The 15 Most Powerful Women in the EDM Industry

Job(s): Owner, Unmanageable Artists / Manager, Laidback Luke

The Netherlands is definitely a hotbed of dance music talent and festivals, and having a knowledgeable person managing affairs over there is crucial. Olga Heijns is just that woman .Her accolades include being the former manager for Roger Sanchez (as well as being sole director of his Stealth imprint), and currently managing major acts like Laidback Luke. She has over a decade of time in on the dance music scene, and we have a feeling her artists owe as much to her for their success as she does for them.

Job(s): Head of A&R, Big Beat / Atlantic

Gina's got the ear, and has helped place some important records in the hands of Atlantic and their dance music imprint Big Beat. She's the woman you can thank for bringing B.o.B.'s "Airplanes" to the world, and she's had a number of successes with Wynter Gordon and Martin Solveig, including "Hello," which hit #1 in the US, The Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, and many others. She's also responsible for the new group Cash Cash and their latest single, "Take Me Home." Big Beat is a force to be reckoned with, and Gina's stamp on most tracks are practically money in the bank.

Job(s): Programmer, MTV Clubland

Many diss MTV for not playing as many videos, and truth be told, you have to check your local listings to see what cable channel their MTV Hits and MTV Jams channels are on, but during the early morning hours, MTV does run videos. At 3AM during most nights/early mornings, MTV dedicates an hour to "Clubland," which shows EDM videos, premieres, and news on the dance music scene. Rawley Bornstein is a huge part of that side of MTV's coverage, and we have a feeling that artists who have a good showing on Clubland will end up trickling up to main shows, ala Dillon Francis performing on the Guy Code Honors show.

Job(s): Founder, Safehouse Management / Manager, Carl Cox

Lynn might have been in the game the longest out of the women on this list, but her pedigree speaks for itself. Getting into the behind-the-scenes of dance music back in 1988, Lynn went from managing DJs to working with Ministry of Sound, helping them put out some of their finest MOS compilations. That gig rolled into Sony acquiring her as Vice President of their dance music division (the first female to hold this position). She eventually started Safehouse Management, and went from guiding the careers of a number of DJs to just a few, including the huge undertaking of keeping Carl Cox's ever-growing career under one large umbrella. She has the talent and the experience to help many, and if she were to pick up a new act, it'd be pretty damn important.

Job(s): Vice President of East Coast Music, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment

Sam Kirby has been with WME since 2004, and while her roster of artists already included Alicia Keys, Bjork, and TV On The Radio, it's the fact that she also guides the Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, and Fatboy Slim that really excites us. Sure, they're older acts, but they're also bankable. Let someone tell you that the Chemicals were dropping a new album next year; the hype machine would go bananas.

Job(s): Owner & Artist Manager, Little Empire Music

Stephanie LaFera is another in the list of women who have been in the dance music game for years. Her experience dates back to working at MCT Management, with acts like Moby, Groove Armada, and others under her wing. Her most famous venture was Little Empire, which was established in 2007 to help push Kaskade's career into the stratosphere. We'd like to think that she knocked it out of the park. Little Empire also has Dirty South, Adam F, Dirtyphonics, and others on their roster, and judging by the success she's had with Kaskade, those acts are in very capable hands.

Job(s): Agent, Creative Artists Agency

Before being picked up by CAA in 2012, Maria May had spent 17 years guiding the careers of dance music artists, with everyone from David Guetta and David Morales to Paul Oakenfold and Frankie Knuckles benefiting from her hard work and dedication. It made sense that when Creative looked to branch out into the dance music scene, they called on Maria to help guide that wing. Their current roster includes Daft Punk, Nicky Romero, TJR, and Coyote Kisses.

Job(s): Agent, AM Only

Brooklyn's AM Only is one of the best agencies in dance music worldwide. Their roster is second-to-none, and Denise Melanson has her mittens all over the careers of some of today's most captivating artists, from Knife Party and Kill the Noise to 12th Planet and Jack Beats. Those four acts are some of the most talked-about right now, and helping push the sound of dance music throughout America, so Denise having a hand in their progression is vital.

Job(s): Founder & President, Plexi PR

Making great music is definitely only one part of a massive career. Since 2003, Plexi PR has been a press company that specializes in "public relations, artist development, promotions, parties, online marketing, and sponsorships." Just this year they've helped push information to the world about SMOG, the Electric Zoo festival, UZ, and the Anjuna camp, The BPM Festival, Wavefront Music Festival, Art Department, Cassy, Nicole Moudaber, and Cole Plante (among others), and Betty Kang is the figurehead behind this company. Betty's been in the scene for years, and has helped elevate everyone from Ultra Records and Richie Hawtin to the Detroit Electronic Music Festival and Pacha in New York. A truly diverse group of entities all being handled with style.

