May 20, 2025
Jaryn Valdry
Associate Director, A&R, RCA
Valdry still gets chills hearing Myles Smith’s “Stargazing” in the wild—the breakout hit went double platinum and hit #1 at Top 40 radio. She was also excited to see the success of Tate McRae’s So Close to What (150k+ units first week) and LISA’s solo debut, Alter Ego. She’s now focused on Smith’s upcoming EP, A Minute, a Moment…, which drops 5/23, as well as JADE’s first solo album. This former #1 high school saxophonist in South Carolina earns high marks for perfectly cooked medium-rare steak. We’re pros at setting off the smoke alarm.
Mike Sosin
VP, Global Festivals, Wasserman Music
Sosin once booked so many acts at Kilby Block Party they gave him his own golf cart for the weekend—a true agent flex. A key force behind Wasserman’s stacked festival presence, he’s helped land major clients at Outside Lands, Osheaga, Boston Calling and many other confabs. While he can’t spill everything just yet, he’s deep in the planning for a blockbuster 2026. On the side, he leads pre-set runs at festivals with a growing crew of agents, artists and managers. We asked for a ride in his golf cart, and he offered to strap us to the roof.
Matthew Meneses
Sr. Director, Business and Legal Affairs, EMPIRE
Meneses has swapped stories with LUCKI at the EMPIRE holiday party, watched Fireboy DML and Asake record in the label’s San Francisco studio and handed out plaques in Puerto Rico to DJ Nelson, Conep and Zhamira Zambrano—all in a day’s work. Now, he’s drafting, negotiating and closing deals for acts like T-Pain, Jay Wheeler, LUCKI and G Perico, while helping EMPIRE grow across West Asia, North Africa and Mexico with artists like Mishaal and C-Kan. He also DJs, plays guitar and dreams of dunking like Kobe. We make crowd noises when we successfully toss a balled-up draft in the wastebasket.
Sarah Nekich
Digital Marketing & Audience Development Specialist, Primary Wave
Nekich once helped turn K-pop stans into Bing Crosby fans with a viral holiday duet between the crooner and BTS member V—just one of many genre-crossing successes in her digital-marketing career. She’s currently leading strategy for Boy George & Culture Club’s Tribeca-bound doc, reviving Neil Sedaka’s catalog after a surprise TikTok moment with his grandson and reimagining Sun Records’ Million Dollar Quartet for its 70th anniversary. By night, she moonlights as a concert photographer for acts like MUNA and Phoebe Bridgers. We’re still trying to master the selfie.
Ben Yekuel
Agent, WME
Yekuel will never forget when he helped pull off a Venice Beach skatepark takeover, alongside Club Renegade and Brownies & Lemonade, with Chase & Status that drew 3,000 fans on 24 hours' notice—no money made, no arrests, just a global cultural moment. Now he’s scaling up Chase & Status for a major touring cycle, backing Jessica Audiffred’s biggest headline show in Mexico City, helping Whethan bring his buzzy new sound from the feed to the stage, plus more. Yekuel says his Pokémon card collection is unmatched. How much do you suppose old copies of HITS are worth? Wow, less than nothing?
Cristina Esteban
Senior Manager, Global Catalog Recordings, Hard Rock, BMG
Esteban sat in the studio with Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson as he debuted his first solo album in nearly 20 years—then watched him sling tickets at the Whisky a Go-Go like a metalhead Willy Wonka. She’s now leading Suicidal Tendencies’ comeback, including their first new track in a decade, and just threw a blowout 50th anniversary bash for Motörhead in L.A. She once mapped a constellation in the shape of the Emerson, Lake & Palmer logo—and proudly reps the Eagles, despite growing up in Spain. We once made a sculpture of our favorite band in paella.
Ian Fletcher
A&R, The Royalty Network Publishing; Fletcher Artist Management Enterprises
Fletcher was managing LMFAO when he got the call: They’d be joining Madonna on the Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show. Juggling rehearsals mid-tour? Just another surreal chapter in a career built on bold moves. These days, the Pasadena-based exec is racking up wins in publishing, signing talents like Dody6 (Kendrick Lamar), Taylor Graves (Mac Miller), Zulia (Bad Bunny, Danny Ocean) and Angel Hill via a joint venture with Martin Kierszenbaum’s Cherrytree. He also considers himself a full-time gourmet chef—in his own mind, at least. We recently botched the recipe for SpaghettiOs.
Amy Cohen
Director, Partnerships & Business Development, Grammys/The Recording Academy
Cohen has helped shape seven Grammys shows while spearheading major partnerships with Nike, Google, Sephora and more. She also produced and led the first Women in the Mix tentpole event during Grammy Week. Up next: she and her team are expanding programs like Women in the Mix and Grammy House from coast to coast while building new ways for top brands participate in the Academy’s mission to empower and serve all music people. She also paints, sings and writes songs. We have been known to doodle and can clear a karaoke bar with a few poorly chosen notes.