Kris Ahrend
CEO, Mechanical Licensing Collective
Starting Jan. 1, the Mechanical Licensing Collective changed how music publishing works in the United States by collecting for distribution to publishers mechanical royalties from streaming services, as mandated by the 2018 Music Modernization Act. But the Nashville-based nonprofit was challenged during the pandemic on “how to spread the word,” says Ahrend, which was especially important, as the MLC can only disburse money to registered members. He took his message online with virtual events that reached almost 13,000 people. “We’ve assembled a dedicated and diverse team of almost 50 employees who have built and launched a brand-new industry organization from scratch,” says Ahrend. For the MLC, Ahrend also established four guiding principles, one of which is a commitment to diversity that is reflected in its staff makeup and industry outreach.
Artist I Most Want to See in Concert After the Pandemic: “Whoever is performing at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville the first night it’s able to reopen.”
Michèle Ballantyne
COO, RIAA
Ballantyne, 54, advocated for COVID-19 relief measures as well as social justice and police reform “at both the federal and state level,” she says, noting the economic toll of the pandemic on the live-music industry. Her efforts helped lead to the passage of HR 7120, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, in the U.S. House of Representatives in June, as well as the “successful repeal of 50-A in New York, a law that shielded records of police misconduct from the public,” she says. “What kind of society do we have without the basic promise of equal treatment and justice for all?”
Artist I Most Want to See in Concert After the Pandemic: “J Balvin. His concert experience is colorful and exudes pure joy, and that’s what we all need right now.”
Valeisha Butterfield Jones
Chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Recording Academy
Jeriel Johnson
Executive director, Washington, D.C., chapter, Recording Academy; executive sponsor, Black Music Collective, Recording Academy
Rigo “Riggs” Morales
Chair, Black Music Collective, Recording Academy; senior vp A&R, Atlantic Records
Butterfield Jones, Johnson and Morales are key movers behind the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective. In 2019, Morales brought the idea for the initiative to Harvey Mason Jr., chair of the academy’s board of trustees and, since 2020, interim president/CEO of the academy. As the first BMC chair, Morales works closely with Mason, Butterfield Jones and Johnson in educating and activating the Black music community within the academy and the industry at large. “The last year has been one of the most challenging in many of our lifetimes,” says Butterfield Jones, who joined the academy in May. She has implemented a social impact/racial justice plan for the organization, which has included a partnership with Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. “The partnership spans several strategies, including the creation of the Black Music Collective, dedicated to the inclusion, recognition and advancement of Black music and its creators. This is just the beginning.”
