46 | Trent Reznor
The industrial-rock godfather becomes the world's scariest digital nerd
WHAT HE'S CHANGING: While other stars cower in the face of the Internet, the Nine Inch Nails leader has been more creative than anyone in embracing the post-CD era — he releases new music with the speed and ease of a blog post.
BIG MOVE: Parted ways with his longtime label, Interscope, in 2007 — and began a rapid-fire series of new releases, including an entire NIN album, The Slip, for free.
NEXT UP: He hints that Nine Inch Nails' upcoming tour with Jane's Addiction (whose new album he is producing) may mark the end of NIN — and presumably the beginning of a new musical phase.
44 | Alex Rigopulos & Eran
Egozy
Video-game duo set their sights on music's Holy Grail: The Beatles
WHAT THEY'RE CHANGING: The record biz. By inventing Guitar Hero and Rock Band, these MIT college buddies made a new way to consume music.
FRIENDS SAY: "I'm loving Rock Band," Nirvana's Krist Novoselic blogged. "Instead of file-sharing, people are actually buying music again! HA!!!"
NEXT FIGHT: Their Beatles game, due later this year, may be Harmonix's biggest yet.
CHANCE OF SUCCESS: 90 percent. Harmonix and the Fab Four have perfect track records.
42 | Brian Eno
For decades, the producer for bands who want to change their sound
WHAT HE'S CHANGING:Eno finds rock music utterly boring — which is why he's able to help that genre's biggest artists reinvent their sound and make their freshest music. From Talking Heads to U2, he has blurred the line between art for art's sake and pop hitmaking — and last year, he even produced a Coldplay album that (mostly) silenced the haters.
WANNA-BE: Bloom, his music-making iPhone app, lets everyone be Eno for a day.
FRIENDS SAY: "Brian is such a stimulating intellect," says U2 bassist Adam Clayton. "He's always bringing in strange things and strange sounds and different energy."
41 | Michael Moore
With Bush gone, one-man lefty agitprop machine takes on Wall Street
WHAT HE'S CHANGING: He gave the left their balls back. Moore's killer Bush-era run of documentaries — Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko — sparked a deep, righteously angry part of progressive brains, making it impossible to sit back and drink another latte.
NEXT MOVE: Think you're pissed about the banking crisis now? Wait until you see his upcoming Wall Street movie.
BAD CALL: His support for Nader in 2000.
KEY QUOTE: "Thank you, Republican Party. You helped us elect one of the most liberal senators to the presidency. We couldn't have done it without you."