Alternative Power 100 Music List 2021
The moment we've been waiting for is here!
Find out who made it in this year’s Alternative Power 100 Music list 2021 partnership with Patreon.
We want to say a huge thank you for all your nominations, celebrations and kind words about others, it's been so inspiring to read them all. Congratulations to everyone on the list, and everyone who received a nomination! With the challenges we've all faced this year it's important to take time to celebrate the things we've achieved and the people who inspired us.
From those architecting new ways of owning work to people building a new creative economy where the independent community can fully thrive, across 10 categories, our list is full of inspirational change makers and future thinkers from across the world. From Artist Managers to Sound Creators and forward thinking business minds we're so excited to see where you all go next!
With love, from the shesaid.so team
Bel Aztiria: Manager, International Music Strategy
“In 2021 Spotify launched a market leading investment in women and took significant steps to re-shaping the music industries relationship with female creators, Bel ideated, developed and launched that investment under the EQUAL brand. Over the past year, she's worked with a team of nearly 100 people from across the Spotify organisation to drive visibility and change for women in music. She did this because she's passionate and believes it's the right thing to do.
She's an incredible advocate, ambassador and ally and deserves to be recognised for her tireless work in this space.” - Andy Vincent
Eunice Obianagha: Founder/Director- ENSPIRE Management
“Eunice is involved in everything! Every time I talk with her she's doing something else between her work with the MOBOs, her work with Small Green Shoots, with Tileyard & more. I've never seen someone give so much of themselves to so many amazing organizations and she does it without very much recognition. There are so many amazing events that just never would have happened without her incredibly hard work with organization, event management, advising & more. She's an institution in her own right in UK music.” - Christine Osazuwa
Géraldine Zanaska: Founder
“Geraldine has been running her creative business Compass Music for a couple of years now. From supporting award-winning festivals to raising their international profiles to training many artists and managers via various workshops to working on EU projects. She now launched Lighthouse, the new digital platform and marketplace to empower independent music professionals to finally get the recognition and money they deserve. Lighthouse was built as a knowledge sharing platform, with the aim to help industry peeps from around the world to find the right expertise and guidance to help them in their international development journey.” - Isabel Sachs
Hazel Savage: CEO and Co-Founder
“Hazel Savage is the rock-loving, guitar-toting CEO and co-founder of Musiio, a multi-million-dollar-valued AI company that helps everyone from DJs to major streaming services by allowing them to search and tag vast music catalogues with ease.Having done everything from stacking shelves in HMV to working at the forefront of multinational music with companies such as Universal, Pandora, and Shazam, Savage has a unique vantage point on the entire music industry. Today, she travels the globe, helping to educate appreciative audiences about how emerging AI technology works, how it can be leveraged, and the case for it being adopted at all levels of the music business.
