During a recent “Happy Hour” livestream event — dubbed ‘The Power of Women in Music’ — we invited two esteemed music industry professionals to discuss their unique experiences and paths to success, as well as their advice for the female higher-ups and workplace leaders of tomorrow.

 

Happy Hour Guests

  • Janet Lopez – Janet Lopez is a Music Supervisor at Neophonic, Inc. one of the leading Music Supervision companies in Los Angeles. She’s an LA native who’s been in the music supervision business for over a decade. The Cal State grad has worked on scores of shows like Avenue 5 on HBO, Amazon’s Utopia, and The Twilight Zone on CBS, and with such filmmakers as Amy Lippman, Jordan Peele, and Spike Lee plus many more. She’s been recognized as one of the industry’s best, receiving nominations from Emmy Honors for HBO’s Hemingway & Gellhorn, multiple Guild of Music Supervisors awards, and this year’s Imagen Awards.
  • Amanda Schupf – Amanda Schupf is a born and raised New Yorker, mother, creative executive, entrepreneur, and the founder of MAX — a boutique music management and consultancy company that focuses on guiding the careers of artists, producers, and songwriters as well as providing creative solutions for labels, publishers and other music-related companies. Collaborations include working with John Legend on his label, notably launching Grammy-winning artist Estelle, and grammy-nominated songwriters and producers behind names like Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande, and Panic at the Disco. Signings include Mark Ronson and Ludacris.

The discussion was moderated by Songtradr CXO, Victoria Wiltshire.

 

Surrounding Yourself with the Best Early On

Kicking off the Happy Hour, Lopez and Schupf described their distinctive journeys to music-industry prominence – underscoring the idea that there are more than a few ways to achieve results in the space today. For Lopez, the trek began in childhood, with a singular focus on music supervision itself. 

“My career path started very early, at a young age. I wanted to be a music supervisor, and I didn’t know what it was, and I became sort of obsessed with the question,” said the Utopia music supervisor Lopez. 

“I was very open-minded and very, very hungry at a very early age. And then, once I knew what music supervision was, I made it a hundred percent my ambition to surround myself with the best music supervisors, and those that are making the kind of content that I really long to make myself one day. And it happened,” said Lopez, who will celebrate her 14th anniversary with Neophonic later this month. 

 

Hard Work, Dedication & Laying the Groundwork

Echoing the statements of many previous Happy Hour guests, Schupf described the “twisted road” that she followed to her current industry station. As was also the case with these individuals and Lopez, however, hard work and dedication played an integral part in Schupf’s rise – even if her initial professional destination wasn’t music. 

“I don’t think I ever knew early that I wanted to be in the music industry. I knew I liked music. I was a DJ in college, I DJed a little bit after college. I went to get my Master’s at NYU in music technology not because I thought I would end up in a recording studio, but because I thought I could be just like Missy Elliott and make beats. So little did I know that that is not what I was getting into.”

Nevertheless, Schupf’s music-technology Master’s degree led her into recording studios, where she cultivated meaningful relationships that molded the direction of her career. These early music company lessons laid the groundwork for a 15-year run in publishing, which factored into the direction of her MAX Music Management and Consulting business. 

“I really fell in love with that,” Schupf said of music publishing. “And with working with songwriters and producers and people behind the scenes. I absolutely love that, and that’s what led to having my management be focused on songwriters and producers, although I do work with artists as well.” 

 

Unlocking the Doors of the Music Industry

The sum of Schupf and Lopez’s respective experiences as women – both professionally and personally – unlocked work-related doors and helped them forge the skills required to succeed.  That was a central theme throughout the hour-long livestream event. 

In other words, by absorbing knowledge on the job, striving for noteworthy accomplishments, and balancing jam-packed personal lives, the panelists equipped themselves with the tools needed to overcome any and all gender-specific obstacles. 

“I think that women have to work hard, but not because that’s the expectation,” said Lopez. “We should all work hard, we should all pull our weight, and we should all be proud of the work we do. So there should be heart and commitment and devotion. And I don’t think that you can do those things without busting your ass.” 

The eminent music executive proceeded to note that a desire for meaningful accomplishments isn’t the sole reason she goes above and beyond. Rather, she pushes herself on the job to make clear that she’s an asset to the music industry as well as her home – and that the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

 

Fans can catch the full replay of the Songtradr Happy Hour on YouTube.

 

Watch the full panel discussion:

 

Watch other Songtradr Happy Hour Sessions in full:

 

The content of this post was written by Paul Resnikoff and Dylan Smith of Digital Music News, as a broader partnership with Songtradr.

 

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