The Industry Connection

AVA GOES IRL PART 2

We think there are too many award show parties for your bosses, so we are throwing our own “Not Your Boss’ Grammy Party” on Friday, Feb. 2 in LA. When it comes to chronically online producers and DJs, it doesn’t get much bigger than veggi (aka @veggibeats) so he’s joining us for the fun. Plus an open bar..

A Look Back:

• 📰 Luminate released their 2023 year end report  

  • Highlights:

    • Album consumption increased 12.6%

    • Total U.S. album sales grew 5.2%

    • Since 2021, there’s been a -4.8% decrease in English-language music’s share amongst the Top 10K most-streamed songs in the U.S., and notably, a +3.8% increase in Spanish-language music’s share in that same timeframe.

    • Alt. Rock is the largest growing sub-genre in the U.S.

    • R&B/hip-hop continues to hold firm as the top U.S. core genre by total album consumption

    • Vinyls were the leading configuration for album purchases for the third year in a row.

Interview with Katie Hill SVP, Head of Music, Entertainment and Artist Relations

As SVP, Head of Music, Entertainment and Artist Relations, Katie leads artist and ambassador engagement as well as talent booking for Global Citizen’s events, broadcast programs and campaigns.

Since joining Global Citizen in 2014, Katie Hill has booked and produced over 30 global music festivals, television programs and marketing campaigns on 6 continents. She has also attracted the world’s biggest artists and entertainers to support Global Citizen’s events and campaigns including: Beyoncé, Coldplay, JAY-Z, Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Rihanna, BTS, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, Shakira, Stevie Wonder, Metallica, The Weeknd, Cardi B, Shawn Mendes, J Balvin, Maluma and many more.

What is even more impressive is the tangible difference she’s made in the lives of so many through the philanthropic endeavors of Global Citizen. Read about her story and the incredible impact of her work below:

AvA: How did you get involved in the music industry, and what drove you to working with Global Citizen? 

Katie Hill: I grew up around music from an early age, and started dance when I was three years old. Being around dance, I was around music. My parents also loved music and my mom brought me to my first concert at five years old: Whitney Houston at the Minnesota State Fair. I continued loving concerts in high school and college and my first role after college was working for Marc Ecko, who is the founder of Ecko Unlimited and COMPLEX media. I worked for Marc across his different brands for seven years, getting exposed to many different aspects of the entertainment industry from PR and magazine cover shoots to clothing endorsement deals with celebrities. 

During that time I met a friend of a friend Jason Milner who is a tour manager and was consulting for Global Citizen back in 2014. It was the first year that they were planning to do multiple events in the same year, so they were looking for support with artist outreach and securing the lineup for the different events. He was about to go back on a tour and they were looking for somebody to fill that gap, so I decided to take a three month contract with Global Citizen. Now I’m going into my ninth year and haven’t looked back… 

AvA: What is your role with Global Citizen? 

Hill: I lead our Music and Entertainment team, which involves securing the lineup for all of our different campaigns and events around the world. I also oversee our artists ambassador program, which aims to develop long term impactful partnerships with artists and to give them the opportunity to make an impact on issues that they're passionate about.

AvA: For someone not familiar with Global Citizen, can you explain the goals and structure of the platform? 

Hill: Global Citizen is an advocacy organization working to end extreme poverty, which is defined as those living on less than $1.90 per day. Our movement is powered by millions of activists around the world that are taking action on our platform including making phone calls, signing petitions, sending emails, etc. . For all of those actions they're taking, they're earning points that they can redeem for free tickets to come to our events, and see artists performing around the world. We're really encouraging people to use their voice and take action to end extreme poverty. 

Since 2012, we have seen over 33.9 million actions taken on our platform that have led to over $43.6 billion dollars in commitments, and have positively impacted 1.3 billion lives.

AvA: How do you approach booking artists for each project you work on? 

Hill: The first thing I always try to do is to work with artists who are passionate about the work that we're doing. Obviously we are a nonprofit organization, and artists are donating their time to support our mission. Rihanna, who headlined the Central Park festival, was very passionate about making an impact on global education, and we worked with her over three years to raise $2.3 billion to ensure that children in the poorest countries have access to quality education. We really see the impact grow when artists are passionate about issues that we're campaigning on

Then of course there is the logistics side. It always helps if artists are in cycle and have a show and crew together since we are not paying artists to perform. 

