December 8, 2025
Leila Kashfi
Artist Partnerships Manager, Spotify
Kashfi helped bring Billions Club Live shows with The Weeknd, Miley Cyrus and Ed Sheeran to life while driving RADAR US wins for Peso Pluma, Sexyy Red, Tucker Wetmore, Leon Thomas and The Marías—and even hosted a strip-mall Thai karaoke night with BENEE, with other Lorem-playlist favorites. Now she’s rolling out “Playlist Mixing” with Chris Lake, PinkPantheress, Swedish House Mafia and Romy and gearing up for Spotify’s 2026 Best New Artist push. Kashfi sneaked backstage, at age eight, to meet The Cheetah Girls and Hannah Montana. That would get her hired on the spot here.
Shannon Saunders
Agent/Head of Nashville International, WME
Saunders is grateful to have cruised Sydney Harbor while hearing Lainey Wilson’s then-unreleased Whirlwind. Now Wilson’s a CMA Female Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year and heading back to Australia in February. Saunders recently rolled out major 2026 international tours for Brad Paisley, Jordan Davis, Zach Top, Tucker Wetmore and Luke Combs, whose My Kinda Saturday Night Tour will mark the first stadium run by a country act in the U.K. and Europe, including three sold-out Wembleys. Saunders says she brings the best wine to dinner parties. Where's our invite?
Brendan Laezza
Sr. Director Commerce, ADA
Laezza’s career started with a bang as an intern the day Tyler, the Creator and Odd Future rolled into the Beggars Group office, way before “Yonkers” and Goblin dropped. He’s now excited to be shaping release strategy for the likes of Grimes, Flume and The Game, all while helping indie labels like Nervous and Mute reach new fans and guiding emerging artists and labels on their first steps. Laezza says he’s ambidextrous but has some terrible handwriting either way. We’re generally unskilled with both hands.
Noa Vinshtok
Director of Streaming, Range Music/Range Media Partners
Vinshtok says the One Tree Hill soundtrack nudged her into the biz, so watching Willie Nelson perform “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” at 91 and hearing The Cure’s “Lovesong” live—both while working—felt surreal. This year, she saw Shaboozey’s leap from a 150-cap room to Coachella and Stagecoach main stages as “A Bar Song” shattered records. Next up: steering DSP strategy for Carter Faith, INJI, Cassandra Coleman, Lauv, Saweetie, Noah Cyrus, Rita Ora, Russell Dickerson and Shaboozey, among others. Once deep in the rave scene, Vinshtok now goes to bed at 10pm—same.
Jonny Stiegler
Co-founder, The Beehive LA
Stiegler had a full-circle moment overseeing T-Pain’s Coachella 2025 production—a childhood hero, a massive stage and a show he helped bring to life even while working another gig across the country. Now he’s gearing up for a massive 2026 with Hasley’s upcoming tour, Slayyyter’s Coachella debut, an upgraded L.A. studio space and a few dream projects still under wraps. Stiegler cut his teeth as a deckhand on commercial fishing boats; we, on the other hand, can barely handle choppy Wi-Fi.
Jess Braunstein
Music Agent, UTA
Braunstein lives for artist growth, from sombr’s instantly sold-out 31-date tour (with venue upgrades mid-run), his SNL debut and Grammy nod, to Erin LeCount’s first tour sell out in minutes and getting to work HAIM’s I Quit tour as a lifelong fan.She’s now continuing to champion sombr, HAIM and LeCount as well as acts like Fightmaster, Hana Eid, The Backfires and more as they hit major festivals this year. This New Jersey native played college volleyball; we peaked athletically by surviving middle-school dodgeball.
Bria Fisher
VP, Communications, EMPIRE
For Fisher, nothing is more mind-blowing than becoming EMPIRE’s first in-house communications lead. Some of her highlights include helping develop teen rapper 310babii—from watching him get his diploma and a 2x-platinum plaque on the same stage to seeing him hit televised award shows—and helping break Shaboozey as “A Bar Song” went diamond and took over the world. As for what she’s working on now, just imagine the coolest projects she’s not allowed to mention (typical publicist move). She also played collegiate hoops. We get winded walking to the printer.
Romel Murphy
Founder/President, Dai+Drm
St. Louis native Murphy negotiated the first multimillion-dollar deal for an AI artist, Xania Monet, whose breakout run hit 100m+ streams in three months with multiple charting singles. He now runs Dai+Drm—an independent label, management and marketing firm—working with NYC rapper JennaSke and AI artist Chloe Lush while also managing Monet and IME Casino. He recently launched Dai+Drm Digital to teach fans how to build their own AI artists. He also played D1 football at 160 lbs. If AI takes our jobs next, well… fair enough.