Music industry headlines — from the battle over Dolly Parton's estate to the latest court rulings on AI — highlight the importance of savvy financial advice.
Billboard’s 2026 class of top business managers, nominated by their firms and peers and chosen by our editors, takes on tasks for clients that are daunting in their complexity: auditing streaming royalties, negotiating concert tours, building equity through branding deals and selling or buying music catalogs. To say nothing of conventional chores like budgeting, filing taxes and guiding investments.
The challenges involved with another customary task, estate planning, hit the headlines this year following the death of Dolly Parton. In a [2020 *Billboard* cover story](https://www.billboard.com/music/country/dolly-parton-2020-country-power-players-cover-story-1235833446/), Parton spoke about the importance of an artist having their affairs in order. “A word to all the other artists out there: If you haven’t made those provisions, do that. You don’t want to leave that mess to your family for people to have to fight over.” But a fight is precisely what began after Parton’s death when her estate sought a restraining order against a relative who, its filing claimed, had been trying to extort money from the estate. “You can plan the inheritance as carefully as Dolly did, but you cannot guarantee everyone’s acceptance of that plan,” says estate attorney Scott Rahn (who was not involved in Parton’s planning). While tasks like estate planning have long been a core service provided by business managers, managing intellectual property has taken on new urgency in the AI age.
AI tools have been trained by ingesting massive amounts of data, a process that tech companies have claimed is fair use of copyrights or, in legal parlance, “transformative,” not simply duplication of a work.
On Sept. 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia rejected that AI training claim.
The ruling affirmed a lower court’s partial summary judgment in favor of information and technology company Thomson Reuters, which said its copyrighted online legal research platform, Westlaw, was used by the AI startup ROSS Intelligence to train a new AI-powered research tool.
A joint brief in support of Thomson Reuters filed by the RIAA and the National Music Publishers’ Association explains the relevance of the case to the music industry. Record companies and music publishers “have sued AI services that train on their sound recordings and musical compositions. Those services have responded by asserting that their conduct is exonerated by the fair use doctrine,” the brief stated. “They are wrong.”
Many firms have focused on AI-related advice. “We have always been advocates for clients betting on themselves and owning their IP, or intellectual property,” says Rit Venerus, senior managing director at Cal Financial Group. “The more you own, the more you can control how your IP is used, which can be very helpful when confronting AI.”
Venerus puts the rise of this new technology in perspective.
“The world continues to move at a faster and faster pace,” he says, “and we see the impact on our clients in real time.”
360 Business Management
Reggie Gooden
Founder/CEO
Abacus Financial Business Management
Belva Anakwenze
Entertainment business manager
Adeptus
David Levin
Managing partner
Ellis Beber Tyler Kizu Bruce Kolbrenner Michael Nelson
Tyler Kizu
Bruce Kolbrenner
Michael Nelson
Partners
ARC Business Management
Tate Henshaw
Co-founder
Armanino Advisory
Ed Eschleman
Managing director of business management
Olga Goldovskaya
Director of business management and family office services
Bernstein Private Wealth Management
Daniel Weisman
Managing principal of national sports and entertainment group
Business Management LAB
Angie Barajas Louis Barajas
Co-founders
Business Wealth & Tax Management
John Shaheen
Managing partner
Cal Financial Group
Rit Venerus
Senior managing director
Butch Gage Dan Goscombe
Dan Goscombe
Managing directors
Sarah Dellimore Cara Jeffrey Amy Self
Cara Jeffrey
Amy Self
Directors
With the rising concerns surrounding AI, climate change, global political conflicts and more, it’s a difficult time for many, including those in the music business.
“The world continues to move at a faster and faster pace, and we see the impact on our clients in real time,” says Rit Venerus, senior managing director at Cal Financial Group, which stands out among business managers as a go-to firm for its broad perspective and top-grossing touring acts.
“Whether it’s geopolitical, economic, AI, weather or fires, we are always working with clients to help them navigate through these challenges.”
