17 Young Innovators Shaking Up the Music Industry

Both 25
Founders, ScoreMore
How does one win the undying loyalty of Kendrick Lamar and Wiz Khalifa? Bust your ass producing a bunch of sell-out shows for them back when nobody knew them from a ping-pong ball in a cup of stale beer. Claire Bogle and Sascha Stone Guttfreund did just that when they were still college sophomores at UT-Austin. "They're the first ones to bring me to Texas for some rap shit," says a youthful J. Cole in a video on their site, alongside numerous other now-big artists. Bogle and Guttfreund's company ScoreMore – whose tagline is "Your Favorite Rapper's Favorite Promoter" – has thrown 600 events since 2009 and covers 11 college markets, including Nashville, Ann Arbor, Oklahoma City and Austin. They also produce the Neon Desert Music Festival in El Paso, and similar shindigs are in the works.

"Touring is more important than it's ever been," says Bogle. "With so much music readily available, it is our job as promoters to listen to the consumer, identify the voids in market places and partner with artist and consumers alike to build experiences that cater to the culture."

Guttfreund agrees. "The concert side of the business is not perfect," he says. "It's destined to feel oversaturated in the big markets while the markets that really would appreciate the experiences are being skipped. For us it's about discovering opportunity, not trying to shove a square peg in a round hole. More cities deserve art and the experience of live music."