Every year, Billboard publishes its Indie Power Players list, a curated roster of the most influential executives and companies shaping independent music. Getting one name on it is an achievement. Getting three from the same company is a statement.
That is exactly what happened to AMPED Distribution, the independent music arm of Alliance Entertainment Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AENT), when Billboard unveiled its 2026 list in New York City at the Indie Power Players event, held as part of the broader Indie Week festivities. The three executives recognized were Dean Tabaac, Senior Vice President of AMPED Distribution; Jocelynn Pryor, Vice President of Marketing; and Pip Smith, Vice President of Sales and General Manager.
To understand why this matters, it helps to know what the list actually is. Billboard, the trade publication that has defined music industry credibility for decades, selects its Indie Power Players based on chart performance, career trajectory, and editorial judgment. Nominees come from independent labels, distributors, and music organizations. Being named to it is considered one of the clearest signals of influence in the independent music business, a sector that, as of the first quarter of 2026, now accounts for 44.15% of the U.S. recorded-music market, nearly double the share held by any single major label group.
AMPED has been building toward this kind of recognition for 13 years. The platform provides independent labels and artists with physical and digital distribution, marketing, sales, and technology services. Its focus on physical formats, particularly vinyl records and CDs, sets it apart in a space where many competitors have tilted almost entirely toward streaming. That focus has paid off. In the first nine months of fiscal 2026, AMPED’s revenue rose 39% year over year, driven by growing demand for physical music and expanding retail relationships.
For Alliance Entertainment as a whole, AMPED is one piece of a much larger operation. The Plantation, Florida-based company is the world’s largest distributor of vinyl records by volume and serves more than 35,000 retail locations globally. Its catalog spans video games, Blu-rays, DVDs, toys, collectibles, and licensed merchandise, totaling more than 340,000 unique in-stock items. The company generates over $1.1 billion in annual revenue, a figure that tends to surprise people given how little attention it receives outside of industry circles.
What the Billboard recognition signals is that AMPED is not just a distribution utility inside a larger catalogue business. It is a platform with competitive standing in a thriving and increasingly important corner of the music industry. CEO Jeff Walker put it directly in the company’s announcement, noting that the three honorees have been instrumental in building AMPED into one of the industry’s leading independent music distribution platforms.
For independent labels and artists evaluating distribution partners, that kind of third-party validation from the industry’s most recognized trade publication carries real weight. It signals depth of relationships, retail reach, and a leadership team that the broader industry has decided to pay attention to.
The timing is not incidental either. Independent music is growing, not shrinking. The infrastructure required to move physical product, negotiate retail placement, and execute marketing for independent artists is exactly the kind of operation that benefits when the sector it serves is expanding. AMPED, and by extension Alliance Entertainment, appears to be gaining ground at the right moment.
