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Sony Music Entertainment Canada president Shane Carter was part of the team that helped create I Am: Céline Dion, the documentary that celebrated international icon Céline Dion.
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Here Are the Canadian Music Executives on Billboard's 2025 Global Power Players List
This year's list features executives from companies such as Universal Music Canada, Warner Music Canada, Sony Music, Amazon Music, Live Nation and more. The list precedes Billboard Canada Power Players, which will be out in early June.
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Billboard Canada Power Players will celebrate its second edition this June, but some Canadian executives are already being celebrated for their global impact.
This week (May 19), Billboard has released its 2025 Global Power Players list highlighting music executives who are driving success outside the United States.
This year, more than 10 Canadian executives are featured on the list, up from four last year. The 2025 honourees represent a broader range of companies: the Canadian divisions of three major music labels are featured (Universal, Sony, Warner), as well as streaming service Amazon Music, live music giant Live Nation and agencies The Feldman Agency and Paquin Artists Agency.
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Julie Adam was named president & CEO of Universal Music Canada this year, and she makes the list after Universal released seven of the top 10 best-selling albums of 2024. Not all of those are Canadian, but Adam talks about the importance of Canada-specific campaigns for artists like Post Malone, Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, Morgan Wallen and Taylor Swift. The label also had Canadian artists who made an impact globally, like Sofia Camara in the U.K. and Punjabi super-producer thiarajxtt in South Asia and Canada. Jeffrey Remedios, who Adam succeeded as head of UMC and now works between Canada and the U.S., also makes the list in his new post as president of strategic development, REPUBLIC Collective
The Punjabi Wave has been important for Warner Music Canada again this year, whose president Kristen Burke appears on this year's list. Burke describes Karan Aujla, the most-streamed Punjabi artist worldwide on Spotify in 2024, as "one of Warner Music Canada’s biggest success stories this past year." Aujla's recent OneRepublic collaboration "Tell Me" (also released with Warner Music India) charted in numerous countries, continuously highlighting his international appeal.
Shane Carter, president of Sony Music Entertainment Canada, earns his spot on the Global Power Players list after helping bring one of music's biggest resilience stories onscreen this year as the executive producer of the I Am: Céline Dion documentary. “Everyone involved in this project was so talented and 100% committed to the collaboration required to tell Céline’s story with sensitivity and authenticity. It was a highlight of the year — and also my career," he says. The film set the stage for the Quebec singer's triumphant return to live shows with her surprise performance at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
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Amazon Music made a key leap for the audiobook industry by integrating Audible's audiobook catalogue into their own repertoire, expanding their library in the United States, Canada, and other international countries. The venture has landed John Murphy, Amazon Music's head of music in Canada, a spot on the list alongside his international colleagues Rocío Guerrero and Laura Lukanz and the company's director of global music industry Paul Firth.
Live Nation continues to dominate the concert scene, earning Live Nation Canada president Erik Hoffman a place on the list along with the company's other international executives. From massive stadium tours from superstars like Taylor Swift to rapid success stories and growth for RAYE, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan, among others, the company is attaining record numbers in revenue and attendance. Live Nation hit $2.2 billion worldwide in adjusted operating income in 2024 (up 14%) and drew in 151 million fans (up 9.2%) last year, even while putting on 30% fewer stadium shows.
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Julien Paquin and Vinny Cinquemani, co-presidents of Paquin Artists Agency, have also been named as Global Power Players for making strides in the touring industry last year. Along with signing American artists like The Offspring, John Fogerty and Papa Roach for Canadian representation, the Canadian agency has seen incredible growth in numerous continents across the globe, from Australia and North Africa to South America.
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Jeff Craib, Tom Kemp and Joel Baskin also make the list this year for their work at The Feldman Agency, which cites successful tours by Shania Twain and Avril Lavigne amongst their biggest recent achievements. “After 50 years in business, we’ve just celebrated our best year yet,” Craib says, citing “a year marked by growth in arena-level touring, exciting new artist signings, talent-buying and a significant year-over-year increase in global bookings.”
Paul Hitchman and Ben Akinbola of AWAL also made the list. Though not based in Canada, they do cite breakthrough Toronto band The Beaches as one of their biggest recent successes.
The Global Power Players list arrives ahead of Billboard Canada's own Power Players list, which will highlight industry members advancing the Canadian music landscape. The Billboard Canada Power Players list will be unveiled in June and celebrated with a special event on June 11 in Toronto at NXNE Festival. Check out last year's Billboard Canada Power Players list here.
Find the whole 2025 Global Power Players list here.
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