Jay Z and Beyonce continue to make big moves and receive accolades. The couple lands on the cover of Billboard magazine's The Power 100 issue, and also grab the No. 1 spot on the list. Others in the top 10 include Jimmy Iovine, Lucian Grainge, Coran Capshaw, Michael Rapino, Martin Bandier, Doug Morris, Irving Azoff, Len Blavatnik and Rob Light.
What is power? At its base, it's the ability to reshape the world around you according to your vision. And who in the music industry did so better in the last year than this power couple?
Leveraging their star power to release new albums in unprecedented ways—Jay Z through Samsung and Beyoncé through iTunes—they instantly changed how the industry and fans thought about interacting with music. He gave his album away; she charged a premium price for hers. But they both used the element of surprise to restore the excitement that used to accompany a new release, before that impact was dulled by the endless thunder of carefully plotted promotion.
In short, they proved that content truly is king. Or, in this case, king and queen.