AMID Power 50: Gudinski, Horscroft, McNeill, Ponniah, Rogers

The next five names from the AMID Power 50 means we're up to 45 names 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 names on theMusic.com.au and 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.

Michael Gudinski – Mushroom Group – Chairman
The heart and mind of the iconic Mushroom Group of companies, Michael Gudinski is one of the most recognisable names in the business – and the one name that everyone outside the industry knows. With Frontier Touring, Premier Artists and Liberation Music under his umbrella Gudinski has a stunning list of accomplishments and the public profile to match it. In many ways, he's still the spokesperson for the industry to the wider community in Australia.

Scott Horscroft – EMI Music Australia – Vice President of A&R Australasia
Scott Horscroft's background and an experience as a producer (he worked on Silverchair's Young Modern and The Presets' Apocalypso among others) landed him the role of EMI's Vice President of A & R Australasia. With the label looked to bolster their dance/electronic roster, Horscroft's at the centre of that development. He's on the radar of the label's international executives as well.

Richie McNeill – Totem Onelove Group – Managing Director
While Richie McNeill has promoted Creamfields and Solar with Totem Onelove (and a plethora of electronic acts with Hardware Corporation), it's his success with Stereosonic that really puts him on the radar at the moment. Stereosonic was arguably last year's biggest touring festival, with 60,000 people attending the Sydney event and other dates around the nation selling out. The festival and McNeill provide an Australian entry point for some of the world's biggest electronic acts.

Johann Ponniah – I OH YOU – Owner
Head of the I OH YOU label/creative brand and an example of what can happen if you're on trend and make the right decisions, youngster Johann Ponniah has had strong initial success with DZ Deathrays and Bleeding Knees Club, with more in the pipeline. Last year the label became an imprint of Mushroom Group's Illusive as part of their move to keep ahead of the industry. Matt Gudinski seems impressed, and that's a good ear to have at the moment.

Danny Rogers – Lunatic Entertainment – Danny Rogers
Danny Rogers has helped make the St Jerome's Laneway Festival one of the nation's most renowned boutique music festivals and has guided the careers of Gotye and The Temper Trap as co-manager and manager respectively – that's arguably the nation's two biggest acts at the moment. He's got a fantastic strike-rate at the moment and that hasn't gone unnoticed.

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

Find out more about the AMID Power 50 here.