Inspirational Women in Music
This years International Women's Day 2023 campaign theme is: #EmbraceEquity
Voly is celebrating the achievements of some of the inspirational women in the music industry, who have worked hard to get where they are today. We get an insight into their working lives and we find out what makes them proud to be a woman!
Zac Fox
Chief Operating Officer
Kilimanjaro
Tell us a bit about your journey of how you became to be a COO in the music industry?
I took a job as a maternity cover receptionist at a concert promoter company called MCP Promotions in 1996. I’d recently left the army and didn’t have a firm plan. My flatmate was working as Stuart Galbraith’s assistant at MCP and suggested I might enjoy 6 months with them. She was correct as I found a world that I loved. When the receptionist returned they kept me on just doing whatever was useful till my friend moved on and I became Stuart’s assistant. That was the start of a mutually beneficial relationship between the two of us that continues today. Either I or Stuart will identify the next area that needs my time and I move to that. Essentially though I’m an organiser and over the years I’ve used those skills to lead in HR, ticketing, production and festival management. As Kilimanjaro Group began to evolve and bring in other companies we identified a role that would have an eye across all of them, which is what I am doing now. Who knows what is next. I’m still just doing whatever is useful!
What is your favourite aspect of the job?
We are a people industry so it has to be about the people. Within the company we have a great track history for creating the environment for people to develop. Nothing makes me prouder than seeing someone move from one role into another and continue to succeed, even if that means they have left Kili. Our reason for everything we do though are the audiences and I never miss an opportunity to be in the room/arena/stadium floor when the headliner comes on so I can see those reactions. A day at work for me could be a lifetime memory for those individuals. My musical taste is irrelevant. If the artist is respectful to their audience then I’m going to be a fan.
Do you have any standout moments or highlights in your career?
I looked after promoter production for the UK Metallica tours for a good few years. I was a big Metallica fan as a teenager and they had a song called Fade to Black on an album that came out when I was 16. It was my soundtrack for being a misunderstood teen. They played that song during those years but never on the shows I was looking after. In 2009 we had them headlining at Sonisphere which was our brand new festival at Knebworth Park. I was on the main stage waiting for them when their Production Manager came running over with the set list and a big grin on his face. It was quite something to be transported back to my bedroom in 1986 whilst stood listening to 50,000 people singing along to that song at a festival I had organised.
I should also mention my final show. Taking on the COO role meant that I couldn’t continue to personally deliver shows anymore. The pandemic accelerated the move into that role and I really didn’t want my last show to have been behind me without me knowing. I decided to finish after one more summer so my last show was the 5th night of Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium on 1st July 2022. I don’t think I could have finished on a higher note. I’ve become an enormous Ed Sheeran fan over the years of working with him and Wembley is the most iconic location for a stadium show. Being part of breaking the record for a solo artist there was a nice ending. I’ll be standing around with a beer in my hand going forward!
Have you encountered many hurdles in your career due to your sex?
I have but at the start I feel a lot of the hurdles were of my own making. My learned expectations of what my life could be were pretty low. I previously I’d have seen my end goal as being a PA to someone who was good to work with. My actual career path was unplanned and it took a while for me to recognise that I was doing well because of who I am and that perhaps I could do even better. A colleague in production suggested I might join their team back in the late 90s and I assumed they meant they needed an administrator till they corrected me. It took smashing through my own internal glass ceiling to recognise it had been there. I co-founded a network called NOWIE (Network of Women in Events) in 2013 with a female site manager friend to help raise the profile of women working in events so that others might see what could be entirely possible for them.
Once I did get into production my name did me a lot of favours. I’d start the advancing with major artists’ teams over email and by the time we spoke or met they’d be comfortable that I knew what I was doing. More than one went on to tell me that if they’d known immediately that I was female they would have been worried. That was 15 years ago though and things have changed a lot in that time. Back then I’d be so excited to meet another woman on a tour. Now it’s much more common, although not representative yet.
What would you say to any females out there dreaming of a career in the music business? Please go for it. It can only get better with more women involved. There are so many jobs from building a stage to standing on it playing and a million others. It is a world where showing up and working hard does have a positive result. The vast majority of women in the industry who I’ve met would be more than happy to talk about their role with women thinking of joining the industry and give some tips so be brave and ask. They might say yes!
If you could attend a live music concert of any inspirational woman dead or alive, who would it be and why is she your choice?