The firm — whose artist clients include Jack White, Phoebe Bridgers, John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Dead & Company and Soundgarden — has one important piece of advice to share when it comes to the increasing use of AI in the music industry: “We have always been advocates for clients betting on themselves and owning their [intellectual [property],” Venerus explains. “The more you own, the more you can control how your IP is used, which can be very helpful when confronting AI.”
An investment trend that Venerus has noted lately is in collectibles.
“Clients collecting memorabilia has continued to grow. For example, look at the recent auction of David Gilmour’s guitar,” Venerus says of the famed “Black Strat” used by Gilmour on iconic Pink Floyd albums including *The Dark Side of the Moon* and *The Wall*. The instrument sold for a record-breaking $14.55 million at Christie’s in June, becoming the most expensive guitar ever sold. “It’s an area where we expect continued growth, and it’s one where clients can have unique access and insight into the market.”
While the recent past has brought many challenges, Cal Financial has celebrated milestones as well. “We are thrilled to be heading into our 25th year and still being a privately owned and managed firm,” he says.
And among achievements by his clients, he points to the 60th-anniversary celebration of the Grateful Dead with Dead & Company in 2025 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
“Grateful Dead 60 at Golden Gate Park was an incredible event to be a part of, with an incredible team around the band,” he says. “It was also very touching that those shows turned out to be Bob Weir’s final performances.” *—ANNA CHAN*
Camaleon
Jose Luis Aristizábal
Founder/CEO
Capeles
Edgard Capeles
CEO
CC Young
Colin Young
Founder/director
Reviewing the finances of some of the industry’s biggest stars as well as its more promising upstarts has given London-based business manager Colin Young a bird’s-eye view of the music business that few people have. In his estimation, it’s a great time to be a star — and a hard time being an upstart.
“Touring at the arena and stadium level has been very buoyant, but touring at the theater level and below has been very problematic for clients,” says Young, the founder and owner of firm CC Young.
He points to the high costs of being on the road, which he says never fell post-pandemic as some had expected — and combined with back-end taxes, those expenses can push shows in certain countries entirely into the red for the average artist.
“When touring happens in some countries, we pay withholding tax on profits,” he explains. “But in other parts of Europe, like Spain, the tax is punishing and based on gross, not profit.”
While Young declines to name his clients, his practice — which has 135 employees and offices in London, Los Angeles and Stockholm — has become known as a go-to for high-profile artists who want a royalty audit from their label or publisher. This year, Young says that “the resistance by record and publishing companies is ever more profound. There’s been a conscious decision by the record companies to reduce their internal staff levels, so they simply don’t have the capabilities to service the requests and it just gets pushed back and back.”
With the rise of AI licensing deals, Young says that while artists could stand to make a little bit of money from such agreements, “the ship has sailed” on deciding whether they want to participate.
“That bit is just down to the record companies, and it’s at their discretion,” he claims. (As *Billboard* reported earlier this year, some record companies are taking the position that they already have the rights needed to include their entire catalogs in AI training once licensing deals are struck, without asking artists.) “Yes, it will generate some revenue,” Young says. There will be some benefit to his clients, “but will it ever get us back to the CD [era]? No.”
Amid all the challenges of his job, Young remains a music fan at heart.
“I look at [Bob] Dylan. I look at [Leonard] Cohen. I look at Nick Cave,” he says. “When I look at what they’ve achieved, when I look at the emotion they express in their music — it means something. Their emotion really means something, and that’s what music is about. It really connects. I have optimism in this game. I’ve never been more optimistic than I am now.” *—KRISTIN ROBINSON*
Citrin Cooperman
Chris King
Partner/music industry practice leader
Maria del Pilar Lopez Errol Wander
Errol Wander
Partners
Shu Li
Managing director
CohnReznick
Sean Granat
Partner of private client services
Dales Evans (a division of BKL) Lester Dales Paul Makin
Partners
David Weise & Associates, a division of NKSFB
David Weise
Founding partner
Jaime Masuda Rob Salzman
Rob Salzman
Partners
Dunn Pariser & Peyrot
Mark Pariser Tony Peyrot
Partners
Empower Business Management
Sally Velazquez
Founder/tax attorney/business manager
Tracy Miller
Vp of operations/business manager
Farris Self & Moore
Kella Farris Stephanie SelfCatherine MooreStephanie Alderman
Partners
Fasbender Financial Management
Tina Fasbender
Founder/president
FBMM
Julie Boos
Owner/chairman/business manager
Duane Clark
Owner/president/business manager
Jamie Cheek
Owner/CEO/business manager
Erica Rosa
Owner/managing director of royalties and contract compliance
David Boyer Jen Conger Dan Killian Carmen Romano
Jen Conger
Dan Killian
Carmen Romano
Owners/business managers
Paul Barnabee
Director of West Coast operations/business manager
Fineman West & Co.
