The Top 10 Most Powerful People In Aussie Music This Year

This is it — this is the big one. Having counted down through the first (#50-#31) and second (#30-#11) announcements of the 2015 Australian Music Industry Directory (AMID) Power 50, triple j music director Richard Kingsmill has been revealed as the #1 most-powerful person in the Australian music industry this year.

The revelation comes in tandem with the unveiling of the top 10 identities from around the country to make the 2015 AMID Power 50, and Kingsmill's ascension to the top — he's up eight spots this year — reflects the truly dominant period enjoyed by the national youth broadcaster with the man at its helm.

the 2015 amid power 50: #10-#1

Head here to see the countdown, or check our subscription-based industry site for more about this year's rankings.

Not only has the station continued to be a crucial part of the contemporary independent Aussie music landscape, but it has extended its interests and activities on a global scale, signing up with Apple Music to have triple j content streamed via Beats 1 online radio, further asserting itself as a cultural force with which to be reckoned through events such as Beat The Drum and the annual Hottest 100 countdown, not to mention the continued, growing success generated by affiliated arms such as Unearthed and even digital sister station Double J.

Speaking about his ranking today, Kingsmill told The Music, "triple j’s continuing success is due to a dynamic team of committed, passionate and clever individuals who work across triple j, Unearthed and Double J. I’m proud to be part of such a great bunch of inspiring and professional people. We’ve had a great year, celebrating 40 years of a truly unique radio station."  

As AMID editor Scott Fitzsimons puts it in this year's edition, Richard Kingsmill is "one of the few people in this industry that would truly have a door spot waiting for him at any gig in the country" — and it's pretty impossible to argue with that fact.

Not quite as high, but similarly impressive, is the performance of one Courtney Barnett this year; the musician and label founder is the year's highest debut entry in 2015, cracking the top 10 at #9 off the back of an absolutely stunning year that saw her conquer the world stage in the wake of her acclaimed full-length Sometimes I Sit & Think, & Sometimes I Just Sit. You'd be hard-pressed to find an artist for whom the industry is more willing to bend over backwards to accommodate than Barnett right now and, regardless of your personal feelings about speak-singing and/or 'slacker-rock', you'd be wilfully deceiving yourself to not acknowledge the serious clout that the young troubadour now wields.

the 2015 amid power 50: this year's debuts

50. Jeff Halley
48. Ben Thompson & Anita Nedeljkovic
47. Briggs
46. Tim Janes
45. Evelyn Morris
44. Steve Cross
41. Alex Paioff
39. Mark Holland
38. Stephen Wade
37. Matt High
36. Kate Vale
31. Lee Kernaghan
30. Gregg Donovan & Stuart MacQueen
29. Susan Heymann
9. Courtney Barnett

All of this is not to take anything away from the rest of the top 10, of course; and, when it's a group of people including AMID mainstays such as Michael Gudinski (Mushroom), Paul Piticco & Jessica Ducrou (Splendour In The Grass), George Ash (Universal) and Michael Chugg (Chugg Entertainment), it's not hard to see just how tight — and high-quality — the competition has become among the local industry, with innovation, independence and ingenuity all remaining key common traits among the power players at the pointy end.

See the #30-#11 and #50-#31 countdowns for more information.