It would be Kate Bush. I didn’t go when she had her residency in London because I’d convinced myself that it couldn’t possibly be as good as I would need it to be. I have never regretted anything more.
Ella Luby
General Manager
MSE Business Management LLP
Tell us a bit about your journey of how you became to be a Business Manager in the music industry?
Most people don’t know what they want to do when they grow up, and I was one of them until I found myself in the world of entertainment business management. My criteria for a career was something I could do on a laptop from anywhere in the world. Numbers are the same in every language, so accountancy fit the bill. Turns out I quite enjoy it too. After completing my accountancy degree in North Wales there were a few years before I found a role where I could cross my skills as an accountant, with one of the things that I love, music. I started out as a secretary at a well-known music accountancy practice, with the intention of moving into business management. That was 12 years, 4 firms and a host of roles ago. I have progressed up to being the General Manager at MSE, where I oversee the business management function, have my own portfolio of exciting artists and assist with running the firm.
What is your favourite aspect of the job?
The most rewarding element is seeing clients and team members achieve their personal and professional milestones and knowing you had a part to play in helping them get there; whether it be through smart tax planning, or lending emotional support as a manager. Seeing someone buy their first home, complete a sell-out tour or make their way through gruelling exams with flying colours are all milestones that we take purpose to celebrate.
Do you have any standout moments or highlights in your career?
There have been many moments at gigs, and one particular I recall at Glastonbury seeing one of my acts headline. I often still take a moment to look around at the audience, see the joy of people taking in their favourite artists, and realising how much work goes into putting on the show that people are revelling in. It really is special and humbling.
Have you encountered many hurdles in your career due to your sex?
I am very fortunate to have been surrounded by open and supportive employers and mentors, who have provided the best opportunities for those willing to take them regardless. I have also been lucky enough to find aspirational women within my world who are already blazing the trails for others to follow. I do find that women tend to be underestimated in many situations, but this is usually short-lived when people see how you work and the skills you bring to the table.
What would you say to any females out there dreaming of a career in the music business?
Dream big and be yourself. The music business is a fast-paced machine built on relationships, and one one that is becoming more open to everyone and all that want to be a part of it. There are no limits to what you can achieve, even if you perhaps don’t know exactly what that looks like from here. Find people you respect above and around you, nearly everyone is willing to share their knowledge and support to help.
If you could attend a live music concert of any inspirational woman dead or alive, who would it be and why is she your choice?
Joan Jett. A fearless and controversial woman who broke onto a male-dominated scene with huge success and is now one of the biggest influences in rock music with a career spanning decades and industries. Simply outstanding.
Lucy Graubart
Tour Accountant - Florence + the Machine
Bullocks Touring
Tell us a bit about your journey of how you ended up in your role in the music industry?
Fell into it totally by accident; having studied Sculpture at art school in London I then moved to San Francisco. My first music industry experience really came during the late 80s and early 90s dance scene in California, before I joined Skint Records in Brighton where I was involved in the label itself but also its publishing company. I then joined 13 Artists agency as head of finance in 2004, a role I held for more than 18 years before leaving to become a freelance Tour Accountant.
What is your favourite aspect of the job?
I love truly feeling part of a very tight knit team, and being a part of putting on amazing shows.
Do you have any standout moments or highlights in your career?
Being one of only two people in the room during Bootsy Collins’s sound check for a block party in San Francisco in the 90’s; or maybe watching Fatboy Slim’s first Big Beach Boutique on Brighton Beach in 2002 from the rooftop of the Brighton Centre. It was a free party, and had been totally underestimated on attendance levels (60,000 expected) as 250,000 people turned up in Brighton for it.
Have you encountered many hurdles in your career due to your sex?
Yes I do believe that women find it harder in our industry. I have had many incidences where I know I haven’t been taken as seriously than had I been male, or credited with equal amount of respect.
What would you say to any females out there dreaming of a career in the music business?
Follow your dream and do it! There is nothing to hold you back. There are so many more women in the industry now than there were even a few years ago. I do feel that there is support and a level of closeness between women in the industry.
If you could attend a live music concert of any inspirational woman dead or alive, who would it be and why is she your choice?
Debbie Harry. I grew up listening to Blondie in the 70’s. What she did for music was ground breaking in itself, but what she did for women artists was incredible given the climate of the musical world back then.