Adam Caswell
Director of business management
Heather Gruber
Royalty manager
Roger Ramos
Account manager
Focus Partners Wealth
Amir Malek Pam Malek
Co-heads of business management
FTS Global Management (a joint venture with ADA Music)
Travis D Wilson
CEO/business manager
Gelfand Rennert & Feldman
Tyson Beem
CEO
Christopher Fazzolari Shane Glass Todd Kamelhar Willie LaRose Ewen MacNeil John Menneci Melissa Morton Mike Skeet Bill Tannenbaum
Shane Glass
Todd Kamelhar
Willie LaRose
Ewen MacNeil
John Menneci
Melissa Morton
Mike Skeet
Bill Tannenbaum
Managing directors
Glocal Management Group
Derick Luna
Managing member
Gold Business Management
Ed Gold
Founder/CEO
Grid Financial Management
Bryan Patrick Franklin
CEO
Joey De Leon
Partner/director
Ground Control Business Management
Kevin Dalton Steve EggartRob TaylorDwight Wiles
Managing directors of music division
David Murray
Business manager
Grupo Silva Global Business Management
Jose Alberto Silva
Managing partner
HHB Company
Becky Harris
CEO
John Huelsman
President
KLBM
Kristin Lee
Managing director
ICONAC
Daniel Berrocal
Founder/CEO
LC Business Management
Lauren Cooper
Founder/CEO
Leftbrain
Nicholas Judd
Founder/CEO
Nicholas Brema Graham Helser
Graham Helser
Business managers
LL Business Management
Marius Bercovici Justin D. Kobay
Partners
Luma Business Management
Adrien Good
Founder/business manager
Mallori Kirchenschlager
Partner/business manager
MAI Capital Management
Matt Klarberg
Senior client advisor/managing director
Mann Gelon Smith Sroka Lee
Alex Smith
Co-managing partner
Justin Sroka
Partner
Martin Business Management
Josh Martin
President
Melby Wealth Management
Shaun Melby
Founder
MGO
Tony Smalls
Partner/entertainment, sports and media industry group leader
Michael Meschures
Partner
Miller Kaplan
Michael Kaplan
Managing partner
NKSFB
Michael Karlin
Founding partner
Melissa Earnhart Steve Landau Matt Segal Mabel Tash
Steve Landau
Matt Segal
Mabel Tash
Partners
O’Neil Hagaman
Kerry O’Neil Alvin Hagaman Jr.Legina ChaudoinCheryl HarrisSam PowersLynda RagsdaleLillian Williams
Partners
Since 1984, Nashville-based O’Neil Hagaman has been a leading entertainment-focused business management and consulting firm, representing entertainers, producers, publishers, labels, songwriters and industry executives, in genres including country, R&B, Christian, rock, alternative and adult contemporary. The company’s executives have regularly been recognized in the category of business manager of the year at the annual Country Music Association Touring Awards, while O’Neil Hagaman partner Cheryl Harris was inducted into the SOURCE Nashville Hall of Fame last year.
O’Neil Hagaman partner Lillian Williams notes that as economic and political climates continue to shift, affecting the music industry, the firm “continues to study the economics of touring stateside and globally to plan accordingly.”
As costs and low ticket sales have forced some artists to cancel shows or tours, Williams says that “it is our job to educate our clients on these volatile times. Now is not the time for quick fixes or making reactive decisions but instead helping our clients to carefully navigate the financial intricacies of their career with thoughtful planning. For example, with tour cancellations the client needs to be very careful when committing to long-term bus and equipment leases that don’t have a right to terminate the agreement if the tour cancels.”
