Women in the male dominated field of Indie music need female mentors. Merlin is here to help

Some of the most important workplace skills can only be learned on the job – from building relationships with co-workers to positioning yourself for a promotion to coping with long hours to being able to tell if a work situation is really weird or completely normal.

But for women—many of whom find it easier to confide in other women at work—finding a colleague to understand these things can be more difficult in a male-dominated industry like the music industry.

A 2023 study conducted by Luminate, Tunecore and Believe found a number of challenges specific to women in the music industry, including increased instances of sexual harassment, ageism and unequal representation along with a persistent wage gap. These challenges are particularly acute in the indie realm, where, despite some improvements, senior leadership is still largely male.

“Independents tend to be niche spaces and our company sizes are smaller,” he says Katie Alberts, COO of Atlanta-based Reach Records. “If you have a historical trend of men being in leadership and your company only has 10 people, you may not have that female executive in your company as an example for other women.”

To take up the cause, Merlin, the digital music licensing partner for independent companies, launched a new mentoring program for women, Merlin Engage, early last year. The program paired 18 executive-level mentors with mentees from across the indie label space for a six-month program designed to provide community, leadership skills and advice on how to thrive and move up in the industry and indie space in particular. The program was started by Marie Clausen, managing director of Ninja Tune North America and a Merlin Engage mentor. The Merlin Engage 2024 program starts on 20 March.

When he applied for the debut program, Magali Ould of Secret City Records was in talks with upper management about a possible promotion. “We are 14 employees,” he says. “It's not a huge company, so every promotion is vital.”

President/CEO of Secret City Justin West, who is also a Merlin board member, suggested Ould apply to the Engage program to connect with other women in leadership roles. Ould accepted and was paired with Jenna LoMonacoe, the head of US marketing at digital distribution service ONErpm. Over the next six months, the pair spoke regularly on the phone, discussing things like how to build and demonstrate leadership skills, how to set priorities, personality management within the company, public speaking and presentation skills and relationships.

Having a mentor, Ould says, gave her “a better understanding and perspective on what it takes to be in senior management.” It also helped her achieve the promotion she was aiming for: Secret City GM.

Ould says working with LoMonacoe also helped her see that many of the situations she faced at work, which seemed potentially unique to her professional life, were actually common. Ould says this understanding boosted her confidence, particularly at times when she would have previously second-guessed herself. She says this knowledge and confidence has helped her stand her ground as a woman in leadership.

“Jenna said, 'Don't mistake my kindness for weakness,' which was very helpful to me,” Ould recalled. “I think women can be seen as good, but then we don't occupy our space so people think they can just get their own way. This experience showed me how to care and also how to succeed.”

Alberts of Reach Records served as a mentor in the program and says the experience was extra special because her mentee was pregnant. Therefore, the couple did not only talk about professional goals, but she also created a plan for her transition to work after maternity leave and adjusting to life as a working mom. While the formal program is over, Alberts and her mentee are still in touch about work and life.

“To see that we've done the prep work for a smooth transition to work, and then to see her re-enter work life as a new mom, it's really nice,” says Alberts.

In addition to ongoing one-on-one meetings (for which mentors and mentees set their own schedule), the first Engage program included three program-wide meetings via Zoom, with participants from all over the United States. along with cities such as London, Brussels and Cape Town, South Africa. The second Engage program will involve 15 mentor-mentee pairs, with participants from 10 countries and 28 different Merlin-affiliated companies.

Alberts, who is returning as a mentor, says there won't be any major changes to the program other than possibly more of the Zoom meetings throughout the program, given how much information was gleaned from listening to other mentor/mentee experiences. These broader meetings also allowed participants to collaborate across companies and regions, with the diversity of affiliated Merlin labels enabling non-competitive knowledge sharing.

“We can learn and grow from each other through this information sharing,” says Alberts. “Like, 'Hey, we did this wrong on this platform, or here's how we optimized this in a really interesting way.'

“That allows us to pool resources,” he continues, “And I think there's a lot of alignment with Merlin's vision in that as well, because it's about the collective burden of independents together.”