(via Billboard)

The 2020 Billboard Power List Revealed

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 figures 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.

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.

Pulse Music Group — co-founded by Cutler, a songwriter, and Abraham, a producer — last year reported a 46% increase in its net publisher’s share (typically after paying writer royalties and co-publishing and administrative fees for subpublishers). Those results helped draw the attention of Concord Music Publishing, which in January did an A&R-driven joint venture with Pulse and bought out the firm’s longtime financial partner FujiPacific Music. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. (FujiPacific will still act as the subpublisher for the Pulse catalog in most of Asia.) Pulse had songwriting stakes in Billboard 200 No. 1s from Madonna (Starrah), Juice WRLD (Brent Faiyaz) and J. Cole’s Dreamville collective, plus Hot 100 hits like the Travis Scott No. 1 “Highest in the Room.” Says Cutler: “We know what works for writers, and we bring that firsthand knowledge to everything we do.”