Music executive Dave Shapiro poses for a portrait on Dec. 3, 2024, in Nashville. These artists reached a kind of apex in the 2000s and 2010s.

Shapiro would go on to start his own record label, Velocity Records, as well as founding the music agency Sound Talent Group. Shapiro represented such acts as Sum 41, Vanessa Carlton and Dave Navarro.

Among them was the groundbreaking music executive Dave Shapiro, a pillar of his music scene, and Daniel Williams, a former drummer for the popular Ohio metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada. Also ...