Sarah Trahern
CEO, Country Music Association
In the aftermath of tornadoes that hit Tennessee in March and the pandemic that followed, the CMA made a $1 million donation to MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund and established a “comprehensive and ongoing” COVID-19 action plan for CMA members, says Trahern. The latter includes professional webinars and resources to address “mental health support, food supply assistance, financial planning and résumé development — you name it,” she says. And as president of the CMA Foundation, Trahern recently supported her team in launching an advocacy initiative, Unified Voices for Music Education, dedicated to supporting music educators during this academic year amid the pandemic.
Crucial Issue Facing the Music Industry: “The touring industry has taken a massive hit, and it is imperative that we help. The majority of artists’ income comes from touring, not to mention the livelihood of road managers, guitar techs, venue operators, caterers — the list goes on.”
Contributors: Trevor Anderson, Katie Bain, Alexei Barrionuevo, Dave Brooks, Anna Chan, Ed Christman, Tatiana Cirisano, Leila Cobo, Stephen Daw, Frank DiGiacomo, Thom Duffy, Griselda Flores, Gab Ginsberg, Josh Glicksman, Paul Grein, Lyndsey Havens, Steve Knopper, Carl Lamarre, Robert Levine, Joe Levy, Jason Lipshutz, Joe Lynch, Taylor Mims, Gail Mitchell, Mia Nazareno, Melinda Newman, Glenn Peoples, Jessica Roiz, Claudia Rosenbaum, Dan Rys, Andrew Unterberger, Christine Werthman, Nick Williams, Xander Zellner
Methodology: Billboard power lists are selective, with honorees chosen by Billboard editors. Nominations for each power list open not less than 120 days in advance of publication. (For a contact for our editorial calendar listing publication dates, please email thom.duffy@billboard.com.) The online nomination link is sent to press representatives and/or honorees of companies previously featured on any Billboard power list, as well as those who send a request before the nomination period to thom.duffy@billboard.com. Nominations close and lists are locked not less than 90 days before publication. Billboard’s Women in Music honorees for 2020 were chosen by editors based on factors including, but not limited to, nominations by peers, colleagues and superiors. In addition to nominations, editors weigh the success of each executive’s company or affiliated artists as measured by chart, sales and streaming performance. Career trajectory and industry impact are also considered. Unless otherwise noted, Billboard Boxscore and Nielsen Music/MRC Data are the sources for tour grosses and sales/streaming data, respectively. Nielsen is also the source for radio audience metrics. Unless otherwise noted, album streaming figures cited represent collective U.S. on-demand audio totals for an album’s tracks, and song/artist streaming figures represent U.S. on-demand audio and video totals.
This article originally appeared in the Dec. 5, 2020, issue of Billboard.