{"id":219218,"date":"2025-01-27T11:34:58","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T11:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=219218"},"modified":"2025-01-27T11:36:31","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T11:36:31","slug":"the-democratization-of-music-has-been-a-revelation-nobody-can-really-tell-you-whos-going-to-be-successful-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/the-democratization-of-music-has-been-a-revelation-nobody-can-really-tell-you-whos-going-to-be-successful-anymore\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The democratization of music has been a revelation. Nobody can really tell you who’s going to be successful anymore.\u2019\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

MBW\u2019s Inspiring Women series profiles female executives who have risen through the ranks of the business, highlighting their career journey \u2013 from their professional breakthrough to the senior responsibilities they now fulfill. Inspiring Women is supported by Virgin Music Group<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

In October, Jennifer Knoepfle<\/strong> was promoted to Head of US A&R at Universal Music Publishing Group<\/strong> following a 20+ year career that\u2019s seen her work closely with the likes of Jack Antonoff, Maggie Rogers, Dan Wilson, Lord Huron, Noah Kahan and Gracie Abrams.<\/p>\n

The new title arrives after two years at the publisher and will sit alongside her other title as EVP. Knoepfle is now tasked with expanding the company\u2019s US A&R team and leading its executives in signing and nurturing new creatives, while finding opportunities for legacy talent.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div> <\/div> \n

As she tells us as part of a wide-ranging interview, for Knoepfle, that means leading UMPG into becoming a \u201cbest in class\u201d publisher that is clearly set above the rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to think that they’re getting a quality of experience when they come to UMPG that is unique and fulfilling,\u201d she says. \u201cThose are very tall things because that requires every single person who’s working on your team to buy into that understanding.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to make sure that you’re setting the expectation, you’re clear that when you come into UMPG, you’re levelling up, whether you’re an artist or an executive here.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div> <\/div> \n

Knoepfle was led to a career in music accidentally. After majoring in Women\u2019s Studies at UCLA, and thinking she\u2019d pursue a career in film, she pivoted to music when an entry-level job came up at ASCAP as her graduation, and pressure from her parents to take a job loomed.<\/p>\n

The pivot made sense: Knoepfle had been heavily involved in the Californian music scene as a teen. Her passion was cultivated by bands like Guns \u2019N Roses, Metallica, Nirvana and Pearl Jam, alongside those who were part of the ska and punk movement in Orange County where she lived at the time, like No Doubt and Sublime.<\/p>\n

Knoepfle concedes she took the ASCAP job on a bit of a whim, but it was a move which eventually set her career path in stone. \u201cIt felt sort of like, \u2018Well, I’ll try this because it’s something that I am deeply passionate about,\u2019 not really believing that there was a career ahead of me in music.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I got into ASCAP and started to understand that I could be on the side of pitching bands to people \u2014 a lot of discovery was happening at that time through ASCAP \u2014 that was the part I really loved. I loved sharing music with people and that felt really natural to me because I’ve been doing that my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n

After 10 years there, during which time Knoepfle brought acts including The Killers and multi-Grammy-winning producer Greg Kurstin into the organisation, she joined Sony Music Publishing in an A&R role.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where she first started working with her now boss at UMPG, Chairman and CEO Jody Gerson, and started to learn how to be a publisher.<\/p>\n

Alongside the monetary aspect of the business, the job offered Knoepfle a crash course in balancing her own personal taste with the needs of the business. \u201cI had to learn how to use my personal taste as a guide but also understand the building that I was in, what Sony needed versus what I personally would need,\u201d she remembers.<\/p>\n

“I learned very quickly that you didn’t just get something because you asked for it. You really had to narrate the reason why you should do something.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI was always figuring out, \u2018How do I align what I love and turn that into something that could be beneficial for Sony, make money and everybody wins?\u2019 I spent a lot of time trying to nail that idea in, alongside learning how to make and close deals and convince people to do my deals.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continues: \u201cThat was a huge learning curve because Jody was such an experienced publisher when I started to work for her and I learned very quickly that you didn’t just get something because you asked for it. You really had to narrate the reason why you should do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/i><\/a>
Credit: Shutterstock\/Debby Wong<\/figcaption><\/figure>Across 12 years there, during which time Knoepfle was elevated to SVP of Creative, she signed and developed songwriters including Jack Antonoff (pictured<\/em>), Aaron Dessner, Dan Nigro, Ariel Rechtshaid, Bloodpop and Joel Little. Artists who joined the publisher under her watch span Rogers and Kahan, alongside Tate McRae, King Princess and Leon Bridges.<\/p>\n

When Knoepfle joined UMPG, many of those names came with her, and her roster today also includes the likes of Lucy Dacus and Lorde.<\/p>\n

Here, we chat to her about her approach to A&R, lessons learned across her career, the evolution of publishing, the music business and much more besides…<\/p>\n

\n
You’ve recently been promoted to Head of US A&R at UMPG. What are your ambitions in that role?<\/h6>\n

