The past year was a significant one for the Loud and Live team, which produced a record 400 shows and sold nearly 2 million tickets across North America, according to the company. Arcay was instrumental in helping position Loud and Live as a leader in the industry beyond the United States. She secured, managed and produced arena shows in Latin America for artists such as Carlos Vives and Camilo, as well as their first stadium shows in Ecuador with Ricardo Arjona. Looking ahead, Arcay and her team have 300 shows “already booked” for 2023.

Bodie describes 2022 as “pivotal” for the live-entertainment development company Oak View Group, which opened the OVG-owned and -operated Moody Center in Austin and Acrisure Arena near Palm Springs, Calif. The company also made “tremendous progress on pipeline projects,” according to Bodie, including new arenas in Las Vegas and Cardiff, Wales. To better reflect the scope of its hospitality services, the company recently rebranded OVG Facilities as OVG360 — “a global, full-service food and beverage hospitality division,” Bodie says, adding that she expects further growth in 2023.

Corbin leads a staff of more than 75 that oversees shows across five states — Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and Louisiana — for Live Nation Concerts. (Live Nation Entertainment is the corporate parent of C3 Presents.) “Our team’s greatest accomplishment in the past year has been stepping up to meet the incredible fan demand with the amazing diversity of events we successfully produced, spanning across a wide range of venues including festivals, stadiums, arenas, amphitheaters, theaters and clubs,” says Corbin. She spearheaded the launch of new venues including the Moody Center and Moody Amphitheater, both in Austin, and has been a leader in developing diverse festival lineups, booking nearly 50% female artists over the past several years at the Austin City Limits Festival.

Karlin was on the team that staged the post-pandemic return of AEG’s most beloved festivals — Electric Forest, the 50,000-person camping festival that is held annually at the Double JJ Resort in rural Michigan — and promoted half of the dates for Rex Orange County’s tour. She also promoted the Remi Wolf and 2021 Mercury Prize winner Arlo Parks tours, as well as booked the first major post-pandemic concert at Long Beach Arena south of Los Angeles — a doubleheader for electronic duo Slander. In the early days of the pandemic, she co-founded the 3-year-old digital fan engagement platform Lively with Disco Biscuits bassist Marc Brownstein. Says Karlin: “I’m very proud that in that time, we’ve put more than $1 million into the pockets of artists.”

Despite the recent challenges faced by Live Nation-owned Ticketmaster, which prompted a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in January, the success of the world’s largest concert promoter coming out of the pandemic has been unstoppable — and Live Nation’s honorees here share in that achievement. “I’m proud of the fact that Live Nation has more female promoters than ever before — leading many of the industry’s most successful global tours with some of the biggest artists in the world,” says Traub. “These promoters, and many other female leaders at Live Nation, were at the forefront of a record-breaking year for attendance and number of shows for the company last year. This group of incredible women is at the center of advancing the live industry, and I’m excited to see diversity continue to increase across all verticals at Live Nation.”

Known as ASM Global’s marketing guru, Girotti has played an integral part in the company’s “tremendous growth over the past year.” “We continue to expand our portfolio of venues on a global scale by exploring opportunities outside of our core arena, stadium and theater business,” she says. The recent acquisition of talent buying agency Madison Entertainment — which works with both small-capacity venues and larger concert series/multiday festivals — is further proof, says Girotti, of ASM’s commitment to “elevating the customer experience through the integration of the newest technologies partnered with the brightest minds.”

It took grit and determination, but longtime booker and talent buyer Yacoubian says her patience paid off when she recently booked British punk singer Siouxsie for her first North American show in 15 years. Siouxsie is set to headline this year’s Cruel World festival with Iggy Pop, Billy Idol, Love and Rockets, and Echo & The Bunnymen at the all-day new wave celebration in Pasadena, Calif., in May. “I have a framed poster from her last show here at the Fonda [Theater] in 2008,” says Yacoubian, who’s involved in a number of Goldenvoice initiatives, like operating the Shrine Auditorium, booking the Greek Theatre in Hollywood and supporting Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett and the Coachella lineup. Her contribution to the festival this year is booking 2019 breakout artist Jai Paul.

The eight-year veteran of Messina Touring Group was promoted in March following her successful tour marketing and promotion work for Eric Church and country superstar Blake Shelton. Church’s The Gather Again Tour sold over 822,000 tickets and grossed $92.3 million. That’s in addition to his 2019 Double Down Tour that reported more than 770,000 in ticket sales. In 2021, Shelton’s Friends and Heroes Tour sold over 155,000 tickets across 15 sold-out markets.