AvA:  What are some of the unique challenges of working on a Global Citizen event vs. a more "standard" concert or tour? 

Hill: Given the nature of an advocacy organization, many times we are responding to crises or trying to help people on a very compressed timeline. One example that comes to mind is at the start of the Pandemic, we partnered with Lady Gaga to launch One World: Together At Home, which brought over 100 artists together, and raised $127.9 million for WHO’s COVID Solidarity Response Fund. That was all achieved in just 33 days. 

Then at the start of 2022, we launched the Stand Up for Ukraine campaign, which was on a similar timeline of 30 days, and we were able to raise $10 billion to support refugees and individuals that were displaced due to the conflict. So those types of campaigns tend to happen very quickly, and we’re rallying artists together on a very tight turnaround. 

AvA: Your partnership with pgLang and Kendrick Lamar, Move Afrika, just held its first event in Rwanda on Dec. 6. What impact do you hope to achieve with the five-year series? 

Hill: There are two parts to that. The first is really to help pioneer an international touring circuit across the African continent. We’ve hosted one-off events in Africa since the start of the Global Citizen movement. In 2018, we hosted Global Citizen Mandela 100, headlined by Beyonce and Jay-Z. In 2021, we hosted an event at the New Afrika Shrine in Lagos as part of our Global Citizen Live campaign. Then in 2022, we hosted a festival in Black Star Square in Accra, Ghana, that Usher, SZA and Stormzy headlined. Those events have been incredible, and have been very impactful, but we have not seen artists able to do a proper tour in Africa. I would say 90 percent of world tours do not go to the African continent, so we are incredibly excited to be working on this five-year partnership with the pgLang team and Kendrick to change that

The second part of it is about job creation, which helps our mission of ending extreme poverty. We are training production crews, lighting, security, staging teams, etc. to develop their skills and host these events regularly, while also giving them a steady income. 

We had over 1,000 Rwandans employed as part of Move Afrika: in Rwanda. We're excited to be going back there again later this year, for the next five years, and growing in new markets as well.

AvA: What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone just starting out in their career?  

Hill: Say yes to opportunities, even if they seem intimidating or scary. You never know what you're going to learn and who you're going to meet, and many times at least in my experience, those scary moments are often the ones that lead to incredible opportunities and next steps in your career. 

That also carries over outside of work and into your personal life. Last year I was asked to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, and while it was never something that I wanted to do, I said yes. It really pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I learned a lot about myself. 

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs and Internships

💼 = Job | 🎒 = Internship

💼 Executive Assistant to CEO - LISTEN TO THE KIDS - LA - Apply Here

💼 Senior Day to Day, Touring, Forward Artist Management - LA - Send resumes to [email protected]

💼 Office Assistant / Assistant Floater - Innovative Artists - NYC - Resumes can be sent to [email protected] 

💼 Associate, Music Clearance and Licensing - Netflix - LA - Apply Here

💼 Sync Partnerships - Multiple Levels - UnitedMasters - LA - Apply Here

💼 Talent Management Intern (unpaid) - ADDITION Digital Strategies - LA (Virtual) - Resume and cover letter to [email protected].

💼 Booking Agent - MEANWHILE Agency - Amsterdam - Apply Here

💼 Senior Brand Manager - Live Nation - NYC - Apply Here

💼 Beyond Wonderland Seasonal Experience Fest Team Member - Insomniac - San Bernardino, CA - Apply Here

💼 Booking Coordinator - Venue Coalition - Camarillo, CA - Apply Here

💼 Music Licensing Administrator - WWE (Owned by Endeavor) - Stamford, CT - Apply Here

💼 International Production Coordinator - Disney Music Group - Burbank, CA - Apply Here

🎒 Artist Management Intern - Afterhours - NYC - Apply Here

🎒 Music Project Management Intern - Create Music Group - LA - Apply Here

🎒 Music Marketing Internship - STILETTO Entertainment - LA - Apply Here

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This newsletter is written by Warner Bailey (connect with me here). Edited by Malik Figaro. 

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