I have so many. From the most basic standpoint, I want us to be the best in class. I want people to think that they’re getting a quality of experience when they come to UMPG that is unique and fulfilling.<\/p>\n

I want people to feel like they’re stepping into a really special place. It\u2019s also about putting our money where our mouth is to create the kind of place that is distinct from others. While I’ve always loved collaborating with other executives, I am excited to be the person who gets to make the decisions and lead the way to achieve the goal that I really want to achieve.<\/p>\n

\n
Can you explain a little more about what best in class looks like?<\/h6>\n

What I would be happy with is if people felt like they were getting really thoughtful service. With publishers, sometimes you have a lot of mouths to feed. There’s a lot of people on the roster. My hope is that people can feel like they’re getting a bespoke experience. Their needs might be similar to someone else\u2019s but if we need to pivot and be more specific to someone’s needs, we can do that.<\/p>\n

O<\/span>ftentimes, a complaint I hear about publishers is that they send too many suggestions for collaborators, many of which don\u2019t really make sense for the artist. I think to be effective, it needs to be far more targeted. It requires more work to really drill down on what someone may need, but hopefully the payoff is you have a far better chance of securing a result.<\/p>\n

A best in class experience would be having access to somebody who’s going to be available to you, who’s going to help you make good decisions and who’s going to help make some great suggestions that are in-line with the projects you’re trying to do. Not everybody needs that kind of service so you have to be thinking about what we can do on a bigger picture level and then what we’re doing on a very granular level.<\/p>\n

\n
How would you describe your approach to A&R? How do you get the best out of the creatives that you’re working with?<\/h6>\n

I always approach an artist, no matter what, from a place of, \u2018I trust you, you’re in charge\u2019. It’s always from a place of deep respect for what they bring to the table and a trust in them to do what they feel is best for them. I’m sort of the steward of their wishes.<\/p>\n

A lot of times I approach people from a point of being a crazy fan of their work. Someone was asking me the other day, \u2018Who do you listen to?\u2019 Honestly, I listen to the people that I work with. I just love the music. So I\u2019m a fan, first and foremost, and beyond that, I’m there to help them with whatever they might feel they need from me.<\/p>\n

\n
When you left Sony and went to Universal, a lot of the talent that you signed followed you. What’s the key to creating long-lasting relationships with artists?<\/h6>\n

I think it’s important they understand that you’re on their side and that they’re in the driver’s seat always. It comes down to trust. I made a very conscious choice to make sure that whoever I was working with, they knew that I was available to them. That requires quite a bit of time, work and effort.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s about being super supportive and them trusting me to know that I’m going to be direct with them, whether it’s good news or bad news.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s about being super supportive and them trusting me to know that I’m going to be direct with them, whether it’s good news or bad news. I think some of those things are reasons why people carried on with me. They knew they could trust what I said and that whatever I was thinking about, was probably them first.<\/p>\n

\n
Do you have any habits or rituals that ensure you bring your best self to work?<\/h6>\n

I have a lot of diverse interests and I think those serve what I do as an A&R. Every day, I have a pretty long drive to and from my office so I listen to a bunch of podcasts that have nothing to do with music or try to fill my brain with knowledge about something that has nothing to do with music.<\/p>\n

I don’t really like listening to music I don\u2019t know in the car. If I know it, then I love listening to it, but if it’s demos or things like that, I don’t listen to them in the car. My car is my safe space for either talking to people on the phone or listening to something like a podcast.<\/p>\n

Expanding my brain in a different way helps me be super-focused when I get to the office. I’m not really surfing the internet or doing any of that stuff. I can be very focused on the job because I have all this time in the morning when I’m driving where I can do something for myself completely.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>You’ve worked closely with Jody Gerson for quite a while, both at Sony and Universal. Do you have any big learnings that you’ve taken directly as a result of working with her?<\/h6>\n

So many. Coming back to her now, after eight years of separation, I had this epiphany of understanding how much I\u2019ve learned from her over time.<\/p>\n

When I was working for her the first time, I learned the nuts and bolts of publishing. She taught me the most basic things, like here’s how you calculate a deal, here\u2019s what’s worth this.<\/p>\n

She also used to let me sit in her office and I’d be waiting to give her my pitch and get my thing signed. She would just roll call after call after call. I learned so much by sitting there and listening to her talk to people, whether it was an artist, another publisher or a lawyer. She was such a force in terms of how she communicated.<\/p>\n

I took that away from the first part of our relationship, and then spent eight years doing it on my own while she spent eight years going to run a whole different company. When we came back together, there was a new appreciation for what she\u2019d given me in those early parts of my career and for still being able to give me so much knowledge.<\/p>\n

Over the last two years, I already feel like I’ve gotten so much wisdom and she’s given me so much insight into things that, frankly, I was hitting a wall with, whether it was certain relationships, understandings or growth opportunities.<\/p>\n

\n
Here\u2019s a big picture question: how do you see publishing evolving in future?<\/h6>\n

Publishing has evolved so much even since I’ve been in it. It went from being somewhat of a transactional situation to a much deeper creative relationship between the A&R and the artist.<\/p>\n

