Billboard Canada 2025 Power Players List Revealed
By Richard Trapunski, Rosie Long Decter, Peony Hirwani, Stefano Rebuli and Heather Taylor-Singh
Billboard Canada Power Players is back for a second year, and it comes at a pivotal time for Canadian music. Canadian Content regulations – a principle that built the domestic industry – are up for review for the first time in a generation, with ongoing hearings taking place with the CRTC. The Online Streaming Act, meanwhile, is attempting to regulate major foreign streaming services to contribute to CanCon as the CRTC once did for radio, but companies like Spotify, Amazon and Apple Music aren't taking it without a fight.
Those issues shadow the industry, which has both struggles and successes. The country was recently named the 8th largest music market in the world by the IFPI and Toronto has emerged as a marquee live music market. That's been reflected in the successes and investments in new venues by companies like Live Nation Canada, MLSE and Oak View Group, though some festivals and promoters outside of their orbit have gone public with their own struggles.
Meanwhile, scrappy and talented Canadian music executives have been building, both at home and on the global stage. For a country its size, Canada has hit above its weight in terms of talent, both onstage and behind the scenes. That includes music managers, who we're celebrating with their own Music Managers to Watch list launching in Canada for the first time this year.
It might be a transitional moment for the Canadian music industry, but it's an important one. In Billboard Canada Power Players 2025, read about all of the Canadian executives who are making a powerful impact.