As artists face headwinds in the touring sector, they also face new challenges in the era of AI. O’Neil Hagaman partner Legina Chaudoin advises that artists look at the current technological landscape to “protect your voice and likeness by knowing how your music, recordings and identity are being licensed and used.”
Authenticity and transparent connection are still key in her view. “A genuine story will remain valuable. Keep making the human connections through live performances. The relationship between an artist and an audience will matter more moving forward,” Chaudoin says.
Transparency with clients remains paramount for those in business management as well. “Clear and consistent communications have never been more important in our role as business managers,” O’Neil Hagaman partner Kerry O’Neil says. “In the digital world, direct conversations with the artist and their team are still the only way to ensure best results from everyone’s efforts. No shortcuts!”
As the industry keeps navigating change, Chaudoin says recent months have also brought heartfelt moments. “My favorite musical moment has been all of the outpouring of tributes to Dolly Parton since her passing,” she says. “From the performance on [MTV’s Video Music Awards], 78th Emmy Awards and so many more. In a world with so much friction and division, there is something profoundly comforting about seeing music still unite us. They encourage us all to be a little more like Dolly: genuine, humble, generous, kind and giving.” *—JESSICA NICHOLSON*
Oak Haus Business Management
Mallory Pascal
Owner/business manager
OAK Management Group
Sumby Kuti
Founder
PARR/3
Mike Merriman
President
Bryan Gott
Director of business management
Brandon Russell Sunny Sanghera
Sunny Sanghera
Executive account managers
Megan Goodrich Odette Moradians
Odette Moradians
Senior account managers
Pinnacle Financial Partners
Brock Kidd
Founding partner/managing director; private wealth manager, RJFS
Polyak Business Management
Teresa Polyak
Founder/business manager
Teresa Polyak, founder of Polyak Business Management, takes pride in “finding custom solutions for clients’ particular scenarios.
“Maybe a client needs funding, but they’re not ready to sell a catalog,” she offers as an example. “Well, there are different ways to monetize that catalog to get the best of both worlds. Sometimes the easy answer is not the only answer, and it’s about finding solutions to [a] client’s problems and concerns that gets them what they want and checks all the boxes but may not be the first one the client thinks about.”
Polyak keeps her client list confidential but she reports that her firm oversaw a “massive, two-and-a-half-year tour cycle for one of the largest tours out there in 2023-24. It takes a while to [financially] close these things out when it [involves] multiple countries and multiple taxing authorities. But they were very large dollar amounts and it was a profitable tour — a nice, big accomplishment.”
When advising clients regarding the rise of AI, she says to “find a way to use it that benefits you, and I don’t mean in making music. I mean the ability to leverage the abilities AI can bring us, but it’s [also] about having a strong team to protect assets you’ve created.
“The biggest concern for me, and for what I’ve seen for the artists, is replication, soundalikes, fake music sounding like … somebody. How are you going to protect that specialness and who you are? And how do we catch [an AI fake] and bring it down — and at the same time use the benefits [of AI] to promote yourself as an artist with your real music?”
Witnessing the very real musical talent of favorite superstars offered two highlights of the past year for Polyak. “One was P!nk on the Tony [Awards in June] because it demonstrated an incredible range of talent that was incredibly different from what we’ve normally seen from that kind of artist, which I thought was amazing,” she says.
