The leading luminaries of the independent music world came together in New York City on Tuesday night at Billboard’s Indie Power Players event at Harbor NYC Rooftop to celebrate the most powerful executives and artists in the business, presented by Downtown, A2IM, Believe and Tunecore.
Featuring executives from companies like The Orchard, Virgin Music, BMG, EMPIRE, Beggars Group, Believe, Tunecore, A2IM, Peer Music, Mom+Pop Music, Hopeless Records, Fat Beats, Avant Garden, Pulse Music Group, Exceleration Music, Triple Tigers Records, Downtown Music, Better Noise Music, G59 Records, Double P Records, APG, Because Group and many more, the event was a major part of the Indie Week celebrations that have blanketed the city.
Welcome remarks by Billboard Editor In Chief Hannah Karp opened a series of honors, beginning with Russ, who received the 2025 Billboard Indie Trailblazer Award. Introduced by Believe’s global head of music/president of Europe Romain Vivien and Tunecore CEO Andreea Gleason, Russ spoke about his journey through the independent world with Tunecore, when he put out his first song in 2011 through the company after Googling how to get a song on iTunes. “As independents, we as artists no longer have to be chosen — we choose ourselves,” he said. Following Russ, G59 Records partner/$uicideBoy$ manager Dana Biondi accepted the award for Executive of the Year, for building his company’s business from the ground up almost entirely outside of the mainstream; and Peso Pluma appeared to honor his cousin and fellow Double P Records artist Tito Double P with the Billboard Indie Power Player of the Year Award, giving a speech in English and Spanish.
Finally, cover star “Weird Al” Yankovic was honored with the Billboard Indie Spirit Award, a nod to his 40-plus years as a trailblazing artist, satirist and all-around hilarious and positive person in the music world. Introduced by Billboard executive magazine editor Rebecca Milzoff, Al took the stage with a bit of trademark hilarity — “Ever since I was a small child, I always dreamed of one day winning the Billboard Indie Spirit Award; dreams really do come true” — he then delivered a heartfelt and, yes, very funny speech accepting the honor. “Apparently, when you start your recording career by playing your accordion next to a urinal in a public men’s room, you get an indie cred card for life,” he quipped.
Find the best photos of the night below.
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Peso Pluma & Tito Double P
Image Credit: John Nacion Peso Pluma and Tito Double P at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Russ
Image Credit: John Nacion Russ at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Lisa Hresko & Richard James Burgess
Image Credit: John Nacion Lisa Hresko and Richard James Burgess at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Colleen Theis, Dana Biondi & Brad Navin
Image Credit: John Nacion Colleen Theis, Dana Biondi and Brad Navin at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Andreea Gleeson & Romain Vivien
Image Credit: John Nacion Andreea Gleeson and Romain Vivien at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Tito Double P
Image Credit: John Nacion Tito Double P at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Josh Abraham, Ashley Calhoun & Scott Cutler
Image Credit: John Nacion Josh Abraham, Ashley Calhoun and Scott Cutler at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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‘Weird Al’ Yankovic
Image Credit: John Nacion ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Hannah Karp
Image Credit: John Nacion Hannah Karp at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Peso Pluma
Image Credit: John Nacion Peso Pluma at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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‘Weird Al’ Yankovic
Image Credit: John Nacion ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Sabrina Claudio
Image Credit: John Nacion Sabrina Claudio at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Ralph Peer II & Mary Megan Peer
Image Credit: John Nacion Ralph Peer II and Mary Megan Peer at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Russ
Image Credit: John Nacion Russ at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Sean Heydorn, JoJamie Harr & Dan Gill
Image Credit: John Nacion Sean Heydorn, JoJamie Harr and Dan Gill at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Tito Double P
Image Credit: John Nacion Tito Double P at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Cindy James, Jeremy Kramer, Jacqueline Saturn, JT Myer & Joy Larocca
Image Credit: John Nacion Cindy James, Jeremy Kramer, Jacqueline Saturn, JT Myer and Joy Larocca at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Peso Pluma
Image Credit: John Nacion Peso Pluma at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Colleen Theis & Tricia Arnold
Image Credit: John Nacion Colleen Theis and Tricia Arnold at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Ben Patterson
Image Credit: John Nacion Ben Patterson at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Rob Caiaffa, Chris Atlas & DJ Eclipse
Image Credit: John Nacion Rob Caiaffa, Chris Atlas and DJ Eclipse at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Vinny Kumar & Harrison Golding
Image Credit: John Nacion Vinny Kumar and Harrison Golding at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Peso Pluma, Tito Double P & Brad Navin
Image Credit: John Nacion Peso Pluma, Tito Double P and Brad Navin at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Jedd Katrancha & Ben Patterson
Image Credit: John Nacion Jedd Katrancha and Ben Patterson at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Dan Waite
Image Credit: John Nacion Dan Waite at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Ghazi & Mike Van
Image Credit: John Nacion Ghazi and Mike Van at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Andreea Gleeson & Romain Vivien
Image Credit: John Nacion Andreea Gleeson and Romain Vivien at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Colleen Theis & Brad Navin
Image Credit: John Nacion Colleen Theis and Brad Navin at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.
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‘Weird Al’ Yankovic
Image Credit: John Nacion ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic at Billboard’s Indie Power Players held at Harbor NYC on June 10, 2025 in New York, New York.