Billboard has announced the names of this year’s 30 Under Thirty industry players, which recognizes rising young executives who are driving our business forward with their artistic and business vision. Nominated by readers and selected by the editors for each’s achievements in the industry over the last 12 months, the list proves the future looks bright. Kudos to all the youngsters who made the cut, including ASCAP Membership Director Josh Briggs and The Agency Group’s resident metalhead Dave Shapiro… Now if only they had a list for those who look under thirty!

Sellaband Gets New Owners

A lot of talk recently about Sellaband, the music startup that allows fans to fund projects, first with the revelation that Public Enemy had fallen severely short of their proposed $250K goal for their next album and was even losing fan investors. That was quickly followed by speculation that Sellaband itself was out of cash and on the brink of bankruptcy, which was soon confirmed, but quickly reversed as German investors stepped in to buy the company… At the Digital Music Forum East, an analyst with the NPD group said “We’re eating our young” – claiming that services like Spotify don’t generate music sales while a company like Pandora does. Spotify was quick to respond stating there is evidence that proves the opposite… Music video site Vevo continues to show strong numbers, a quarter of them apparently owed just to Lady Gaga… The BBC announced that among a broad range of changes, it was closing alternative music station 6 Music, though it looks like Absolute Radio (formerly Virgin Radio) will make a bid on the station… Elsewhere Music Mastermind the virtual music creation startup co-founded by Matt Serletic announced $4.85-million in Series A funding… And The Agency Group agent Dave Shapiro in partnership with Rise Records has launched his own label Velocity Records…