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
Christine Kakaire: Music Journalist & Black Creative Database
“Christine Kakaire has been a music journalist, community advocate, voice of reason and voice for underrepresented artists and communities for over a decade now. I have always admired her courage, her speaking of truth to power, her integrity, and her strength and it's long overdue that I nominate her for this list. While she has done lots of work in raising awareness and funds for causes and communities in the past, this November she announced the Black Artist Database - which aims to increase visibility for Black creatives globally. In her own words, she hopes that this initiative will help to "spark and proliferate more Black cultural properties, from hyper-local projects to cross-continental linkups, that are Black-owned, Black-run and Black creatively directed." I am in awe of her and hope everyone comes to know and support her work.”- Liz Miller
Jordyn Reese: Global Head of Advertising
“Jordyn is a rockstar through and through. Not only is she incredibly skilled but also a creative thinker and leader. She built, launched & scaled a woman led global advertising agency within ONErpm’s digital distributor focused on helping independent creators cultivate digital audiences worldwide and increase direct to fan accessibility for smaller artists to organically build audiences (within a male dominated company) during the pandemic.”- Cristina Vinces
Kenny Eshinlokun: Founder
“Kenny is a force to be reckoned with! Ten years experience in music including working closely with Claptone she is from London but now has founded her own branding agency in Berlin called Taboo. In a social media and ad dominated world we need insightful people putting together well thought out campaigns which benefit artists, brands and society and culture as a whole. Taboo: "WE SPECIALISE IN THE ART OF CREATING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR BRAND-TO-ARTIST COLLABORATIONS AND GIVING ARTISTS THE BEST CHANCE TO EXPAND THEIR LONG TERM REACH." Kenny also recently hosted a first panel of many i'm sure, with the black music coalition at Abbey Road and was featured in GQ.”- Sophia Kearney
Kimber Warren- Davis: Creator Marketing Manager, Video at Instagram
“Kimber's ultimate goal is to help creators. Unlocking all opportunities to help creators find success and express their true selves. This mantra has traveled with Kimber from her time at Spotify and now Instagram. She continues to break down barriers and complexities for creators by having a creator first mentality. Knowing short form video can be challenging for some creators, she invests her time and patience in making sure creators know tips, tricks and best practices. She goes deeper with her relationships with creators by listening to their needs and working directly with marketing and product teams to get creators what they need to succeed on social platforms. Connection looked different these last two years due to covid but Kimber has made a special effort to make sure any and every creator that comes her way feels appreciated and heard.”- Kimber Warren
Meike Nolte: Head of Artist Services
“Meike has always been hugely supportive and innovative at Beatport ever since I've known her for years. She was particularly incredible during our HE.SHE.THEY. partnership with Beatport for the Pride stream in June 2020 which helped garner over 1.2 million views. She's switched on, intelligent, understands the needs and nuances of artists and their teams and works hard on solutions as well as being super fun to be around.”- Sophia Kearney
Monique Wallace: Founder
“Monique is a brilliant PR, and after cutting her teeth at Island Records and Worldwide Friendly Society, she has launched her own business this year, called Parottee. Despite launching a business during a particularly turbulent time, Monique is thriving. Her passion and knowledge for this industry is inspiring, and if you're ever stuck for something to listen to, she is THE person to go to for music recommendations.” - Rachel White
Nikki McNeill: CEO
Nikki McNeill is a force of nature in the Electronic Dance Music Industry. As CEO of Global Publicity she has worked for the past 20 years with international clients including Amsterdam Dance Event, Eurosonic, Noorderslag, Exit Festival, Secret Solstice and Lowlands. Her publicity campaigns and care of international press is legendary. Nikki leads the Brighton shesaid.so chapter inspiring women in their careers in the music industry. She supports the next generation of global publicists, artists and industry workers and inspires with regular events and mentoring programmes. And if that wasn’t enough, Nikki’s “Meet Me Backstage” Podcast shares industry insider tips from her network to encourage and support the next generation.
She is a worthy winner for the power list and contributes to the new creative economy on many levels, I recommend her whole-heartedly for the list as an industry champion. - Sally J Freeman
Pilar Rashad: Marketing Consultant
“Pilar’s work in the music scene spans 3 continents and dozens of projects over the last 6 years. Fuelled by a vision of cultivating an electronic music scene across the Middle East and North Africa, Pilar has worked independently as a marketing consultant for regional labels, collectives and culture projects.
Her portfolio includes work for international brands — MUTEK, Electronic Beats, RBMA and Boiler Room — as well as cultural projects that amplify Arab talent, like Groove On The Grass, a homegrown festival in Dubai which curated some of the most unique artist lineups in the region while shedding a light on local electronic acts.”- Pilar Rashad
Soy Kim: Creator Product Marketing
“Soy is an absolutly incredible leader, advocate, mentor, and human. As a Creator Product Marketer at Spotify, Soy works towards bringing in a lens of inclusivity and diverse representation for all types of artists into the product development and marketing messaging for Creator-facing Spotify tools.
Today, she continues to live out this mission as Program Management Lead for SPACE, Spotify’s Asian and Pacific Islander employee resource group. For AAPI Heritage Month this year, Soy spearheaded educational initiatives for the company, bringing in speakers like Simu Liu (Marvel’s Shang-Chi and Legend of the Ten Rings) to host candid discussions around AAPI allyship for the entire company. She was also selected to serve as a mentor for the Asian American Collective community. Soy works harder than anyone I know and this recgonition would be so well-deserved.”- Annie Stoll
Tasha Demi & Whitney Asomani: Directors / Founders
“Twenty:Two Agency was founded in 2020 by music execs Tasha Demi & Whitney Asomani. The agency prides itself on actively representing the modern landscape and providing indispensable access to independent marketeers with the mileage and experience in successful international and domestic campaigns
Twenty:two Agency's core values to nurture new talent, and we are really keen to continue to provide access to knowledge and improve literacy in order to unlock some of the barriers to access in the music industry.
Co-founded by music industry executives TASHA DEMI and WHITNEY ASOMANI, TWENTY:TWO presents itself as a dynamic marketing and creative agency which was conceived with the purpose of creating meaningful connections between culture, music and communities. We really wanted to create an agency to represent the music industry of today, the modern landscape, and the new way of working.
The two respected executives can boast over two decades of industry experience and met at Sony Music in 2018 after taking up positions within ‘Since ‘93’ a newly founded JV within RCA Records where they worked across talent included Aitch, Loski, Travis Scott, Future, NSG, EYK, Brockhampton, Scribz Riley and Lolo Zouai.”- Tasha Demi