and don’t be afraid to seek new technical and analytical skills that are driving our business. Have the courage to take risks — the road to success is not always a paved one.”

Golnar Khosrowshahi

Founder/CEO

Reservoir’s share price jumped 19.1% in 2023, giving investors in the publicly traded company the growth they prize. Initiatives such as bringing hip-hop legends De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising and other seminal albums to streaming platforms for the first time demonstrates Reservoir’s “commitment to sharing culturally important music with fans old and new,” Khosrowshahi says.

“Pivot to a path that allows for growth equally across your professional and personal lives. You should not have to compromise, but rather be empowered to find the route that allows for the multitudes present in you.”

Brianna Agyemang

Co-founder

senior campaign manager

Jamila Thomas

Co-founder

CEO

After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Agyemang and Thomas forced the music industry to begin rectifying years of systemic racial bias by bringing the multibillion-dollar business to a daylong standstill on June 2, 2020.

“Stay true to yourself,” they say in a joint statement. “But always be open to learning and growing. Do self-gut check-ins often to make sure you’re aligned with the path you’re on. Trust the process, and know your journey to success is yours only. It’s never too late for a pivot if you feel it’s time. There’s room for all of us — and never doubt your worth.”

Desiree Perez

CEO

Roc Nation continues to flex its muscles across both business and culture, and 2023 was no different. Rihanna’s performance at the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show earned Jay-Z an Emmy Award for outstanding directing for a variety special, while the career retrospective that Perez and the company produced at the Brooklyn Public Library, “The Book of HOV,” “showed all aspects of Jay-Z’s accomplishments,” she says, “and how he built a cultural empire.”

“Learn the ins and outs of your business, not just one segment; listen to what people are really saying; and stand in your beliefs.”

Danielle Aguirre

Executive vp/general counsel

For Women in Music in 2018, Aguirre shared recognition as Executive of the Year with Jacqueline Charlesworth, Susan Genco and Dina LaPolt for their support of the Music Modernization Act. Aguirre continues to advocate “before the Copyright Royalty Board, [leading] to songwriters receiving the highest interactive streaming rates in history in 2023 as a result of the negotiated settlement we reached with major digital streaming services.”

“Get your foot in the door, and be ready to work longer and harder than other people. Find a mentor and learn from them. Most successful women in our industry are more than willing to impart knowledge. And remember that no one owes you anything — you must earn it.”

Jacqueline Charlesworth

Principal

A former general counsel at the U.S. Copyright Office who played a key role in helping to craft and secure passage of the Music Modernization Act, Charlesworth now has her own firm where she handles transactional work, litigation and policy questions for artists, songwriters and others. She says Charlesworth Law, which she founded in 2021, is “small but mighty” and “had a lot of success this year protecting major copyrights in federal court.”

Don’t stay home too much: “Even if you have the option of working remotely, spend some time in the office, especially if your boss does.”

Susan Genco

Co-president

“We are lucky that 2023 was a year of great achievement,” says Genco, who is co-president of The Azoff Company with Elizabeth Collins, citing the company’s performance rights organization Global Music Rights, venue owner and operator Oak View Group, Full Stop Management, legacy rights management company Iconic Artists Group and Giant Records. “I am most proud that we had success without compromise and with a lot of fun along the way.”

“Be bold and flexible — the industry is led by people who embrace change and shape the future. Oh, and take my class at UCLA Law School.”

Dina LaPolt

Founder/owner

After U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested hip-hop superstar 21 Savage — it was revealed that the rapper was actually from the United Kingdom and had overstayed his visa — LaPolt played a key, behind-the-scenes role in securing him a green card. The process was finalized in October, when Savage announced that he was a “lawful permanent resident” — allowing him to tour internationally, including to play concerts in Canada with frequent collaborator Drake.

“Follow your gut, fine-tune your emotional intelligence, and never compromise your goals and dreams for anyone.”

Bozoma Saint John

Marketing executive/author/entrepreneur

Marketing Hall of Fame inductee Saint John — honored by Billboard in 2016 for her work at iTunes and Apple Music — spent 2023 enticing the world to Ghana, Africa, working with artists like smallgod to commission a song titled “Treasure Island,” celebrating Ghanaian destinations. “There are many destinations around the world that are used as celebrated centerpieces in song, but rarely on the African continent,” Saint John says. “It’s high time that changed.”

“There is no point in trying to fit into a masculine-dominated box that doesn’t serve us in diversity and inclusion. My hope is that we will find equity among executive ranks in the music business so that more female perspectives can be showcased.”

Jody Gerson

Chairman/CEO

Gerson says that, above all, she’s proud to run UMPG with “integrity and heart. Here we really do celebrate each other and our successes together.” UMPG’s revenue has more than doubled since 2015 and, in the last year alone, the label group has launched a subscription-based music library for the content creation boom; signed Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey, Niall Horan, Sabrina Carpenter, Grupo Firme, Carín León and Maggie Rogers, among others; and set up unique genre-blending songwriter camps around the world. Gerson is also co-founder of She Is the Music, which helps close the gender gap in the music business.

“Make decisions that are right for you, and don’t worry so much about how your demands will be received. Women are too stuck in a culture of pleasing others. And I’m sure this is part of the reason women today make 83% of the salary of their male counterparts.”

Michele Anthony

Executive vp

Anthony helped oversee a massive year for UMG in 2023, when its artists spent 33 weeks atop both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200. Republic Records led with seven of the 10 biggest albums of the year — only to kick off 2024 by filling eight of the top 10 of the Billboard 200 in the week ending Jan. 13, the most one label has achieved since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. That, Anthony says, is just a steppingstone: “In 2024, UMG will continue our unrivaled commitment to new artist discovery and development.”

“Be passionate, be present, be competitive, and be prepared to work hard.”

Julie Greenwald

Chairman/CEO

No album defined 2023 for Atlantic Records like the Barbie soundtrack, featuring Atlantic artists like Lizzo, Charli XCX and GAYLE. “As a woman running this company, to see that women could carry the soundtrack and do so well was a point of personal pride,” Greenwald says. “They killed it.”

“If you want people to know you are extraordinary, then you have to work extraordinarily hard. Don’t think about balance; think about your career.” (Greenwald was also named Executive of the Year in 2008, 2010-13 and 2017.)

Judy McGrath

Board director

McGrath — honored by Billboard as Executive of the Year in 2005, 2007 and 2009 while she was chair/chief executive at MTV Networks — is now a board member at Amazon, which “has become a force across music, film, sports, games, podcasts and audiobooks,” she says. McGrath praises the partnership of Amazon Music Live and the NFL that has showcased Ed Sheeran, Peso Pluma, Green Day, Metro Boomin, Garth Brooks and Latto for fans after Thursday-night games. And she says that Steve Boom, Amazon vp of audio, Twitch and games, and his team “inspire and delight music fans around the globe.”

“Be a champion and advocate for artists and their fans. Understand the fandom. Whether you are on the creative and marketing side or in the business lane, your North Star is the artist. Do that well, and good things will happen.”