Musiio currently have over 50 clients on board, including major names such as Hipgnosis, Vans, and Beatstars. With Savage at the helm, they are currently working on enhancing the global reach of their customers (including Europe, the UK, the US and more), and staying ahead of the competition in what Musiio have defined as a growing market. The 360° appreciation that Savage has, however, ensures that both she and her company are still well ahead of the pack.” - Tessa Harrison
Hiba Irshad: Director, A&R
“Hiba is currently the Director of A&R at JioSaavn, the global leader in South Asian streaming music. She led the creative direction for collaborations with U2, Dillon Francis, and Marshmello, Pink Sweat$, and Tiesto. She advises major labels, including Atlantic and Universal, on artist collaboration and development. Hiba launched original content initiatives, including JioSaavn Podcasts and Artist Originals, the most coveted label for South Asian music. She also creates marketing campaigns and strategic partnerships to amplify JioSaavn’s global reach. In 2017, she green-lit and marketed Bom Diggy, which garnered over 100 million streams and placement in a big-budget Bollywood movie. She’s led the releases for several other global successes, one of which landed in Barack Obama’s summer playlist. More recently, she led the placement of Teri Baaton by Raghav in The White Tiger on Netflix. ” - Ankita Dasgupta
Liz Northeast: General Manager UK
“Liz has been a breath of fresh air at FUGA and as soon as I met her, I knew she was here to shake things up for the better. In less than a year she has been promoted from Client Relations Director EMEA to General Manager of our UK office and it's one of the most deserved promotions I've ever known. She approaches everything and everyone with a no-nonsense attitude, allowing her to get shit done and she's not afraid to push the boundaries and approach life with a "ask for forgiveness, not permission attitude", which is something I greatly admire and look up to. She's done all of this with an innate sense of kindness, a quality that can sometimes be easily forgotten in our industry when it comes to "getting shit done" and for this, I admire her even more. She is making moves for FUGA in the UK and doing it with intelligence, grace and humility and I couldn't be more thankful to have someone like Liz to look up to and work with every day.”- Melissa Fernie
Maria Panayi: EMEA music marketing lead
“Maria finds herself at the heart of an organisation helping change the shape of the music industry and artist engagement, having joined TikTok a year ago. In her role she leads music marketing and strategic partnerships across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, helping TikTok connect with the industry and the audiences it serves.
A passionate campaigner for diversity, equality and inclusion, Maria feels strongly that all organisations in the music business must use their influence to build and shape a more inclusive future for the industry and is co-chair of Women @ TikTok Europe employee resource group, a collective of 1,000 people who are building a culture at TikTok for women to thrive.”- Maria Panayi
Nur Ozdamar: Artist & Label Development
Born and raised in Istanbul, Nur completed her MA in Design Management at the University of the Arts London, focusing her studies on the intersection of brands, music, and Design Thinking.
She spent 10 years in New York working at companies such as Cornerstone, Translation, Viacom, FRUKT and Universal Music Group collaborating with brands, artists and media partners including Pepsi, Sonos, Mass Appeal, Complex, The Weeknd, Pusha T and Kanye West.
Since 2019, Nur has been leading the Artist and Label Development team at YouTube in London, where she oversees the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Her team contributes to the development of emerging labels and artists such as Tems, Arlo Parks, Paranoid 1966, Pa Salieu, Zoe Wees, Meekz, Rote Mütze Raphi, COLORS, Shygirl, and many more.
Shauna Alexander: Vice President, Global Brand Partnerships
“For the past 10+ years, I've been advocating for emerging artists ("creators") by thoughtfully connecting them to brands through innovative and successful partnerships. It's a bit like playing Robin Hood, but instead of stealing, I'm educating brands on why it strategically makes more sense to invest in early stage musicians rather than big, splashy stars. It's been a hard fought battle, but now that I'm at a global platform like SoundCloud, this gospel has been well received by major Fortune 500 brands like Adobe, AT&T, FritoLay, Hulu, McDonalds, Old Spice, Swiffer, Toyota, Verizon and many more. Under my leadership, SoundCloud has paid out over $500K to emerging artists through integrated brand partnership opportunities -- no easy feat given the competitive advertising landscape during COVID. Emerging artists need support, and I'm here to give it to them especially when it comes to connecting with brands.” - Shauna Alexander
Tolu Ayeni: Strategic Partner Manager, Instagram Music
“Tolu truly is a mastermind when it comes to combining innovation, music and creators (which is not always an easy task). Tolu sees a bridge and brings artists closer to creators. She does this through connection. She constantly makes sure her partners have what they need to grow and feel a part of the Instagram ecosystem. Artists are her first priority but she always makes time for creators. Sharing how to use music and audio to make the best content. Not only is she a trusted source in the music industry, her personality is warm. Personally she's always been there for me with any career conversation and personal growth. I value her as a leader and as a friend. Tolu is The New Creative Economy. She knows where culture is going and she's taking everyone along for the ride.” - Kimber Warren.