Matt Gudinski, Dan Rosen, Sean Warner & Michael Coppel Among 2026 Billboard Global Power Players

Billboard has released its 2026 Global Power Players list, honouring top executives driving the success of the international music business. The list of executives - nominated by their companies and peers - account for markets outside of the US, which make up 60% of the world's recorded-music revenue.

The annual ranking recognises the leaders shaping strategy, artist development, distribution, and live music across key territories, reflecting the growing influence of global markets in the modern music economy. Executives outside the US are playing an increasingly central role in breaking artists across borders and building globally competitive music businesses.

A number of Australasian execs have been named, including Mushroom Group's Chief Executive Matt Gudinski, Warner Music's President Dan Rosen, Universal Music's President Sean Warner, TEG Dainty's President/CEO Paul Dainty, Live Nation's Chairman Michael Coppel, and more.

Their inclusion highlights the continued strength of the Australian and New Zealand music sector, with local companies and executives helping drive both domestic success and the international reach of artists.

See the list of Australasian Power Players below. See the full list here.

Billboard Global Power Players"

Australasia: 

Katsumi Kuroiwa
CEO, Avex

Brandon Silverstein
CEO, Avex Music Group

Matt Gudinski
Chief Executive, Mushroom Group

Shunsuke Muramatsu
President, Sony Music Entertainment Japan

Andrew Chan
CEO, Sony Music Entertainment Greater China

Shridhar Subramaniam
President of Asia and Middle East, Sony Music Entertainment

Vinnit Thakkar
Managing Director, India, Sony Music Entertainment

Cussion Pang
Executive Chairman, Tencent Music Entertainment Group

Zhu “Ross” Liang
CEO/Director, Tencent Music Entertainment Group

Naoshi Fujikura
President/CEO, Universal Music Japan

Timothy Xu
Chairman/CEO, Universal Music Greater China

Calvin Wong
CEO, Universal Music Southeast Asia; Senior VP of Asia, Universal Music Group

Devraj Sanyal
Chairman/CEO, Universal Music India and South Asia; Senior VP of Strategy for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Universal Music Group

Sean Warner
President, Universal Music Australia and New Zealand

Dan Rosen
President of Warner Music Australasia and Southeast Asia

Takeshi Okada
President/CEO of Warner Music Japan

Jay Mehta
Managing Director of Warner Music India/South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

Lofai Lo
President of Asian Pacific Recorded Music, Warner Music Group

Streaming:

Paul Smith
Managing Director, Asian Pacific Music, YouTube

Labels, Distributors, Artist and Label Services:

Sylvain Delange
President of Asia-Pacific, Believe

Faryal Khan-Thompson
VP of Market Strategy and Development for South Asia, EMPIRE

Prashant Bahadur
Chief Strategy Officer and Managing Director of Asia, Middle East and Africa, The Orchard

Max Thomas
Head of Marketing and Campaigns for Asia Pacific, Secretly Distribution

Nathan McLay
Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand, Virgin Music Group

Publishing:

Jaime Gough
Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand, Concord

Simon Moor
Managing Director of Asia-Pacific, Kobalt

Ralph W. Peer
Managing Director of U.K. and Australasia/VP of Africa and Middle East Operations, peermusic

David Loiterton
President of Indo and Asia Pacific, Primary Wave Music

Arica Ng
President of Asia Pacific, Warner Chappell Music

Live: 

Adam Wilkes
President/CEO, AEG Presents Europe and Asia Pacific

John Langford
President of Asia Pacific, AEG International

Dion Brant
CEO, Frontier Touring; President/CEO, AEG Presents Asia Pacific

Michael Coppel
Chairman, Live Nation Australasia

Geoff Jones
Chairman, Ticketek Entertainment Group (TEG)

Paul Dainty
President/CEO, TEG Dainty

Meagan Walker
Group director of Arena Operations for Asia Pacific, Legends Global