“The other was Bruce Springsteen on the Land of Hope and Dreams Tour this year — and I’ve seen a lot of Springsteen shows,” Polyak adds. “But it was one of the best. And it was a political show done in an extremely well-handed way, where it was truly about the music and the people and not a grandstanding thing. It was an amazingly well-scripted journey up and down the catalog parallel to what is going on in the world.” *—GIL KAUFMAN*
Prager Metis
Thomas Smith
Partner/entertainment industry leader
Joseph Callaghan Mark Carter Simon Winters
Mark Carter
Simon Winters
Partners
Scott Dunnachie
Director
PS Business Management
Phil Sarna
Founder/senior managing director
Andrew Britton Cat Marcasciano Ryan Shaw Molly Taylor
Cat Marcasciano
Ryan Shaw
Molly Taylor
Managing directors
Amy Hertz Eugene Lee Abner Monegro Hyun-Joo Park
Eugene Lee
Abner Monegro
Hyun-Joo Park
Directors
Red Mind Global
Marco Fonseca
Founder/CEO
Richburg Enterprises
Michelle Richburg
President/CEO
Richman Business Management
Murray Richman Nathan Richman
Owners
Royal Entertainment Business Management
Jordan L. Josephs
Founder/managing partner
RZO
Bill Zysblat
Co-founder/managing partner
Tom Cyrana Lia Sweet
Lia Sweet
Partners/managing directors
RZO represents the estate of David Bowie, who would have turned 80 on Jan. 8, 2027, and the firm is overseeing an expansive, yearlong celebration of the pioneering artist’s music and cultural impact.
“We launched Bowie80,” says Bill Zysblat, RZO co-founder and managing partner, who shares recognition with the firm’s partners and managing directors Tom Cyrana and Lia Sweet. “We have created 50 or more events to happen during the next year.”
Bowie80 will include a partnership with premium retailer Nordstrom’s on exclusive clothing lines and immersive displays at its flagship stores in Seattle, Chicago and New York; new exhibits at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; a photography exhibition titled Strange Fascination opening in February at Morrison Hotel Gallery locations in New York and West Hollywood; and BOWIE (breaking) GLASS, a new symphonic concert production that will debut in Copenhagen in the spring, setting Bowie’s songs and voice against the music of Philip Glass, who wrote his “Low” and “Heroes” symphonies inspired by the Berlin albums with those titles that Bowie made with Brian Eno. In addition, Bowie’s previously unseen 1978 concert film, *Stage*, will play venues next year as an “immersive experience.”
Planning for Bowie80 began two years ago, says Zysblat, who was Bowie’s adviser and friend during his lifetime.
But RZO’s long history, strategy and client list goes beyond Bowie. In 1975, Zysblat and the late Joe Rascoff began advising The Rolling Stones, forming RZO in 1988. In addition to Bowie’s estate, RZO’s clients include U2, Lady Gaga, Steely Dan, David Byrne, Shania Twain, Sting, Yoko Ono and the estates of John Lennon and Tom Petty. The firm does not represent any music companies or executives, only artists.
Touring remains a mainstay of the finances of RZO’s clients. With decades of data on touring deals, RZO is uniquely positioned to negotiate the best terms for its clients on everything required to mount a major concert outing. It has collaborated with AEG for The Stones and with Live Nation for acts like U2 for its upcoming stadium tour and Lady Gaga for her record-setting Mayhem Ball, the most successful outing of her career that grossed $362.9 million and sold 1.6 million tickets across 87 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore.
Zysblat also highlights the success of Byrne, whose Who Is the Sky? tour named for his 2025 album concluded Sept. 19 at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens. For the 45 shows reported to date to Billboard Boxscore, the tour had grossed $26.5 million and sold 205,000 tickets, including a four-night run at London’s Eventim Apollo that grossed $1.9 million.
“He’s just such a sweet guy and he always gets his due from a credibility point of view,” Zysblat says. But now long-standing critical acclaim for the artist has translated to ticket sales. “An amazing tour.” *–T.D.*
Solución Estratégica
José “Pepe” Cruz
Director
SRLV
Charles Bradbrook
Consultant
Janice Lloyd Stephen Marks Tina Sunderland Steve Wren
Stephen Marks
Tina Sunderland
Steve Wren
Partners
Sussman & Associates
Charles Sussman
President
Sympathy for the Lawyer
Lidia Gámez Manuel López
Co-CEOs
Daniel Ruiz
GM
TKG Business Management
Joshua Klein
Founder/CEO
Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group
Lou Taylor
Founder/CEO
Deedra Carroll
Chief deputy director
Heather Kinder
Chief client officer, office of the CEO
Lahteefa “Lah” Parramore
Chief growth officer, East Coast
Bret Guest
Business manager
UBS
Wale Ogunleye
Head of sports and entertainment
David Schachter
Managing director of wealth management/private wealth advisor; UBS Financial Services, Endurance Management Group
Vibras Lab
Iván Alarcón
CEO
Carolina Medina Juan Guillermo Rodriguez Laura Suarez
Juan Guillermo Rodriguez
Laura Suarez
Project managers
For Vibras Lab founder and CEO Iván Alarcón, the business of managing artists’ finances begins with a deceptively simple goal: help them understand the numbers behind their dreams. That responsibility has only become more important as Latin artists take on stadium tours, immersive venues and ownership stakes in their careers.
