I began by studying Journalism at RMIT and quickly determined that my favourite category of news to cover was music/culture. I began presenting/producing music shows on community radio (SYN 90.7) while at uni as well as writing interviews/reviews for various music outlets including ‘Beat’, ‘Music Feeds’ & ‘Tone Deaf’. In between that I dipped my toes into lots of other areas through various internships (Little Giant Agency PR, VMDO) before landing a position as Sub-Editor at Beat Magazine in 2018. That year I was also afforded the opportunity to participate in The Push Music Pathways Mentorship Program which was a huge springboard for me in terms of career clarity and enhancing my networking ability. I landed the role of Publicist at UNIFIED Music Group in early 2019.

As the saying goes, no two days are the same! My job encompasses a lot of writing and preparing messaging (through band bios and press releases), so my day might be spent chatting to our artists about their story/new music and then writing up their bio or press release to convey this to the media world. I spend a lot of time planning and strategising around how I’ll approach media before the label launches into a new release campaign and then follow by pitching interviews, feature content and reviews out to outlets and then scheduling interviews with our artists. Then there’s tracking all our coverage and reporting this to the team and our artists.

The passion in the heavy/alt scene is unwavering and totally inspiring. I particularly love that there’s such a supportive, welcoming nature about it!

I have worked with some amazing women who have mentored me in specific areas and generally demonstrated incredible character and leadership since I began in the music industry. Some that spring to mind are Gloria Brancatisano, who guided me through hosting my first ever radio show on SYN and went on to be my Editor at ‘Beat’. Bonnie Dalton & Katie Stewart, both amazing women that I crossed paths with while interning at the VMDO as it was just launching – those two worked that thing so passionately from the ground up! Also my mentor from The Push program, Carolyn Logan of Penney & Logan PR, taught me so much about giving it a go, trusting myself and having a hard skin, soft heart. Of course I’m also incredibly inspired by the girls in my UNFD team – each do an incredible job (in roles that genuinely daunt me) and they are just awesome to work with.

Absolutely to be themselves and lean into their spunk. This goes miles when organically building a socials/fans community and then in piquing media interest down the track for those all-important interviews/stories on you and your music!

Be encouraged by the amazing women in our industry these days and the rate that this is growing. Keep growing, keep going, there’s a spot for you too!

Absolutely not. Networking, mentorship, keeping your eyes open to learning and opportunity, plus a healthy dose of faith and patience will get you there.

Melbourne – it’s coming back! I have only been to a few gigs in a post-COVID world but they have been particularly heartwarming and exciting. Seeing artists back in their element and fans back in their favourite community – often the safest, most supportive place they inhabit – has been so special.

I completed the Bachelor of Arts (Music Industry) degree at RMIT University in Melbourne, which was really the start of my journey into the music industry. Throughout uni I was trying to immerse myself in the industry as much as possible by doing volunteer work at festivals such as Splendour In The Grass and St Kilda festival and attending conferences like Face The Music. In addition to this I was also helping out some friends who run the music media publication ‘Finding Figaro’ by doing photography work for them at their face to face interviews or shows they were reviewing. In the final year of my degree I also participated in The Push mentoring program where I was lucky enough to be mentored by Phoebe Zantis. The volunteering, photography work and The Push really helped me start to meet people as I was coming to the end of my degree.

In the final year of my degree, students were required to complete an internship and I was fortunate enough to intern for Bonnie Dalton who at the time was working as an artist manager. Following the completion of my internship with Bonnie and in my last semester of my degree I applied for a junior role within the UNIFIED Recorded Music division and I have been working with the amazing team ever since, gradually moving from the junior role into my current role as Production Manager.

As Production Manager I oversee and handle all of the Recorded Music divisions digital and physical production and distribution. This predominately involves handling the metadata and label copy for all of the label’s releases and submitting the music to digital streaming services, handling the production of vinyl and CDs and co-ordinating the distribution of the stock to all of our warehouses globally.

In addition to this I also handle the production of cloth merchandise within Australia, and the scheduling of all physical products with our Australian retail and direct to consumer stores. Day to day, I’ll often be working on a combination of these tasks for multiple releases. It can be a bit of a juggling act sometime as we’ll normally have multiple campaigns happening at once.

I love the idea that I’m helping break a stereotype as I feel the heavy music scene can be perceived as being very male dominated but there are so many amazing women working within the community.

There are many people that have inspired me throughout my career but a standout would be Bonnie Dalton. Not only has she been so supportive of me but she has an incredible knowledge of the industry and has done so much amazing work across many sectors of it.

I might sound cliché but try to get your music in front of as many people as possible and be persistent. You might not reach your goal overnight but if you put in the leg work and have great music people will likely start paying attention – both music fans and industry professionals. Take advantage of both live and digital promotion, whether that be playing more shows as live music starts up again or cracking the mystery that can be the Internet and having a really strong TikTok or Instagram.

My biggest tip would be to complete internships, whether that be one or multiple. It is the best way to build relationships and gain first-hand experience in the industry. Completing multiple internships can also help you find out what areas of the industry you’re interested in and which ones you’re not. If you can secure an internship with other women working in the industry that’s even better. More times than not women in the industry are more than happy to support and help fellow women trying to enter the community.

At the moment there is no doubt that the biggest threat to the industry is the pandemic and COVID-19. It has effected not only artists but businesses and individuals working in the industry. I don’t think we will ever truly return to what ‘normal’ once was but we will find a new normal and there’s already so much hard work being putting in by so many in the industry to achieve this. There are many things to be done but as shows and festivals are starting up again I’d encourage people to buy tickets and attend their local live venues and support the small businesses and artists that have been hit really hard the last 12 months.

I don’t think higher education is integral in order to start a career in the music industry, however I think there is a lot of knowledge and experience you can gain from completing a music focused degree that you might not be able to get elsewhere. From my personal experience, completing my degree at RMIT gave me opportunities to dip my toes into multiple streams of the industry such as live events, studio recording and production, music business and even a little bit of law, to see which area I had the most interest in before trying to enter the industry. When it came to internships as well I personally think having a tertiary school behind you can be really helpful. That being said I know so many people that have forged amazing careers in the industry that haven’t completed higher education and are self-taught.

I’m very fortune to say I don’t feel I have had to overcome any major challenges in my career to date, I know this is often not the case for many women in music. There have definitely been times that have challenged me – be that juggling the demands of university, part-time work, internships and a healthy social life all that once or be it a challenging campaign or busy work schedule. However, all these challenges ultimately ended up helping me gain the skills and knowledge I have today. I’ve also been very fortunate to have been surrounded by so many amazing and supportive women and men throughout my career so far from university to internships and now at UNIFIED Music Group.

I live in Melbourne and it’s really exciting to see the local music scene slowly spring back to life after the past year of lockdowns due to COVID-19. There is definitely still a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability surrounding live events as Australia and Melbourne try to navigate a ‘COVID normal’ world, however it’s really hopeful to see the industry push through with so much resilience and start getting back to doing what they love and do best. Here in Melbourne we have shows and some one-day festivals running now, either as normal but with reduced capacities or with new creative ways of spacing out crowds, such as punters having their own sectioned booths at larger outdoor shows.