Dan Rosen, Matt Gudinski, Nina Rabe-Cairns Named to Billboard’s International Power Players List

Warner Music’s Dan Rosen, Mushroom Group’s Matt Gudinski and Ingrooves’ Nina Rabe-Cairns lead a healthy Australian contingent in Billboard’s 2022 International Power Players List.

Warner Music Australasia president Rosen and his company focused on setting up homegrown artists like Australia’s Budjerah and New Zealand’s Harper Finn for success through investments in the label’s roster, appointing new executives in A&R, marketing and promotions, Billboard notes.

Gudinski is named to the list following his promotion to CEO in 2021, soon after the death of his father Michael, the legendary Mushroom Group founder.

In quick succession, Billboard points out, Mushroom has launched an artist management division, an alliance with Universal Music Group’s Virgin Music and a new structure at Frontier Touring.

“Mushroom’s proudest achievement over the last 18 months was our ability to keep our full team together during the pandemic whilst continuing to grow the Mushroom family,” explains Gudinski.

The late Michael Gudinski was Billboard’s International Power Player in 2021.

Matt Gudinski

Nina Rabe-Cairns joined Ingrooves Music Group in 2020 as managing director of Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, and made an immediate impact with the distribution, marketing and tech company, earning inclusion in Billboard’s list.

Ingrooves’ global expansion over the past year was up by nearly one-third with new personnel hired in India, Mexico, the Philippines, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark and Iceland, increasing its footprint to 23 territories.

Also making the cut this time is industry veteran Ruuben van den Heuvel, director of music partnerships for Australia and New Zealand and label relations for Asia Pacific, YouTube; Roger Field president, Asia Pacific, Live Nation; and U.K.-based veteran music publishing guru Kim Frankiewicz, executive VP of worldwide A&R, Concord Music Publishing.

Nina Rabe-Cairns

Finally, Tony Harlow CEO, Warner Music U.K., an executive who spent lengthy stints in Australia leading the domestic EMI and Warner Music companies. Billboard’s 2022 International Power Players are nominated by their companies and peers and chosen by the trade title’s editors, based on the criteria.

Billboard’s International Power Players are nominated by their companies and industry peers and chosen by the mag’s editors.

The presentation of Billboard’s international list following the unveiling last month of IFPI’s own annual music report, which found global recorded-music revenue reached a record US$25.9 billion in 2021, an 18.5% year-on-year increase.

That lift was powered by streaming revenue, and an international business that’s bigger than at any time in recorded music history.

See Billboard’s annual Power Players List here.