AMID Power 50: Ackland, Sia, Linehan, Maddah, Te Koha

Half way there as we rack up our 25th name as SPA and theMusic present the AMID Power 50 - a list of the top 50 most powerful people in the Australian music industry.

In the lead-up to the release of the 48th Australasian Music Industry Directory [AMID] Tuesday 3 July, we're releasing five names on theMusic.com.au and five names through our newsletter Your Daily SPA every day. We're not telling you where in the top 50 they ranked, but in each list of five there is one person who has made the top ten of the annual list.

The next five:

Neil Ackland – Sound Alliance – Managing Director
Under the Sound Alliance banner Ackland has created an empire of online music media with mastheads like inthemix, FasterLouder and Mess+Noise, which he's often had a very hands-on relationship with. Sound Alliance also has an internationally respected marketing division, with sales partnerships seeing them sell into music sites like Pitchfork. A highly regarded executive from both inside and outside the industry.

Sia Furler Artist
With her apparent retirement from her own career and the spotlight, Sia Furler (or just Sia) has become one of the world's most in-demand songwriters. Her recent appearances and co-writing gig on tracks for Flo Rida and David Guetta have been hits around the world and she's the golden child of the labels at the moment. If you can get a Sia co-writing credit on your record, doors will begin to open.

Fergus Linehan – Sydney Opera House – Head Of Contemporary Music
When the Sydney Opera House needed to appeal to a wider audience, the role of Head Of Contemporary Music was created specifically for Fergus Linehan and lured him back from Europe. He was the not-so-silent partner and engine room behind Vivid LIVE's celebrity curators and now is the outright Creative Director of the festival. It means he's planning years ahead to attract and commission unique, exclusive performances and works to Australia. A lot of them tour elsewhere in the country, but Linehan is the one who gets them here initially.

AJ Maddah – KMW Productions – Managing Director
AJ Maddah put Australia back on the major metal tour map with the hugely popular Soundwave festival. He is now taking a similar approach with the indie fest Harvest, which is having the same sort of shake-up effect as Soundwave. Maddah has also used social media, particularly Twitter, to his benefit, and always given recognition to punters who attend the festival. A simple, but effective approach, it's changed the opinion of what people now expect from a promoter.

Nui Te Koha – News Limited – Senior Writer
As a music reporter for Triple M and a Senior Writer for the Herald Sun, Nui Te Koha has become a reportable go-to-guy for information, news leaks and gossip in the industry. So sensational have been some of his claims that the industry – including other media – regularly take notice. During Prince's recent tour, media outlets were monitoring his social media output for elusive updates on rumoured after parties. He seemed to have the direct line that no-one else could open.

Pre-order the inaugural Power 50 edition of AMID here.

Find out more about the AMID Power 50 here.