Joanna Phillips our Label Manager - Another Rhythm
“I’ve been working at The Other Songs for 5 years, working closely with our founders Alastair and Billy Webber and CBO Sophia since the first few years that the company began. I started whilst finishing off my IMB degree as an assistant and then coordinator across the company, as we expanded my role streamlined to manage our dance and electronic label imprint Another Rhythm. Since managing the label and working closely with Billy Webber we’ve had 200+ releases, 200M+ streams and Gold and Platinum records.”
How does your role give you autonomy, enjoyment and creative control over your work?
"This company has always been a huge part of my identity, it’s not just my career. I started working about 7 years ago in a range of music internships after graduating from The BRIT School but without having a clear idea of which department I wanted to work in. When I joined The Other Songs I went head first into everything from management assisting, content curation for releases, social planning, release planning, budget management, legal. I consider myself an all rounder so it was vital to have a company environment to try out a range of different skills and not feel like a cog in a wheel all the time. The Other Songs is the perfect place for that exact reason. I always knew I wanted to manage a team and I’m proud to be training employees, building processes and structure which allows me to take an overall view on where Another Rhythm sits in the space as a label. My goals moving forward are to continue to think ahead commercially and culturally for the company, thinking every day ‘Am I making an impact on achieving more for our company, our artists and releases?’"
We asked Joanna how she’d like to empower women in the music industry…
I have grown a WhatsApp community of over 350+ female and non binary music industry executives, artists, radio hosts, managers, label execs, lawyers, live agents, press and DSP editors based in London with the aim of connecting over a beer at the pub and sharing resources. Hearing multiple stories from women from all positions across the industry I feel like its more important now than ever to assess whether we’re pushing the boundaries of which types of roles women are being hired into, we need more female dance A&Rs to balance out the A&R field for example and make the role more inviting to those who come after us. I’ve recently taken an interest and conscious effort to improve social mobility within entry level roles in the industry. I really want to help place those from working class backgrounds in roles they might not have access or opportunity to, from across the country.