Former Manx Student Grace talks to us about her career in the Music Industry
With the music festival season well under way we talk to former Manx student Grace Puluczek about her journey working within the Music Industry.
What is your connection to the Isle of Man?
I was fortunate enough to grow up on the Island since the age of 10 and embrace the amazing cultural and education support at that time from studying GCSEs, A-Levels at Castle Rushen High School, benefitting from opportunities learning different instruments and being part of different music groups.
The Island also supported my further educations development both for my BA Hons Modern Languages degree at Liverpool John Moores and MBA at ESCP-EAP Europe in Madrid and Paris. With family still based on the Isle of Man I still feel a close connection and am currently looking to develop ways to “Give something back” to share skills and experience to those wanted to further their knowledge of the music industry and cross cultural experiences.
What is your professional back ground in the Arts?
With 13 years marketing experience for Multinational companies in consumer electronics and gaming industries yet a lifelong passion for music, at the start of 2017, I took over the direction of BalconyTV Madrid (that produced more than 200 acoustic videos and interviews) and started a music consultancy company. My company 3Notes based in Madrid and now operating from Brussels offers tailor made services for artists, labels and export offices including management, booking, PR, pitching, sync rep, conference organisation, digital marketing, and branding. Since 2020 working with Future Echoes Showcase Festival in Sweden as Head European Coordinator / International advisor and Booker and now Partnerships coordinator for Fira B Showcase Festival in Mallorca as well as teacher of Music Brands and Partnerships at Berklee Valencia.
What inspired you to pursue your career within the music industry?
Exactly this lifelong passion for music and being always up for a challenge. It’s not always a path everyone “gets” as it’s not your average 9 to 5. It’s a passion that becomes a lifestyle and your career. What I really wanted to bring to the table was transferring all the invaluable knowledge and experience working for multinational companies to emerging artists and to the industry to try and make my musical footprint. Be it from discovering a new artist that gives you goosebumps to create more visibility and develop their project, to connect people to create new business opportunities or to aid in building a strategy or find a new way of sharing knowledge.
What are the current challenges for women in your creative industry?
The industry still remains a very male led one affected by discrimination when it comes to high level professional roles, gender imbalance in line-ups and other stigmas. The arts & creative industries are still a battleground when it comes to gender equality whether it is salary parity or 'one size fits all' development or an overall misconception of the role you may have. It isn’t uncommon that venues or festivals will directly go to the male agent or male tour manager instantly over a female manager as, I can quote “they understand and know what to do”. It’s also common to be referred to as the assistant, girlfriend or groupie when you are actually Director of your own company and manager of a 5 piece all male band.
What progress have you seen for women in your field?
I can definitely see that thanks to initiatives such as Shesaid.so, Keychange, MEWEM and SEWEM amongst many other associations and collectives, there is a network of people working to support change and create communities of women, gender minorities & allies in music. I think it’s vital to be a mentor for future female industry professionals.
What does a typical working week involve for you during festival season?
It’s quite interesting as my festival season isn’t the norm. The busy months in the showcase work for me personally are May and then September onwards through to the end of the year. This entails lots of travel as you can imagine and trying to check out as many concerts and artists as possible for potential future collaborations, bookings or opportunities. It tends to be 2 to 4 days non-stop when you are fully immersed between conferences, meetings, shows and most importantly networking to develop future business deals and opportunities. It often also entails switching between different languages as It’s not unusual to be representing a Spanish artist, presenting a Swedish and Balearic festival in English at a showcase and then promoting them in French to an export office. This is what I really love that thanks to being fully fluent in 4 languages and living in Paris, Madrid and Brussels over the last 20 years this has enabled me to give conferences and particate or chair panels in so many different countries and create business opportunities on an International level. Festival season is actually when you get the most work done and are able to learn whilst doing what you love.
