50 Most Important People in EDM - Talbert Management Group

The movers, shakers and speaker-quakers shaping dance in 2014

James Barton, Live Nation, President of Electronic Music

As debate persists over the corporate courtship of EDM, few players are being watched as closely as James Barton. The 20-year veteran of the dance music game was enlisted by Live Nation Chief Executive Michael Rapino to lead the live events giant’s expansion into the EDM market. He’s certainly got the right credentials for the job: Barton helped set a precedent for brand expansion in dance music by evolving his weekly UK club night Cream, which served as the Nineties stomping grounds for the likes of Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, and the Chemical Brothers, into a globally-recognized trademark with a record division and a presence in more than a dozen countries, including the popular Creamfields festivals. Live Nation bought Cream Holdings in 2012, and Barton has since convinced formerly corporate-resistant peers Insomniac Events and HARD Events to join him, inking deals with both last year.

His and Rapino’s instincts have paid off: Live Nation saw a record year in 2013, with revenue jumping 11 percent to $6.5 billion following the previous year’s loss of $22 million. Going forward, Barton’s choices at the helm of one of EDM’s most powerful new underwriters will prove whether companies like Live Nation will contribute to dance music’s commercial cash out and demise, or facilitate its breakthrough after decades spent teetering on the verge of mainstream success.

Paul Clement and Nick Sabine, Resident Advisor, Founders

What started as a news site about Australia’s dance-music scene has grown to become an exhaustive authority on the global dance industry. Part webzine, part database, and part online community, the site offers up information ranging from news and reviews to event listings to artist profiles to club directories, in addition to accoutrements like ticket sales, films, and podcasts. RA has doubled its traffic in the past three years, averaging more than two million users, and shows no signs of slowing, with Clement and Sabine unveiling a major redesign in January, expanding the site’s reach and interactivity. Beyond the web, the RA name has been attached to club nights, festival collaborations, and other events around the world. The site ultimately remains more influential overseas than in the U.S., but as dance music scenes and subgenres like deep house continue to take off with American audiences, RA is poised to become the top media brand for electronic music.

Dave Rene, Interscope, A&R

Interscope’s A&R man for dance music has a stacked roster: Nero, Zedd and Eva Simons, not to mention Will.i.am, who’s done as much to popularize EDM as anybody. Rene’s management style is hands-on; an impressed Nero told an interviewer: “We’re one team. We all do everything together, everyone is part of the marketing, everyone is part of the video decisions.” Interscope is also behind the Divergent soundtrack, which functions as an EDM primer thanks to tracks by Skrillex, Zedd, and Pretty Lights.

Eelko van Kooten and Roger de Graaf, Spinnin’ Records

Whatever its crossover appeal, EDM is driven by what the DJs play. And much of what they play is released by Spinnin’ Records. In 1999, Spinnin’ pushed its Dutch-house sound (hard and clipped, its beats and riffs a series of clean, cartoonish punches) onto the radio in Holland and then set its sights globally – see Martin Garrix’s worldwide No. 1 “Animals.” Spinnin’ is also a hub for the imprints of artists including Tiësto, Afrojack, Sander van Doorn, Sidney Samson, and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. Now, Spinnin’ is the go-to label for Universal’s big-name remixes, such as Cedric Gervais’ touch-ups of Lana Del Ray and Miley Cyrus.

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On September 2, 2015 / NEWS