NOISEMAKERS:
THE HEAT WAVE
In our latest roundup, we present eight rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
This week's entrants will also find their mugs in our latest mag. Thankfully, they can lament this mortifying experience while switching out their Coachella flower crowns for Stagecoach cowboy boots.
Pedro Pincay
Manager U.S. Latin, Artist Partnerships, Spotify
Pincay wrapped 2022 by helping Spotify co-host a party for Bad Bunny to celebrate his record-breaking World’s Hottest Tour. The Bronx native also had a hand in designing the championship rings presented to Benito that night. Since then, Pincay’s been contributing to the creation of Casa Spotify Puerto Rico and the latest “Fuego Mixtapes” campaign. He previously led digital marketing at Vevo for The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, J Balvin and Justin Bieber. Pincay claims his collection of OVO merchandise rivals that of Drake himself. As far as we know, neither owns any HITS merch.
Sanam Khalili
Music Marketing Manager, Range Media Partners
Since joining Range last year―from Columbia, where she worked on Harry Styles’ marketing efforts, Khalili has scaled the team’s music-data capabilities to help artists like Cordae achieve exponential social-media growth. She most recently collaborated with Saweetie to map digital strategy, locked in brand partnerships for Tyga and Bazzi and executed a deal with Twitch for WondaGurl. Khalili’s passion for all things fan-engagement started back in 2011 when she had a cameo in Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never 3D concert film. We’ve been called “disengaged.”
Michael Lewis
A&R Manager, Nonstop Management
The runaway success of Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” has been one of Lewis’ favorite career experiences. Co-written by Nonstop’s Michael Pollack, the single has broken both streaming and airplay records. As part of Pollack’s team, Lewis is working on projects with the likes of Lewis Capaldi, Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Kim Petras and Glaive. He’s also overseeing the career of artist-songwriter-producer SAINT KID. In college, Lewis helped produce and promote events for students studying abroad in Barcelona, Ibiza, Rome and Prague. We slept through our classes.
Abby Sprague
Vice President, Marketing, Mom + Pop Music
Sprague’s marketing plans have led to gold and platinum certifications and #1 hits for artists like Ashe (2b+ streams), Beach Bunny (1.4b+), Caamp (1b+) and Tom Morello (who, among other achievements, was ranked #40 in Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists). She’s now working on marketing initiatives for Goth Babe (390m+ streams), who’s touring this year, and SEB, who can claim 175m streams and 1m+ TikTok creations. In her free time, Sprague fosters dogs, though she may have reached her limit with two, which means she has no room for our distemper.
Fiona Frawley
Senior Project Director, Marketing, Red Bull Records
Frawley considers herself blessed to have managed jazz legend Al Jarreau, overseen campaigns for Grammy winner De La Soul and worked with, among others, Tony Bennett, Pearl Jam, Laura Marling and The Kooks. Moreover, since 2020, she’s played a major role in breaking Grammy nominee Blxst, including driving radio success for his EP single, “Passionate” f/Roddy Ricch. She’s also running album initiatives for The Aces and Albert Hammond Jr, plus Beartooth’s single “Sunshine!” This former champion surfer also holds a law degree. We can barely tie our shoes.
Drex Blue
Director of A&R, Island
Blue walked the iHeartRadio Music Awards red carpet in March with SleazyWorld Go, who was nominated for Best New Hip-Hop Artist. Having basked in the success of Sleazy’s rookie year, marked by the double-platinum Urban radio #1 “Sleazy Flow Remix” f/Lil Baby, Blue’s looking forward to the release of his debut album in 2023, plus new music from recent signing Lil Nuu, whose first single, “Wicked Inna RaQ 2” with G Herbo, has spawned a buzzing video. Blue had no intention of working in music; he initially wanted to design bridal wear. We’re always a bridesmaid.
Bekah Digby
Director, Streaming, Big Machine Label Group
Given that Tim McGraw is one of Digby’s favorite artists, she was beyond thrilled to plan the launch of his current single, “Standing Room Only,” which saw its title teased on a McGraw-curated DSP playlist, a move that drew national media attention. “SRO” went on to earn more first-week streams than any other McGraw single. She followed that up by ushering Live at the Ryman by Jackson Dean, deemed an “artist to watch” by Spotify and Amazon Music, into the marketplace. Digby’s come a long way since her first job―at McDonald’s. We’ve just supersized.
Victoria Huber
Director, Marketing, Epic Records
Among the highlights of Huber’s career thus far was hearing fans sing along to Mimi Webb’s “Goodbye” during a sold-out 2022 show at New York’s Irving Plaza. Starting as a marketing assistant in 2013, she’s proud to now serve as a product manager for some of her favorite acts, including 2023 BRIT Awards Best New Artist nominee Webb, Meghan Trainor, Zara Larsson (“Can’t Tame Her”) and Eddie Benjamin, who’s working on his debut album. Huber tells us her favorite food is pork roll, egg and cheese on a bagel. Not as kosher as you might think, but delicious.
