October 6, 2026
Aria McKnight
Senior Director, A&R, Capitol Records
McKnight started working with SIENNA SPIRO before she had any music out; this year she watched her debut album, Visitor, land at #9, four singles hit the Hot 100 and “Great Expectation” top the U.K. singles chart—then stood side stage as 15k people sang every lyric back at Lollapalooza. She’s now mapping out 2027 for SPIRO and ADÉLA, whose own debut, PRIMA, opened Top 5 while “Nicole Kidman” topped Spotify’s U.S. chart. McKnight set a goal of reading 24 books this year and is currently on number eight. We can’t even get through a comic book.
Taylor Krebs
Agent, Music, UTA
Krebs saw Megan Moroney go from small college-town clubs to 500k tickets in the presale for her 49-date Cloud 9 tour, which launched in May and hit Barclays Center, Crypto.com Arena, Bridgestone and more before its EU leg. He’s now building 2027 for Solon Holt, whose debut, Songs About You, arrived in August, and for The Band Perry, which he signed with Alec Vidmar ahead of a new record—all while mapping out Moroney’s next few years. A Pittsburgh sports nerd, Krebs plays beer league hockey in Nashville on Sundays. Our Sundays are spent horizontal.
Brooke Webster
A&R Manager, Prescription Songs
Webster took Gino the Ghost to the Latin Grammys less than three months after signing him and watched him win for his work on CA7RIEL & Paco’s PAPOTA. She’s since signed Quinn XCII, seen Chloe Angelides land seven songs on Lily Allen’s West End Girl and set up sessions with Slush Puppy, Gino and Anthony Watts that led to cuts like CORTIS’ “FaSHioN,” ENHYPEN’s “Outside” and TXT’s “Upside Down Kiss,” all on #1 world albums. As a kid, Webster called in to radio contests obsessively, winning more concert tickets than she can count. We’re lifelong losers.
Boaz Saidman
Agent, THE·TEAM
Saidman’s been going to Newport Folk Festival since high school; now he brings clients, watching Mon Rovîa—inked before he’d played a show—go from a 2023 pop-up stage to a full-band set in 2025, ahead of support dates with Alabama Shakes and Noah Kahan. He’s also grown MICO into 1k-2.5k-cap rooms, landed Evan Honer a Tyler Childers support run and turned Asha Banks’ Lollapalooza debut into a fall tour that sold out on presale. Saidman co-founded an industry golf club that tees off at 6 a.m. in Staten Island every Wednesday. We’re not awake at 6 a.m. for anything.
Tara “Brooke” St. James
A&R/Hybrid Executive, 300 Entertainment/Atlantic Records
St. James helped fuel Trim’s breakout, turning viral smash “Coconut Water” into a run that made her the #7-ranked female rapper, after spearheading Montana 700’s “New Dallas” movement. She’s now developing Trim’s next chapter, shaping Roddy Ricch’s anticipated next project and expanding the roster with Baddies’ reality star Biggie. Charts aside, she’ll say the real thrill is watching an artist’s life change. A serious art lover, St. James can get lost in a gallery for hours.
We get lost driving to the local 7-Eleven.
Austin Marshall
Artist Marketing Director, UnitedMasters
Marshall pulled together a video shoot in a single week for Sarz’s “Happiness” with Gunna and Asake, now past 19m YouTube views, and was behind the viral side-stage clip of Travis Scott’s 2015 Lollapalooza stage rush. He recently delivered the debut album from Atlanta R&B artist Dono and has Swedish act Elise Elvira’s debut arriving Oct. 9, with records from London trio Kid Apollo and Kerala-born Mary Ann Alexander ahead. Marshall’s an aviation nerd who had airport codes memorized before state capitals. We’re always stuck in the middle seat.
Melissa Rodriguez
Marketing Executive, WME
Rodriguez still replays the clip of 100k people doing Pedro Sampaio’s “CAVALINHO” dance at Rock in Rio Lisboa, counts Nathy Peluso and Grupo Niche’s Hollywood Bowl salsa spectacular among her favorite nights and treasures Aria Vega’s sold-out Miami debut, the crowd decked out in costeñita core. She’s now behind Paulo Londra’s first sold-out stadium show in Peru, for 45k, and Alvaro Diaz’s Omakase tour, crushing across LATAM with three straight nights in CDMX. Rodriguez studied classical piano and choral singing at a Cuban conservatory from age eight. We can’t hold a tune.
Chris Kai Williams
Director, Label & Marketing Services (Hip-Hop/R&B), ADA
Williams has worked multi-platinum campaigns at all of the Big 3, helping shape releases for some of the biggest names in Black music. Now at ADA, he’s focused on building album campaigns around Lil Tjay’s They Just Ain’t You, Ciara’s CiCi and The Game’s The Documentary III. He also partners with Chocolate City Music in Afrobeats and VP Records in reggae and dancehall, plus catalog campaigns for Aaliyah, Daniel Caesar and Burna Boy. Williams’ Southern roots run deep, especially his love of HBCUs and band culture. Our roots are showing.