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No. 35
Van Toffler
President
Viacom Music & Logo Group
Reinventing Music TV For Every Generation…
Van Toffler oversees MTV, MTV2, VH1, VH1 Classic, CMT, CMT Pure Country and the affiliated digital services as well as the Logo channel. The company’s strategies cross multiple new-media platforms, reaching a crucial audience base for the music industry, and as a keynote speaker at a Billboard Music & Money Symposium, Toffler said MTV invests more than $100 million in music each year in the form of promotions and development. “We reinvent ourselves every couple of years,” he said. Last year, those promotions assisted in the career launches of Wiz Khalifa, Graffiti6 and Tinie Tempah as part of the 11 acts to watch; this year’s list includes Alabama Shakes, Lana Del Rey and Wallpaper. The network’s prime music show, the Video Music Awards, posted record ratings in 2011–12.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen, with record numbers in demographics and online. The song Adele performed, “Someone Like You,” posted the biggest jump to No. 1 without the release of a single in the Billboard Hot 100’s 53 years. Albums by Adele and Beyonce rose by more than 80% and Young the Giant went up 189%, according to Nielsen SoundScan. MTV also hosted Lil Wayne’s return to performing with an “Unplugged” episode.
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