Billboard’s 2026 Indie Power Players Revealed
Categoria: Musica
The annual list is led by Executives of the Year Tim Putnam and Zena White of Partisan Records and celebrates the most influential labels, distributors and associations in the independent space today.
Por Billboard | 08/05/2026
In times of upheaval, there is always opportunity — a condition that aptly describes the past year in the indie sector of the music business. Across the industry, there has been change: in leadership, in ownership, in distribution, in what it means to be independent and in creative control. And at the same time, the indie world is thriving. Some of the biggest artists in the world — like this issue’s cover subject, RAYE — are independent; the industry’s biggest deals are being made by independent companies, like France’s Believe, preparing for its much-vaunted entry into the United States; and by label ownership, independents made up 44.15% of the U.S. recorded-music industry in the first quarter of 2026, a figure nearly twice as high as any major company. As the tectonic plates of the business continue to shift, one thing is clear: It’s good to be indie. Related How Partisan Records’ Tim Putnam and Zena White Built the Indie Powerhouse Home to Geese, Cigarettes After Sex and More ‘Terrified,’ ‘Grateful,’ ‘Happy’: How RAYE Went Indie & Exploded Backline Launches Mental Health Toolkit for Dance Music Community: 'Seeking Help Is Not Something to Be Ashamed Of' Associations Ian Harrison CEO, American Association of Independent Music Lisa Hresko COO, American Association of Independent Music; president, Foundation for Independent Music Gee Davy CEO, Association of Independent Music Helen Smith Executive chair, IMPALA Charlie Lexton CEO, Merlin Lexton Kate Shortt Since taking over as Merlin’s CEO in January — succeeding the organization’s previous leader, Jeremy Sirota, now at Suno — Lexton has a simple overriding mission: using the “collective value” of the indie digital rights agency’s members to “enable and support their independence.” Shortly after Lexton assumed leadership of the organization he’s been with since its 2007 founding, Merlin announced it had struck a licensing deal with generative AI startup Udio, enabling Merlin’s stable of indie labels, distributors and artists to be compensated for allowing their recordings to be used in AI training. This followed a previous opt-in licensing deal Merlin struck with ElevenLabs for its music model Eleven Music, which marked “the first at-scale deal between a global rights holder and a significant AI company,” Lexton says. These deals proved that “AI companies can reach commercial agreements with music rights holders,” Lexton says. “We are here to do business and deals are achievable.” However, he qualifies, “We will only do business with partners who respect copyright. That ultimately means partners who agree to terms that respect the investment, by artists and entrepreneurs, that it takes to make great music. Those terms are not solely about payments, they’re also about the inclusion of guardrails that protect the integrity of existing catalogs and the ability of artists and labels to control the use of their intellectual property. “The deals we have struck fulfill th