“Most of the artists are creative people. They are not finance people,” Alarcón says. “So I help them through the process to understand what each number they have means.”
Recent months have given him plenty of large-scale numbers to navigate. The executive highlights Karol G’s 2026 stadium run, Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour. So far it has grossed $220.7 million in North America, according to Billboard Boxscore, with additional dates in Latin America and Europe.
“These amounts of grosses competing directly with what we thought was going to be hard or impossible without U.S. artists or English-speaking artists — that is always amazing,” Alarcón says. “Seeing 50,000 people screaming in a stadium is something I dreamed about, but I didn’t know it would happen with a Latin artist. The tour is a challenge. It’s crazy but it’s beautiful.”
For Alarcón — who also works with Bad Bunny (through Rimas Music), Grupo Frontera, Natalia Lafourcade and Ryan Castro, among others — the role of a business manager is not simply to approve expenses or report profits but to ensure artists can evaluate the business in real time. “It starts as something that you want to do because you dream of being a singer, but it ends as a regular business,” he says. “So you need to treat it like that.” He describes the artist as the company’s CEO, supported by a manager serving as COO, a CFO or bookkeeper, a lawyer and other types of specialists.
“You need to be the leader,” he says, “and the more time that you have in the career, the more that you need to understand each of the pieces and be able to make the right decision.”
Alarcón sees AI as a new tool for that same kind of informed decision-making. He advises artists to use it to review tour settlements, contracts and financial information, then bring questions back to their business managers and lawyers. “It’s a tool for you as a CEO,” he says. “You can use it to confront your team.”
Another client milestone this past year was Carín León’s residency at Sphere in Las Vegas, a project Alarcón and León’s manager discussed as a dream only two years earlier. “Sphere was a totally different world for me and the team,” he says.
Vibras also was part of the team that renewed Karol G’s deal with Interscope, helping her become the owner of her masters and her own label, Bichota Records — an important step toward long-term autonomy.
Alarcón is also a business partner with J Balvin, who returned to his native Colombia for his Ciudad Primavera Tour, where he performed across nine stadiums in the country. *—ISABELA RAYGOZA*
Wiatr & Associates
Kris Wiatr
President
Sarah Hamner Kim Olson Valerie Shelton
Kim Olson
Valerie Shelton
Senior vps
Yorkshire Management Group
Adam Yorkshire
Founder
Contributors: Trevor Anderson, Anna Chan, Ed Christman, Hannah Dailey, Kyle Denis, Thom Duffy, Chris Eggertsen, Eric Frankenberg, Gil Kaufman, Ariel King, Taylor Mims, Gail Mitchell, Jessica Nicholson, Sigal Ratner-Arias, Isabela Raygoza, Kristin Robinson
Methodology: Nominations for Billboard*’s executive lists open no less than 150 days in advance of publication, and a link is sent to press representatives by request before the nomination period. (Email thom.duffy@billboard.com for inclusion on the email list for nomination links and for how to obtain an editorial calendar.)* Billboard*’s Top Business Managers for 2026 were chosen by editors based on factors including, but not limited to, nominations by peers, colleagues and superiors, as well as music industry impact of clients cited in nominations. (Client information is not printed in profiles if honorees cite issues of confidentiality.) Industry impact is measured by metrics including, but not limited to, chart, sales and streaming performance as measured by Luminate and social media impressions using data available as of Sept. 15.*
This story appears in the Nov. 7, 2026, issue of Billboard.