January 27, 2026
Alvin Abshire
Digital Operations, Messina Touring
Abshire has no shortage of pinch-me moments—from taking a tequila shot side stage with George Strait to hanging backstage with Kenny Chesney ahead of his 2024 tour kickoff, plus snagging a front-row seat for the Eras tour. At Messina Touring, he’s modernizing digital infrastructure and operations supporting stadium-level runs for Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, The Lumineers, Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Zac Brown Band and more. He even built countless Eras digital assets while sidelined with a broken leg. We can’t multitask unless caffeinated to the gills.
Paige Elliott
National Director, Radio, Warner Records Nashville
Elliott was chuffed when she logged her 106th career #1 at radio—including an impressive 17 chart-toppers apiece for Luke Combs and Luke Bryan. Having notched that milestone, she’s busy pushing current singles like Cody Johnson’s “The Fall,” Gavin Adcock’s “Never Call Again” and Bailey Zimmerman’s “Chevy Silverado” as she continues to help shape Warner Records Nashville’s next chapter. A classically trained woodwind player, Elliott knows her scales. We’re still trying to find the right key.
Spencer Swayze
Director, Digital Marketing, Interscope Records
Swayze helped ignite Troye Sivan’s SWEAT tour by driving digital strategy and growing the tour’s Instagram to 100k+ followers in just two months. He’s now building on 2hollis’ momentum while gearing up Coachella campaigns for Nine Inch Nails and Anyma. A proud Canadian, Swayze once supported The Tragically Hip’s final tour—an instantly meaningful reference if you’re from Canada. We had to Google it and still felt uncultured.
Noah Friedlander
Agent, UTA
Friedlander has racked up plenty of frequent-flier miles, including traveling to Naples with Teezo Touchdown for Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus film alongside James Blake and Yung Lean. The agent is presently mapping out long-range touring plans for Jim Legxacy, Mechatok, Snuggle and Flawed Mangoes, with an eye on ’26 and beyond. Off the road, he’s a classically trained cellist who earned a scholarship to Syracuse—proof of real discipline. We barely made it to class.
Cristian “Toro” Primera Dimas
COO, Street Mob Records
Toro has had a front-row seat for música Mexicana’s explosion, from building Fuerza Regida’s Pero No te Enamores in the studio alongside JOP, Moises Lopez and a dream team of writers, to seeing the album’s tour pack huge venues across North America. The COO is now deep in the creative for Línea Personal’s March album, developing newly signed Mauxo and gearing up for Fuerza’s next chapter. A serious car enthusiast, Toro has plans to bridge music and car communities. We once joined a Facebook group for Subaru owners.
Arielle Tindel
Director, A&R & Creative Operations, Maison Arts
Tindel is grateful to have heard songs she A&R’d performed by Suki Waterhouse at Madison Square Garden while opening for Laufey. At the moment, she’s got her hands full expanding the roster with the recent signing of Bipolar Sunshine—whose credits span DJ Snake, Beyoncé, Wizkid and Jung Kook—while continuing to work across projects with Waterhouse, Medasin, ayokay, The Flints and more, along with the label’s electronic slate. A Cleveland native who once toured as a bassist, she still plays soccer weekly. Our feet hurt just thinking about it.
Haji Harada
Senior Manager, International A&R, Avex Music Group
Harada led the international A&R charge behind BE:FIRST’s “GRIT,” guiding the song from a blank-room writing camp to a #1 debut on Japan’s Hot 100—while pairing the group with U.S.-based producer Kavi. Now, he’s developing Avex’s global songwriting roster, including Kamal Wilson (Kehlani’s “Folded”), Grant Boutin (Tate McRae’s “greedy”) and Kavi, while steering creative strategy for boy group ONE OR EIGHT following its U.S. partnership with Atlantic. Harada still mentally converts every budget into yen before signing off. We typically convert ours into stress.
Nathaniel Kosko
Director of Marketing, broke records
Kosko hit a personal milestone in 2024 while working on Ndotz’s “Embrace It,” the indie breakout that cracked Spotify’s Today’s Top Hits and pulled 3m daily streams. Praise followed too—bbno$ once told him “I bow to Kosko” when it comes to marketing, a career high by any measure. At broke records, he’s focused on growing bbno$, Marino and sosocamo, whose upcoming album he’s calling a culture shift in rap. Kosko once played sax in a Dave Matthews cover band. We struggle with air guitar.