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Management

Billboard Music Managers to Watch Expands to Canada at NXNE 2025

The initiative, in partnership with MMF Canada, will give a spotlight to the up-and-coming music managers making waves in the industry. The event will take place on June 11, directly before Billboard Canada Power Players.

Billboard Music Managers to Watch Expands to Canada at NXNE 2025

Billboard Canada is getting ready to spotlight the vital movers and shakers of the music industry: music managers.

Managers to Watch – Billboard’s highlight of teams behind music’s biggest breakout artists – will expand to Canada for the first time at this year’s NXNE festival.


A special invite-only Managers to Watch reception will take place on June 11, 2025, directly before Billboard Canada Power Players. The event will build on Billboard Canada’s new partnership with Music Managers Forum, which is moving its Honour Roll celebration of the most legendary managers in the business to NXNE this year.

Both recognitions will be given out at the Managers to Watch reception, after which all invited managers will be invited to stay and mingle with the most influential members of the industry at Billboard Canada Power Players.

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The event will foster community and opportunity for managers and self-managed artists, who play a critical role in the success of Canadian artists on the international stage.

"We’re proud to partner with MMF Canada to spotlight the managers powering the next wave of talent,” says Mo Ghoneim, President of Billboard UK and Canada. “They’re key players behind many of the industry’s biggest breakthroughs, and we’re excited to recognize their contributions on a global stage through Billboard."

The Music Managers to Watch list will feature a hand-selected list of artists and self-managed artists making waves in the industry. It will be chosen by the editorial team at Billboard Canada. Managers can submit for consideration using this form.

Members of MMF Canada will also have access to a dedicated submission portal.

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Panos A. Panay
Raphaële Sohier

Panos A. Panay

Features

Recording Academy President Panos A. Panay on Canada, Diljit Dosanjh and the Grammys’ Global Future

The influential music executive returned to a place he has called home at NXNE for the Billboard Global Summit. Here's why it was particularly meaningful for him.

The music landscape is changing quickly, and Panos A. Panay, the President of the Recording Academy and the Grammys, is right in the middle of it.
This week (June 11), Panay interviewed Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh as part of the Billboard Summit at NXNE. For him, it represented a global shift in music where sounds carrying different cultures and languages are pushing against the "Anglo-American" mainstream. Celebrating the universality of music in the diverse city of Toronto holds special meaning for him.
Panay spent some formative years in Canada, and says in some ways he considers it as much like home as Cyprus, where he was born. It shaped how he sees the world and his career, and it's been important in his work at the Grammys, which is also going through changes. Since he started his job in 2021, along with CEO Harvey Mason Jr., Panay has been helping the Academy adapt to a new generation of artists, represent diversity and navigate the changing music scene.

Before he was at the Recording Academy, Panay founded the online platform Sonicbids, which brought him to NXNE many times. Again, it feels like coming home.

In this exclusive interview with Billboard Canada, Panos discusses Dosanjh, how the Grammys are changing and the future of Canadian music.

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