Because collaboration became such a mainstream idea, we were in a good position as publishers to be a good fit in the creative process because we knew all these people. We probably had signed them and\/or worked with them on the production side or the top line, melody side.<\/p>\n

We had a little bit of an advantage because when you’re setting up a collaboration, or trying to get the best out of someone, sometimes it’s about what that little thing is that\u2019s going to change somebody’s trajectory, versus \u2018put in hit songwriter here with hit artist here\u2019. So much of it is about chemistry between two people. When you know those people, it becomes a lot easier to make the right creative calls.<\/p>\n

\n
What\u2019s the best career-related advice that you’ve ever been given and who did that come from?<\/h6>\n

It’s hard to pinpoint one specific thing but what I will say is I was super lucky to have several bosses who tapped me on the shoulder and said, \u2018You have the ability to do this job, stay confident.\u2019<\/p>\n

Someone encouraging you and believing in you, seeing something in you that you haven’t been able to see in yourself \u2013 I’ve been so grateful for those people, whether it was my first boss [at ASCAP], Tom DeSavia, or Jody. Sometimes you need a push or you need someone to be like, \u2018Don’t worry, you’re good, you’re going down the right path\u2019.<\/p>\n

\n
What’s the most exciting development happening in today’s music business?<\/h6>\n

What’s so exciting is that there are no barriers anymore to anybody. Some of that isn’t great but some of it is in the sense that I love how people are taking music, running with it and feeling excited to promote it.<\/p>\n

I love how people get so creative on TikTok or whatever [platform] they\u2019re using. I love that artists feel a sense of freedom to create how they want to create and are having success by doing that. I think that is the coolest. The democratization of music has been a revelation in the last year \u2014 nobody can really tell you anymore what is going to happen and who’s going to be successful.<\/p>\n

“I’m not surprised that we’re seeing so many women have so much success because I feel like there’s no one telling them otherwise. There\u2019s nobody getting in their way. They’re just believing in themselves and it’s working.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The people who are really strong in their artistry and are writing great records, there’s a place for them to shine. I’m not surprised that we’re seeing so many women have so much success because I feel like there’s no one telling them otherwise. There\u2019s nobody getting in their way. They’re just believing in themselves and it’s working.<\/p>\n

\n
On the flip side of that, what’s the most challenging thing about working in today’s music business?<\/h6>\n

The same thing that makes it the most exciting thing is also the most challenging, in that you don’t know. It\u2019s not a place for fence-sitters and I think we have a lot of executives who are fence-sitters.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been trained, unfortunately, through data, to watch things and it\u2019s really challenging to get people to make decisions and feel confident that the things they’re excited about are going to have success. It\u2019s a huge challenge as a leader in a company, or as a young executive, to trust your gut and also know that you have nothing that is going to tell you what to do or how much to pay for something.<\/p>\n

\n
If you could go back to the beginning of your career and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?<\/h6>\n

What I wish I had known then is that there’s a way to do something that feels authentic to you and it might be different to what you’ve seen above you. Like the archetype of what a music executive looks like, I wish I knew that there could be a lot of different ways to look at that, that you could look different to other people and still have a lot of success.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>Final question: tell us about some of your signings or new music projects you\u2019re working on at the moment that you\u2019re excited about.<\/h6>\n

Someone I feel so excited about is Doechii, who was signed by Jody. She\u2019s a really fierce artist, her performances are so artful.<\/p>\n

I signed Lucy Dacus about a year and a half ago when she was about to roll out the next boygenius project. This year she’s already released Ankles<\/em> and the album [Forever Is A Feeling<\/em>] is due in March.<\/p>\n

The music is sounding so incredible and I just love her. I think she’s one of the greatest lyricists and songwriters out there. I’m really excited for people to hear what\u2019s coming next.<\/p>\n

There is an artist named Audrey Hobert who we recently signed and she has a really unique story. She grew up with Gracie Abrams, she\u2019s her best friend and they ended up writing six or seven songs together for the new Gracie record.<\/p>\n

Through that process she realized she wanted to be an artist. She recently signed to a label and she’s making her debut album. I love stories like that, where someone could be doing something totally different, the inspiration strikes them, the moment happens, and all of a sudden they\u2019re pursuing a completely different path.<\/p>\n

I recently started working with a kid called The Dare. He\u2019s been cultivating this really cool live show and cultural stuff, based in New York City. When I started working in music, the New York Downtown scene was such a huge part of my early journey in music. It\u2019s exciting to see somebody else cultivating that. He\u2019s an incredible artist and producer.<\/p>\n

\n

Virgin Music Group<\/a><\/span> is the global independent music division of Universal Music Group, which brings together UMG\u2019s label and artist service businesses including Virgin and Ingrooves.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jennifer Knoepfle, Head of US A&R at Universal Music Publishing Group, reflects on her career in publishing, the biggest challenges and opportunities in the sector today, and the key to being the best possible champion for creatives<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":221682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3779],"class_list":["post-219218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-inspiring-women"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}