Job(s): Program Director - Evolution iHeartRadio/Clear Channel Media & Entertainment

Polomski has had years of work in a number of positions at radio statios in the past, and coupling her experience with the need for EDM on terrestrial radio in the United States, she was a shoe-in for taking on the position of program director at iHeartRadio's Evolution brand. So far, so good, as she's been a part of bringing the current dance music sound to a number of different markets, from Boston and Miami to Pete Tong's "Evolution" flasgship show hitting over 80 different cities in America. They also have a solid roster of today's finest DJs, with Diplo, Laidback Luke, Dillon Francis, Dim Mak, Doorly, and many other DJs and entities being a part of their weekly programming, they did it right from jump.

Job(s): Writer, Billboard / General Manager, InTheMix America

Kerri has been with Billboard since 2005, covering pop and classical music, but the meat of her time there has been with her coverage of dance music, being seen as an expert by The History Channel, USA Today, and Fox News. Billboard sorted out their CODE blog featuring nothing but dance music coverage, where Kerri has shined over the last year, and she's also covered EDM for MySpace as well as being general manager over at InTheMix's American division. She's interviewed the best and covers the scene for one of the music industry's top publications, putting her in line with those who matter at the time(s) they matter most. And you know what they say: The pen is mightier than the sword.

Job(s): Vice President, Mitch Schneider Organization

Since 2001, Alexandra Greenberg has helped MSO broaden their horizons, doing press and public relations for more electronic artists and entities. Her work has helped MSO gain important contracts, helping spread the word on deadmau5, the Ultra Music Festival, Beatport, HARD Events, Steve Aoki, Feed Me, Coachella, and many others. Their current roster features the likes of Krewella, Richie Hawtin, Benny Benassi, Borgore, TOKiMONSTA, and others, highlighting how on the pulse of the electronic scene MSO has been.

Job(s): Owner, Biz 3 / OWSLA

Biz 3 Publicity has their hands on the careers on some of today's finest electronic music artists and labels, with Mad Decent, Daft Punk, Fool's Gold, Big Beat, Zedd, Clockwork/RL Grime, and many others (even those outside of the dance music realm, including XL Recordings, Decon, and Vice Records). Kathryn is the owner of this massive company, and their press releases are gold to music writers and bloggers worldwide. Kathryn is also one of the heads behind OWSLA, the imprint that Skrillex co-owns with Tim Smith (and is run by Biz 3 publicist Clayton Blaha). That's a shedload of power in today's current climate, and they seem to handle it with style and humor.

Job(s): Owner, ATM Artists

Amy Thomson managed Swedish House Mafia. That could be the bulk of this piece, as she was obviously an integral part of SHM's rousing success worldwide. They had chart-topping music, but also made sure to net important contacts, setting up deals with Absolut and other entities that helped market their music to audiences that aren't normally digging EDM. This factor continued on, as ATM still manages Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso, both who scored a track on Disney's Monsters University film, as well as Axwell's latest work with Carlsberg. ATM also manages the careers of Alesso and Don Diablo, are agents for Moby, Hard Rock Sofa, and Thomas Gold, and run marketing & consulting for Kanye West, Sony Xperia, the Light Nightclub, and Volvo, among others. Those are some powerful avenues that could cross and bring huge opportunities to the dance music scene as well as the entities outside, looking to branch out.

Job(s): General Manager, Big Beat

Atlantic Records has owned Big Beat since 1987, but it wasn't until 2010 that Atlantic decided to throw their hat back into the EDM ring, and it was Liz Miller that was chosen to captain the Big Beat ship. With Atlantic adding acts like Skrillex, Knife Party, Flux Pavilion, and David Guetta (among others) to their house, this put Liz in a prime position to help lead the major label charge head-on. She's not backed down, and gained some successes, with Skrillex sweeping the EDM categories at the Grammys two years in a row, alongside acts like Cash Cash, Sebastian, Martin Solveig, Chuckie, Infinity Ink, and others helping further establish Big Beat's foothold. You're hearing more major labels either signing acts like Zedd, or bringing out long-forgotten imprints (like Priority Records) to enter the fray, but Big Beat has the history and the juice to keep themselves far in the front of the dance music releases that will be impacting the mainstream.