AMID Power 50: Comerford/Turnbull, Ferris, Foley/Ashton, Gudinski, Handlin, Levinson, Poston, Rosen, Scaddan, Smillie

We're now well and truly past the halfway mark as we announce a Friday special of ten more names from 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.

Jaddan Comerford/Ben Turnbull – Staple – Co-founders

Co-founders of the Staple Group are Jaddan Comerford and Ben Turnbull are quietly making their mark on the industry with very loud bands. The Staple Group now includes companies such as UNFD, Destroy All Lines, Purple Sneakers and ZAPPP, among others, and their “forward-thinking” ethos has won them a lot of respect and admiration amongst the older guard as epitomising the next generation of industry shapers.

Rina Ferris – Ferris Davies PRM – Owner

Rina Ferris and the Ferris Davies PRM agency has been leading the publicity stakes in Australia for a couple of years now. While she's always been regarded as 'one of the best', Ferris has much been a part of a lot of major music events in recent memory, including the ARIA Awards, Big Day Out, Live Earth and Sound Relief. Her record of getting event coverage across all mediums, not just in the music-specific media, is a testament to a work ethic and approachability.

Denise Foley/Graham Ashton – BIGSOUND

QMusic's Denise Foley and Footstomp music's Graham Ashton have really made their presence felt on the industry with the continued growth of Brisbane's conference/showcase BIGSOUND, which is starting to live up to is SXSW comparisons. Obviously the scale's not there yet but thanks to intelligent artist programming and conference planning its quickly becoming the event on the calendar that no-one wants to miss. Many a deal that is struck later in the year started at BIGSOUND.

Matt Gudinski – Illusive Sounds – Founder

The heir-apparent to father Michael's Mushroom Group of companies, Matt has carved out an impressive career of his own in a short period. Co-founder of Illusive Sounds, which recently brought the I OH YOU brand into the fold, Gudinski also founded booking agency Artist Voice with Brett Murrihy. It's going to be hard for him to ever step out of his father's shadow, but he's definitely become a player in his own right.

Denis Handlin – Sony Music Entertainment – CEO

A wealth of experience and expertise saw Sony Music CEO Denis Handlin given the job of overseeing all of the company's ventures in China, India and the Middle East last year. He is also the Chairman of ARIA (re-appointed in 2010), where he has the honour of being the longest serving board member. Handlin has quite an influence in both Australasia and the Asia-Pacific and is one of Sony Music's big decision makers worldwide at the moment.

Tim Levinson – Elefant Traks – Managing Director

Levinson (aka Urthboy) is both a renowned artist, thanks to The Herd and his solo material, and a popular label owner. Through The Herd he become one of Australian hip hop's brightest stars, introducing a whole new wave of listeners as The Herd crossed over to the rock crowds and with Elefant Traks, which he co-founded, he's managed his – and many other – careers through the cacophony of music industry business back-end. He proved it could be, and can be, done.

Mark Poston – EMI – Chairman and Senior VP, Marketing Australasia

A board member for both ARIA and PPCA, EMI exec Mark Poston has overseen the label's successes with Angus & Julia Stone and Empire Of The Sun amongst others. He also brought A&R guru Scott Horscroft into the fold, which seems like a master-stroke in the current climate. Poston's never far from the front of the industry and is never far away from the news, either.

Dan Rosen – ARIA & PPCA – CEO

Turning ARIA around from troubled awards ceremonies has been no small task, neither has been reinvigorating the importance of their charts, but Dan Rosen is putting pride back into the name as CEO of ARIA and PPCA. Rosen has given ARIA a fresh face and made several important changes that are likely to continue to roll out over the next two years.

Chris Scaddan – triple j – Station Manager

Any up and coming band who gets their big break on triple j's Unearthed can give part of their thanks to Chris Scaddan. The station's manager has played a big hand in developing the local music project, including the creation of the Unearthed digital radio station. Scaddan has also helped guide the development of some of triple j's top talent, including Lindsay 'The Doctor' McDougall and breakfast hosts Tom Ballard and Alex Dyson.

Grant Smillie – 360 Agency – Director

As head of the 360 Agency and owner of Neon Records, Grant Smilie leaves a mark on Australia's commercial dance scene like few others. The agency's home to the likes of US-charting Havana Brown, Zoe Badwi, Stafford Brothers and TV Rock (which Smilie is half of) as well as TV crossovers like Fuzzy, Danny Clayton and Ruby Rose – the latter now well and truly known for her DJing spots. Earned respect by being a DJ/producer himself and also had a say in EMI's She Can DJ comp.

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

Find out more about the AMID Power 50 here.