July 29, 2025
JESSE JACOBSEN
HEAD OF EAST COAST LABEL PARTNERSHIPS, SPOTIFY
Jacobsen has led campaigns for rising stars like Megan Moroney, Laufey and EKKSTACY via Spotify’s Fresh Finds, helped link Lil Yachty and Bon Iver for a “Countdown To” episode, teased Chappell Roan’s “The Giver” with bespoke billboards across the U.S. and executed a top-fan screening for Miley Cyrus’ Something Beautiful. He recently worked with Columbia on Addison Rae’s first live show and Clipse’s “Countdown To” for Let God Sort ’Em Out. He once fed baby goats for a living and now plays tennis like someone who still does. Our backhand could use some work.
JESSICA SMITH
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MARKETING, AEG PRESENTS GLOBAL TOURING
Smith’s worked on major tours for the likes of Zach Bryan, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, BLACKPINK and Paul Simon, but no matter the size, nothing beats the seeing a crowd light up at a show she helped bring to life. She’s currently overseeing sold-out runs for Benson Boone and Lorde, Hugh Jackman’s 24-show Radio City series and Bryan’s record-breaking Michigan Stadium show in September, which will be the largest to date in U.S. history. This vegetarian is allergic to carrots. We’ve used that excuse to avoid eating our veggies for years.
EDDIE FRANZONI
FOUNDER, YTK MEDIA
Franzoni will never forget seeing Maddox Batson—the first artist he signed—go from recording bedroom covers to performing at Hangout Fest with Jessie Murph for 40,000 people—all in under eight months. Now he’s scaling YTK Media all while developing Batson and Dom Innarella, exploring AI’s role in music marketing and investing in creator tools like Clippable— an app that simplifies content clipping for labels and artists. Despite helping clients go viral, he only posts once a year, which feels like a personal attack on our screen-time report.
ROE GALLO
SR DIRECTOR, LABEL & PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, ADA
Gallo’s career highlights include meeting Billie Joe Armstrong after his Broadway run of American Idiot and attending Paris Hilton’s Infinite Icon release party in NYC, complete with gourmet food and custom sneaker giveaways. Now, she’s collaborating with ADA U.K. on rising artist PRESIDENT, whose debut single has surpassed 3m streams globally, while also managing recent album releases for Hilton and Heidi Montag. Off the clock, she’s a certified running coach with nine marathons under her belt. We need an inhaler just thinking about it.
AMBROSE SAMAH
A&R/MANAGER & BRAND PARTNERSHIPS, BAD HABIT
Pre-pandemic, Samah discovered his first client, Porsh Bet$, on Instagram while working the front desk at IAG (fka APA). By 2022 he had multiple clients signed to IAG and another on the Coachella bill. At Bad Habit he’s managing Bantu and Quinn Blake, working with clients Burna Boy, Fave and Masicka on A&R and helping build out the BH distro arm, Original Sin, all while prepping the company’s NDA party series with Living Room. Samah was born in London and moved to the U.S. at nine. We’re banned from most countries.
MOLLIE CHEN
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ARTIST MANAGEMENT & PARTNERSHIPS, ROC NATION
Among other career highlights, Chen spearheaded various ex-U.S. campaigns while at Capitol for acts like Lil Yachty, NF, FLETCHER and more. At Roc Nation, she’s the day-to-day manager for The Cab, who are gearing up for their first live shows in more than a decade, and works with J Balvin’s team on long-term strategy, brand ventures—like his NRGY by Revo eyewear line—and more. She also helps book Vietnam’s 8Wonder Fest. In her spare time, she’s watching Law & Order and pretending it’s not research. We’ve been told to lawyer up.
STEPHEN GRYBOWSKI
VP, MARKETING & FAMILY PROGRAMMING, DAYGLO PRESENTS; CO-FOUNDER, BACKLINE
Grybowski marketed and produced Shawn Mendes’ first live show in years at the newly reopened Bearsville Theater (which he helped revive) and watched Chappell Roan rally Noah Kahan, Charli xcx and Sabrina Carpenter to publicly support Backline, the mental-health nonprofit he co-founded. Lately, he’s been expanding The Rock and Roll Playhouse catalog with Republic Records and working to bring the concert series to all 50 states, while also prepping a new Garcia’s venue set to open in Manhattan. Grybowski’s been to 66 Phish shows, but none of ours.
SUE ZUCCO
DIRECTOR, BUSINESS AND LEGAL AFFAIRS, SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING
While at Rounder Records, Zucco once found herself deep in conversation with Robert Plant during the Raising Sand Tour about his interest in the expansion of music education—which was a dream moment for the Berklee alum. At SMP she handles songwriter deals and leads legal work on the pubco’s Songwriter Assistance Program, which helps ensure that creatives have access to mental-health and wellness support. This lawyer is also trained in Goju-Ryu karate, plays the baritone sax and once officiated a wedding. We plead the fifth.