NOISEMAKERS:
FAB FEMALES
In observance of Women's History Month, our latest roundup features eight women from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
Making us look good is above their pay grade.
Leah Bublis
VP, Creative Sync & Strategy, Range Media Partners
Take it from JAY-Z—Leah is “The Sync Queen.” Overseeing sync strategy for Range’s music clients, she helped Justin Tranter become exec music producer for the Paramount+ series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (out 4/6), secured Cordae’s “Checkmate” as the theme for Madden 23, broke WondaGurl into the world of composing and helped introduce Luke Grimes as an artist by syncing his first release in Yellowstone, not to mention securing key placements for Jack Harlow, Ryan Bingham, D Smoke, TALK and INJI. Bublis is accepting recs for the best chocolate cake in L.A., just not from us.
Adrienne Fitzpatrick
VP, Streaming & Revenue (Pop & Dance), Warner Records
Fitzpatrick has loved working on Grammy-nominated projects like RÜFÜS DU SOL’s 2021 Surrender and David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s platinum “I’m Good” (2022), as well as Dua Lipa’s multiplatinum “Levitating,” which was the #1 most-streamed song in the U.S. in 2021. She’s currently elevating acts like Benson Boone—recently named an Amazon Breakthrough Artist—and gearing up for new music from ILLENIUM, Nessa Barrett and Teddy Swims. AncestryDNA found that Fitzpatrick is 10% Swedish, making her “genetically destined to have great taste in pop music.” We can’t relate.
Allegra Chautin
Senior Director, Digital Strategy, Republic
Moving from London to New York six years ago, Chautin never imagined she’d help revive MySpace for the re-release of Nicki Minaj’s Beam Me Up Scotty or work with The Weeknd on his Super Bowl campaign and see him break records with “Blinding Lights.” She’s now excited about Daniel Caesar’s upcoming album, Never Enough (due 4/7), and breaking R&B trio FLO in the U.S. as they embark on their first U.S. tour. Chautin landed her first music job at 18 by cold-emailing one of London’s biggest DJs 120 questions asking how to break into the biz. No one wants to email us.
Jaime Finkel
Artist Manager, Quest Artist Management/Maverick
Among other career highlights, Finkel watched client Shania Twain perform with Harry Styles at Coachella last year and has filmed Instagram live videos with Paul McCartney from his closet. Looking ahead, she’s helping prepare projects by Jon Batiste—including his feature on Lana Del Rey’s “Candy Necklace”—the self-titled debut album by Cecilia Castleman (arriving via Glassnote this year) and work by clients like Andrea Bocelli and Matteo Bocelli. “I’m shockingly good at bar trivia,” Finkel insists. As with most things, we’re shockingly bad.
Caroline Ellis
Senior Director, A&R, Island Records
Ellis fondly recalls the time Island staffers dressed up for Chappell Roan’s sold-out, pop-star-themed show at NYC’s Webster Hall. Ellis is now focused on Roan’s debut album (with Dan Nigro as executive producer) and first headlining tour; new material by Dora Jar, who, after supporting Billie Eilish, closed out 2022 with her own road show; and South African Will Linley, who played his first U.S. show in February after supporting OneRepublic on their South African tour. Ellis has done some stick-and-poke tattoos on her artists. Most people want to stick us.
Dionna Johnson
Director of Marketing, EMPIRE
Johnson is grateful to be working with artists like Yung Bleu (Moon Boy), T-Pain (“I Like Dat”), Black Sherif and Fireboy DML, who hit #1 on the U.S. Afrobeats Songs Chart with his platinum single “Peru” f/Ed Sheeran, which also hit #2 on the U.K. Official Singles chart. The marketing exec currently has her hands full with new projects from, among others, T-Pain, Fireboy DML, Olamide and Inayah. A native of Portland, Oregon, she has studied dance and can hold a “nice soprano note.” We’ve got two left feet and are as tone-deaf as they come.
Kate Richardson
Director of A&R, Crush Music
Richardson went from seeing Green Day in the nosebleed seats at the Rose Bowl to watching Billie Joe and Mike Dirnt do classic rock covers at L.A.’s 250-capacity Moroccan Lounge. At the moment, she’s dedicated to management client Suzy Shinn,―who’s produced four records for Weezer as well as artists like EKKSTACY and Frances Forever. She’s likewise stoked to be working with alt creators Jonny Coffer and Jake Sinclair. In unrelated news, Richardson notes, “I don’t have a high school diploma or a college degree.” Our education was limited to rolling blunts.
Nina Nwofia
Account Director, Commercial Strategy, Ingrooves
Nwofia will never forget drinking Clase Azul for the first time, with Sech backstage at a live YouTube performance. Nwofia is today devoted to digital-retail marketing for TWICE’s Ready to Be and NewJeans, who have two songs climbing Spotify’s Daily Top Global and U.S. charts. Outside K-pop, you’ll find her working on release strategies for artists like Musiq Soulchild, Tech N9ne and MadeinTYO. Nwofia hosted a radio show at Howard University called “Incense & Candles.” We need all the advice we can get.
