The Women In Music Awards 2022 honoured 14 industry executives (one executive posthumously) last month by enrolling them into the Roll Of Honour. Click here for this year’s inductees.
Music Week’s Women In Music Roll Of Honour, in association with TikTok, aims to highlight the breadth, depth and variety of individuals who are game-changers in the music industry, with their activities consistently benefiting women and non-binary people, or focusing on empowerment/gender disparity.
Here, the latest inductees each nominate their rising stars in the industry (click on the names in bold for interviews with this year’s Roll Of Honour)...
Stephanie Achigbu, marketing director, AWAL
“I definitely want to shout out Bre McDermott-King! She is an amazing international marketing manager at AWAL, whose passion for artists and diversity within the music industry never goes unnoticed. She always goes above and beyond to make sure that we deliver marketing campaigns on a global scale to the highest possible standard. She’s definitely a star in her own right!”
Deborah Annetts, chief executive, ISM
“The wonderful young women board members at the ISM: Dr Kirsty Devaney, composer, practitioner, education consultant; Mahaliah Edwards, violinist, educator, founder member of the Dunev Quartet and advocate for music for social change; Mimi Harmer, cellist, composer, educator, and digital producer; Dani Howard, composer and orchestrator; Dorine Sorber, pianist, piano teacher, founded her own piano studio and has a background in law.”
Charisse Beaumont, chief executive, Black Lives in Music
“I have way more than one but Ree Sewell, Shekayla Maragh, Chinaire Austin and Kenny Eshinlokun are absolute fire!”
(L-R) Charisse Beaumont, Deborah Annetts, Meenal Odedra, Christine Osazuwa, Claire Haffenden
Vicky Dowdall, founder & CEO, VDM Music
“Yes! Jas Wilkes who works for me at VDM Music and Truth Records. She is amazing, bright, intuitive and she deserves a big shout out! She’s changed my life and now I truly understand the concept of having a right-hand woman who has my back. We have each other’s back. She’s a true rising star! (Please don’t steal her anyone).”
Shani Gonzales, EVP, managing director, UK & head of international A&R, Warner Chappell
“I’m going to cheat and choose two. Susie Woodbridge in our A&R team at Warner Chappell is the complete Swiss Army knife who is great at everything. From her taste, to her professionalism, to how personable she is, we couldn’t do without her and I know her career is going to fly. And Ruth Gyaniao at The Flight Club is an incredible manager who has helped build a significant business from the ground up. How she juggles her career with being a young mum is inspiring.”
Claire Haffenden, director of artist relations and events, Universal Music
“I have to mention Hannah Lamb, Marta Santillana and Ali Golembo, three brilliant young women in the artist relations team. Their energy to reach for the stars is infectious and I am so proud to work alongside them. I also have to give a shout out to Shiarra Bell, an incredible talent who has taught me so much! She has great energy and warmth and is somebody I have huge respect for.”
Mary Anne Hobbs, broadcaster, DJ, curator, Mentor, writer
“Sherelle is such a powerful inspiration to me. She is, for me, the most thrilling live DJ on Earth right now. Moreover, she heads-up the Beautiful project, imagining a new world for young creatives of colour and building it. Sherelle has established a studio and work space in Hackney. She offers DJ and production training, mentoring, masterclasses, and has a radical new vision of how to support and nurture young people. It was an honour to speak for her at the Beautiful Studio recently.”
“Yes. OMG there are so many in so many different fields of the industry! See, we aren’t the minority due to there being a lack of us! But the person I would love to shout out is Namywa. A songwriter, composer, artist and founder and CEO of Girl Grind UK CIC. An organisation which is pioneering a movement for Black and Asian Ethnic Minority women and girls. I have had the pleasure of meeting Namywa last year and have been able to watch her hard work ethic, passion and tenacity. She is a beautiful hard working young woman who deserves all the good that is coming to her!”
Jennifer Ivory, senior vice president, Warner Records UK
“It’s impossible to choose just one, so here are three: Oksi Odedina (creative director) is instinctive, brave and creative. She lights up a room. I love to watch her move in the directions that inspire her. Liv Matthias (senior marketing manager, Warner Records) has a killer combo of creativity, taste and efficiency. Selina Barnow (director, international, Sony Music UK) is effortlessly smart, strategic and stylish.”
(L-R) Eve Horne, Vicky Dowdall, Ellie Prohan, Jennifer Ivory
“I want to shout out two women that I'm blown away by. I don't know how old anyone is anymore but at least I believe both of these women are younger than me...
“Denisha Kuhlor left Silicon Valley Bank this year to start her own music tech company called Stan to help artists with audience development by building out audience engagement tech all focused on fandom and community. She has been doing incredible work writing about fandom and bringing artists closer to fans, so launching Stan was the obvious next step and I’m so proud of her.
“Esther Lenda Bokuma, both an exec and an artist (under the name Estée Blu) is an incredible, outspoken activist discussing issues of gender and race in the UK music industry. She was a recipient of The Richard Antwi Scholarship, was part of the MOBO’s Unsung programme and sits on the board of Sound Connections. She’s also just an all-around supporter and champion of making the industry better.”
Ellie Prohan, DJ, presenter, radio host
“I would have to shout out Shanae Brooks who has been my radio producer since The Beat London 103.6 FM, which is the first community radio station I was on. We moved to Foundation FM together, which was the first female-led radio station in the industry, and now we work at KISS. She is a super producer, beyond talented and forward thinking. I am so grateful to her love and support and kindness throughout the years and it’s been a pleasure to see her growth firsthand! We’re super close and I can’t wait to see her continue to rock the radio world with her tenacity."
Sarah Slater, vice president, music & festivals, Ticketmaster
“I must shout out Bonita McKinney. She was my third arm at Ticketmaster prior to the pandemic and is now showing what she can do at Ingrooves. Also, all my ladies at Ticketmaster – too many to mention here, but they all deserve a massive shout out.”
Click here for the full list of winners at Women In Music 2022.
The full Roll Of Honour since 2014 is available here.
MAIN IMAGE: (L-R) Stephanie Achigbu, Sarah Slater, Mary Anne Hobbs, Shani Gonzales
