Tracy Maddux, 48
​CEO, CD Baby

With a two-decade history of selling indie digital and physical product (including vinyl) worldwide, CD Baby under Maddux in the past year paid out $80 million to independent artists -- up 33 percent over 2016 thanks to streaming -- while its publishing division, launched in 2013, expanded its international reach. The company now administers 1 million songs for 160,000 writers in 33 countries. “We are seeing explosive growth,” says Maddux, “and not just in the U.S.” In June, CD Baby opened a new London office to boost its European business.