The most powerful people in the independent music business gathered together at Billboard’s 2024 Indie Power Players event at the Soho Grand Hotel in Manhattan on Tuesday night (June 11), with guests from companies like EMPIRE, Concord, Merlin, Beggars Group, Secretly Group, The Orchard, Virgin Music, ADA, Hopeless Records, Downtown Music, A2IM, BMG, Stem, TuneCore, Believe, UnitedMasters, OneRPM and many more in attendance.

During the event, Indie Power cover star Brent Faiyaz was celebrated for his strategic and forward-thinking journey through the music business that prioritized his own independence — which has now seen him succeed as a businessman, too, given the success of his ISO Supremacy label venture with PULSE Music Group thanks to Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” — as well as Faiyaz’s manager, COLTURE head of ventures and innovation Ty Baisden, who was named Executive of the Year. Both gave speeches, as did Billboard’s Hannah Karp and Mike Van, BMG’s Jon Loba, Downtown’s Justin Kalifowitz and Stem’s Milana Rabkin. Laurie Anderson, avant-garde musician and performance artist, performed a playful instrumental piece via a self-made device affixed to the roof of her mouth that buzzed along with her vocal-cord vibrations (harking back to her so-called “mouth light” in 1983’s landmark piece United States).

The event came amidst a whirlwind week’s worth of parties and panels celebrating the independent music community in New York City, which has never been as diverse, or as vibrant, as it is in 2024, as artists, labels and distributors have more options, more challenges and more opportunities than ever before to find success in an ever-changing business.