In 2025, the music industry lost a host of individuals who made an impact on the business — from record label executives to artist managers to songwriters and producers. With the year now firmly in the rearview mirror, we’re remembering the behind-the-scenes players who passed away in 2025.

While some, like controversial hip-hop mogul Irv Gotti — who co-founded the influential label Murder Inc., home to such 2000s stars as Ashanti and Ja Rule — and Brandon Blackstock, the artist manager and ex-husband of Kelly Clarkson, were well-known to the public, most were not — even as their work reached mainstream attention and even helped shape the music industry of the future.

Jonathan Mayers co-founded what would become two of the biggest music festivals in the U.S.: Bonnaroo and Outside Lands. Diane Martel directed some of the most famous (and infamous) music videos of the last 30 years, from Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” Robin Kaye helped clear the music TV audiences heard on American Idol for 15 years. David Cope was an early developer of computer algorithms trained to write music, shaping and anticipating today’s sophisticated AI tools.

Some even worked for Billboard — like Wolfgang Spahr, who covered the German music industry for the magazine for nearly five decades, and Gerry Wood, who served as editor-in-chief for a time.

Many of them left us far too soon; others lived into their 90s. But all of them made an impact on the business. You can read about them below.