Cat's Mother of the Month - Lucy Madaras

Your journey in the music industry has been quite diverse, from working in retail to being a

trainee artist coordinator and now a Sync and Licensing Associate. How have these varied

experiences shaped your perspective on the industry as a whole?

It really has, I didn’t plan it that way but who ever does! But each of those jobs in their own way played

their role in where I am today. Retail gave me the transferable skills of being very public/customer facing

which is a great training ground when going into a client facing role like Sync is. As well as my internship

as a Trainee Artist Coordinator, I also worked in Radio for 2 years prior to that (plus another 2 at student

radio). Radio and Music Management gave me real insight into two very different areas of the music

industry but actually in my job now, I can see how important both those areas are and how it all fits

together in the world of music; I see every day the importance and the integral role managers play in

representing our songwriters, and I also appreciate more now how important a radio play can be for up

and coming artists, as well as the mainstream artists.

You’ve had the experience of being a trainee artist coordinator earlier in your career. How do

you think this role has contributed to your current role in sync and licensing? Are there any

surprising skills that you found to be transferable?

I think one of the biggest things I took from my internship was the knowledge of Classical Music I gained

there! I did my internship at HarrisonParrott (a Classical Music management agency) and being someone

with no classical music background, it was really great to spend 6 months in that environment,

surrounded by such enthusiasts for the genre. I learnt a lot about that world, the importance of events like

the Proms, Glyndebourne, names of prolific musicians that pop up now again in my current job, and

overall, Concord is home to the Boosey & Hawkes catalogue so I’ve been able to transfer a lot of the

knowledge I gained at HP to there, so it was really invaluable in that sense.

The other thing I really took from HP was working with artists as I was on the management side of the

industry. I had a few artists that i was able to build a rapport with and assist in tasks that managers do, so

now in my current role, I feel like I have a good understanding of what the day to day of an artist manager

looks like having been on that side for 6 months!

Your background as an assisting programming manager at a radio station is intriguing. How

does your knowledge of radio programming influence your current role? Are there any crossovers

between curating content for radio and selecting music for sync and licensing?

Absolutely! The biggest crossover I would say is the curation of playlists. In my role at the radio station, i

worked alongside a couple of others in the Programming Team where we looked after all of the output the

station aired, so all the music, idents, adverts were all scheduled by us, as well as looking after the roster

of presenters and individual shows! We would be up to date on the charts to make sure our A, B and C

playlists were current and relevant, and then of course, for days like Valentines Day, Halloween,

Fireworks Night and the big one, Christmas, we were curating the standardised playlist to incorporate

songs with those themes. I also was in charge of running a Sunday morning show called Chilled Vibes

which had gone a bit unloved for a while so I took on the role of overhauling it, sourcing new music to

refresh it and I had live performers come and do acoustic sets!

Working in Sync, a lot of my job now is curating playlists. It could be for clients who may send me briefs

when they’re looking for a specific type of music for their projects, or also creating themed playlists for our

marketing initiatives.

Which women artists do you think are killing the game right now?

It has to be Raye, right?! I’ve been a fan of hers since 2016/2017 and it’s just great to see her finally

getting the recognition she deserves. I was in the room at this year’s Ivor Novello awards when she won

Best Contemporary Song and she also did a live set, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard or seen a room so

enamored with someone - it was such an amazing atmosphere. I’ve also really been enjoying The Last

Dinner Party - it’s so cool to see an indie girl band doing so well!

What advice would you give to a young woman trying to get into this area of the industry?

Be persistent but patient - trying to get your foot in the door can be really draining and the knockbacks

can be really disheartening, but just keep going, keep making those connections and you just never know

when things can change. I literally got the email about applying for my internship when I was working a

shift at my retail job and was mentally in a place where I was looking at jobs outside of the industry - I

really didn’t expect things to change so quickly. I got my internship through Creative Access and they

really changed the trajectory of my life, and since working in the industry, I’ve become more aware of

other organisations like The Cats Mother and Small Green Shoots - I honestly wish I’d known about them

when I was 18/19 and just starting out. Now being in the industry, I see so many incredible people who

are such advocates for helping young people (special shout out to Cats Mothers Sara Lord and Natalie

Wade!) - it’s really lovely to see experienced professionals like them who are so passionate about helping

young people, being such champions for women and changing how the music industry looks - the help

from people is out there, you just need to find them!

The music industry is always evolving. What recent trends or shifts have you noticed in the

sync and licensing landscape? How do you stay updated and adapt to these changes?

I always try and keep up to date by reading lots of industry related articles, keeping up with the latest

news and by keeping in regular contact with my clients - it’s always really helpful to hear what they’re

seeing more of from their clients which then gives us an indication of what’s trending and how we can

better serve our clients. When I first started in Sync, our EVP mentioned in an artist meeting that watching

TV was one of the best ways to really learn about Sync, and it’s 100% right! It’s one of the best ways to

truly see what’s trending in the Sync world.

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

I’d definitely love to still be working in Sync in some capacity. I really enjoy working for a

rightsholder but who knows, I could move to the supervision side one day! I don’t have a strict

plan, I’m more a big believer in following what feels right at that time! Ideally though, I would

love to be in a more senior position in 5 years’ time where I could then be able to have an

impact and give opportunities to young people looking to get in to the industry. I’ve never

forgotten all the incredible people that have helped me along the way and I would love to be

able to repay that back into the world.