Cat's Mother of the Month - Abi Leland
It is the end of the month, and we are going out with a BANG Meet Abi Leland - our Cat's Mother of the Month! Abi has collaborated with renowned directors like Kevin Macdonald on iconic films.
Founder of Leland Music, expanding into advertising & working with top brands.
She has won many awards, including Music Week Music Supervisor of the Year, twice running, may we add!👀 She is passionate about diversity, neurodiversity, and empowering women in music Nurturing talent, fostering innovation, and breaking boundaries!
As a successful woman in the music industry, what advice do you have for other women looking to break into the field?
It is daunting trying to figure out the ins and outs of the industry and how to connect with people and find opportunities. Do your research - interviews, podcasts, websites and social media, talks, industry events. Find people to connect with and then do your research on them before contacting them - compose a good email (if you aren’t sure then run it past a friend to get them to help edit it for you) and then follow up with a phone-call. Pick up the phone - I know it can be intimidating but do it anyway! Don’t be put off by someone not replying - yes they might not be interested but they also might just be busy and haven’t got back to you yet so follow it up. Look for female founded businesses. Find a mentor and create allies. be inquisitive. Follow every lead, if someone offers to connect you with someone else then jump on it. If someone doesn’t offer then ask them! And all of this advice I still have to do myself - it doesn’t stop so it is good to learn. You don’t have to shout to be heard but you do need to put yourself out there to meet people and build meaningful relationships.
Leland Music has partnered with 'Black Lives in Music', a collaboration that promotes inclusivity and diversity in the industry. What other initiatives or partnerships do you recommend to support the creative and music communities in a similar way?
Small Green Shoots of course!! And I also support Big Creative Education.
We set up a music supervision and film composition mentorship program on TopBoy which Netflix supported and are now looking to run more of across their productions.
We are currently helping on a film composers initiative set up by the Oscars called the Jonas Gwangwa Music Initiative, so this is worth checking out for those wanting to pursue a career in film composition. The Alliance for Women Film Composers is another great entity that focuses on this.
What role do you see women playing in the future of the music industry, and how can we work to ensure that women have equal opportunities for success?
I hope that we will see women working across every role in the music industry. When I got my first job in an independent record label I distinctly remember them telling me that girls don’t work in A&R or artist management and that I should look at marketing or PR instead. So things have changed since then but sadly there are people in influential positions who still hold onto these ideas, even if it isn’t explicitly said. We need to have women in the top roles across all areas of the industry. I’m not qualified to say how this is going to happen but we all, women and men, need to have it top of our agendas to make this happen and to get involved in the conversation and be a part of the organisations that have the power and expertise to help create this change. The fight never ends but unity, community, and action does make it feel possible.
How do you approach building relationships with other professionals in the industry, and what role does networking play in your success?
I am genuinely interested in people’s stories about what they do, how they got there, and what motivates them. It is great meeting likeminded people but it is also interesting meeting people with completely different life experiences. If networking allows me the opportunity to connect with people in this way then it comes easily to me and I enjoy it and I’ve ended up naturally building long lasting relationships with people in the industries I work across.
Have there been any women artists that have really caught your eye this year, if so - what stood out to you?
I have had the new Jorja Smith single on repeat and I saw Raye sing at the Ivor Novello awards. Shygirl has also been an artist I’ve admired for a while and it’s great to see her success. There are so many brilliant emerging artists I’ve discovered this year - Highlyy, Bambii, Kalia Vandever to name just a few. All of these artists are such strong songwriters and performers and seem to be in control of their own artistry and output and how they choose to put themselves out there.
If you could say anything to yourself before founding Leland music, what would it be?
Don’t be your own enemy or restrict your own potential. The definition of success is personal and comes in many forms - define what it means to you and don’t compare it to others. Surround yourself with likeminded women.
And don’t try to conquer your inbox - you’ve got better things to do with your time and energy! (I seriously wish I’d realised this many years ago, I hate to think of the amount of time I’ve lost to my emails).
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I am currently focusing on making sure I put my time and energy into the right things. Most of us live in a constant state of overwhelm with never ending to-do lists and so it is easy to just battle through the day trying to get as much of it done as we can. I’m really trying not to operate in this way and to make considered choices each day/week/month about what I’m going to work on. It isn’t about doing less but about working more ‘mindfully’. This allows me the headspace to work on my 5-10 year goals. I’m not going to tell you what they are though as I’m still figuring it all out!