Co-owned by the husband-and-wife team of former television presenter Laurrieta Alabons and Ross Knudson with a team of only three full-time staff, including Laurrieta's brother Andre, the lean company organised an average of one major gig a month.

Its showcase of breakout pop starlet Lady Gaga at Fort Canning Park in August drew a 10,000-strong crowd - the largest ever audience pulled in by a single act at the venue.

The 11-year-old home-grown company's ticket sales this year grew by 30 per cent compared to last year. 'Our business is expanding,' says Mr Knudson, 45. 'We're also doing a lot more shows in the region such as in Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia and Hong Kong.'

For bucking the recession and growing its business with a canny ear for what local music fans want, LAMC makes its debut entry in Life!'s entertainment power list.

Mr Knudson and Ms Alabons, who have been married for nine years, keep their fingers on the music pulse by actively seeking out advice and suggestions on whom to bring in from local music fans through online resources such as forums and Facebook. It also helps that everyone in LAMC is a huge music fan.

'A lot of people think this is a glamorous job,' says Ms Alabons. 'But they don't realise the hard work involved. We want to keep the fans happy but at the end of a day, we are a business and we have our eye on the bottom line.'

Besides a new year countdown gig with American rockers Hoobastank, LAMC also has a multi-band music event Big Night Out next February with British rockers Muse and American hardcore bands Saosin and Rise Against.

It is still working on the line-up for the rest of next year but Mr Knudson assures music fans that 2010 will be just as good as, if not better than, this year. 'We have some really, really great shows lined up in the coming year.'