The Gloves Are Off: First 20 Names On 2015 AMID Power 50 Revealed

It's that time of year again, when the music industry gathers together like one big family under the glowing light of the Australian Music Industry Directory (AMID) Power 50 to finally sort out the business of being the best there is for another 12 months — and all the risks and rewards of bruised and bolstered egos therein.

As with last year, we're kicking off the countdown with the first 20 entries for this year's Power 50 — from #50 to #31 — though the full list will be published in pretty damn slick physical magazine format (available to order here).

Excitingly, there are 12 new faces in the first reveal alone, with the range of individuals joining the ranks spanning from artists such as Lee Kernaghan, Briggs and Evelyn Morris (aka Pikelet) to industry players Steve Cross (Remote Control Records), Jeff Halley (Monster Management) and Alex Paioff (Pilerats). Meanwhile, we're already privy to some massive shake-ups; one needn't look much further than someone such as Sia — a dominant, top-three force in 2014 — having to settle for #43 this year to understand how much activity, upset and innovation has taken place over the past 12 months to give us our current placings.

As AMID editor Scott Fitzsimons notes in this year's Letter From The Editor, 2015 proved to "almost" be the year of the label as several major players learnt from mistakes of the past and aligned themselves with genuinely cool independent upstarts, a pattern that is immediately noticeable among the names and faces popping up even in the initial grouping of power players.

To read more industry news and extra information about this year's Power 50, see The Music Industry website.