The newly opened SoFi Stadium and YouTube Theater took the entertainment world by storm in 2022, hosting over 100 events with more than 3 million fans total. Major events at the venues included Super Bowl LVI and shows by Paul McCartney, The Weeknd, Bad Bunny and others. “I am proud to have built a team that is dedicated to creating dynamic and innovative marketing initiatives that are globally recognized, engaging for our visiting fans and authentic to the local community,” Raval says.

After producing Bad Bunny’s record-setting tour (the highest-grossing outing ever by a Latin artist) and guiding Daddy Yankee’s historic farewell tour, Sotomayor can say with confidence that 2022 has so far been the most successful year yet for CMN. “Being named one of the top three entertainment promoters worldwide is an honor that I am proud to share with the entire, amazing CMN team, who have sacrificed and poured countless hours into their work,” she says. “Not just because of the incredible achievement that this is in and of itself, but because we are a Hispanic, family-run business and it speaks to the power of the Hispanic market.”

Last year was marked by change at CAA as the agency brought on new colleagues through its global merger with ICM, a $750 million deal that Adler says has melded skills and passions, as well as already made the team stronger and better equipped to serve its clients in 2023 and beyond. “Bringing together distinct cultures and ways of working is never easy,” she says, “but we are immensely proud of the work that we’ve done to integrate our new teammates as we continue to learn from one another.”

Last year, Dickins became the first female head of a music department at a major talent agency and, with her team, signed stars including Lil Baby, Meek Mill, Ozuna, Snoop Dogg, Gryffin, Sofi Tukker and Lost Frequencies for global representation. The WME roster had a major music festival presence with 32 clients performing at Lollapalooza and roster stars including Thomas Rhett and Luke Combs occupying 60% of headlining slots at the leading country music festivals. Olivia Rodrigo was named Billboard’s 2022 Woman of the Year, while Black Coffee became the first African artist to win the Grammy for best dance/electronic album.

During her two years with APA — joining just before the pandemic lockdown in 2020 — Gerson has put together a dizzying array of multiplatform programs for artists such as Lindsay Lohan, Cee Lo Green, Bryce Vine, 2 Chainz, Melanie Fiona, Tyrese Gibson and Beach Bunny. Top of her list, however, is partnering Mary J. Blige with Hologic, a medical technology company focused on women’s health. That initiative included a White House event with first lady Jill Biden, a Super Bowl LVI ad in conjunction with Blige’s performance as part of the game’s halftime show and Hologic’s first-ever major tour sponsorship for Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous trek. “This partnership is incredibly meaningful to me, as it is centered around getting women to focus on the importance of wellness and medical screenings, and it has provided a powerful platform for Mary to share this crucial message with her loyal fans,” says Gerson (a former Billboard executive who helped launch the annual Women in Music event).

Paglierani says she’s “so proud of the incredible year” that included major touring wins for superstars such as Post Malone, Lizzo, Machine Gun Kelly, Florence + The Machine, Halsey, Rosalía, Lil Nas X, Paramore and Bad Bunny, whose 2022 shows brought in $434.9 million and made him the year’s highest-grossing touring act. Clients including Flo Milli, Latto, Arca, GAYLE and Shygirl experienced breakout years, while UTA’s brand partnerships group closed over 300 deals for more than 160 clients and the crossover division locked in film/TV projects for Bad Bunny, Joe Jonas, Bebe Rexha, Chance the Rapper and Offset, among others. And UTA reported earlier this year that the agency has signed Cardi B.

In its seventh year, Cara Lewis Group has represented the next wave of top female rappers including GloRilla, Ice Spice, BIA and Coi Leray while balancing the careers of hip-hop stars including Travis Scott, Ludacris, Erykah Badu and Eminem (who has been Lewis’ client for 23 years). Following his 2022 performance at the Super Bowl, Eminem was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “It has always been about artist development for me,” Lewis says, “and seeking out those opportunities to take artists to the next level.”

Wasserman made gains across divisions, mounting tours from stars including Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Imagine Dragons, Kacey Musgraves and Coldplay, whose run earned $342.3 million and sold 3.8 million tickets in 2022. The festival department tripled in size, giving Wasserman a presence at every major global event, a move buoyed by the launch of the company’s London music office. The team also booked more than two dozen Las Vegas residencies for artists including Zedd, Jack Harlow, John Legend and DJ Snake, along with brand partnerships for clients including Blake Shelton, Lamar and Harlow. Wasserman acts Drake, Ed Sheeran and SZA will all launch tours in 2023.