6 innovative women leading music tech

Happy International Women’s Day! We’re marking the occasion by celebrating some of the most inspirational female leaders from other businesses innovating in the music tech industry today. 

A guest post by Musiio Blog.

These impressive women in tech are founders, CEOs and GMs who are changing the landscape of sectors such as music data, licensing, streaming, events and more. And we couldn’t be bigger fans of theirs.

Below, learn more about how their work is transforming the music industry, and why Musiio CEO/Co-Founder Hazel Savage admires them.

Chantal Epp – Founder, ClicknClear

Chantal has a background in cheerleading and music licensing, and ClicknClear sits precisely at their intersection. She has built an impressive business by officially licensing music for sports events, and the business now counts Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV and Warner Music Group among its clients. 

Hazel says: “Chantal is formidable in business and as an athlete! Chantal spotted the gap in the market in music licensing for sports such as dance, cheerleading, etc., and she went ahead and built a company for it. She absolutely trounces me if we ever pitch in comps together, and there is no one I am happier to lose to!”

Christine Osazuwa – Founder, Measure of Music

Christine is a high-ranking music data expert with major label credentials (Warner, Universal), driving innovation and representation through her music and data conference, Measure of Music. The second annual outing just wrapped, and it was an enormous success with a three-day hackathon, pitch competition, and an impressive programme of speakers who were majority-minority in gender and race. 

Hazel says: “Christine was someone whose name I kept hearing as a ‘you must meet’! And wow, those folks were not wrong! Just last weekend, Musiio sponsored her event Measure of Music that she founded and runs to get more people into data in the music space. And it was probably the best money we have ever spent. She rallies and engages young people in music tech more than anyone.”

Jessica Powell – Co-Founder & CEO, Audioshake

Jessica Powell – Co-Founder & CEO, Audioshake

Jessica has an incredibly impressive CV, including high-level positions at Google and Badoo. She’s even a published author. Her latest venture, Audioshake, uses AI tech to create stems from mixed tracks, allowing music rights holders to get more from their IP through remixing, karaoke versions, mash-ups and samples.

Hazel says: “I was really pleased to be introduced to Jessica via our mutual friend Brian Durant. It seemed we worked in a similar space, and I love to connect with others in music tech. When I spoke to Jessica, I was super impressed with her ex-Google smarts. She was also kind enough to let me on her cap table. I like to think we try to lift each other up in our industry!”

Xiaoyin Qu – Founder & CEO, Run The World

Xiaoyin is no stranger to the world of tech. With Atlassian and Facebook on her resumé, she founded Run The World, a video platform for events. Since 2019, the platform has hosted over 40,000 events from LinkedIn, TechCrunch and more. Requiring no software, RTW is ideal for roundtables, networking parties and meet-and-greets.

Hazel says: “I was actually introduced to Xiaoyin by way of her technology. Mid-pandemic, when all events moved to online, I was doing a lot of virtual panels and keynotes, and I believe I must have used every (if not nearly every) video conferencing platform there is out there! When I spoke at Sonik Philippines in 2020, they were using ‘Run The World’. I had never used this platform before, but I was so impressed, I looked up who founded and ran the business. It’s slick, fast, lag-less and has a heap of genuinely engaging features that make it a superior product. When I saw the Founder and CEO was Xiaoyin, I just had to reach out via LinkedIn to say hi. We’ve only spoken briefly, but I admire her company and product greatly.”

Natasha Stambuli – General Manager, Boomplay

Natasha didn’t think she’d end up in the music industry; she studied international relations and even worked for the UN for a time. However, she has taken the Tanzanian music industry by storm as the general/country manager of Boomplay, Africa’s #1 music streaming service. And she shows no sign of letting up.

Hazel says: “Natasha is someone I connected with online back in 2019. When I saw Boomplay (a streaming service Natasha is the GM for in Tanzania) was making waves in the press, I reached out to introduce myself. I just loved that they were putting women into senior leadership roles, and addressing an underserved and growing market for music. We have stayed in touch ever since and always work to lift each other up. If I can do anything for Natasha, I always say yes!”

Lydia Gregory – CEO & Founder, FeedForward

Lydia has form in the music AI game. Before founding FeedForward, she was at AI-generated music start-up Jukedeck, which was acquired by Bytedance in 2019. With FeedForward’s product Figaro, she’s helping music catalogues tag and search their libraries using AI.

Hazel says: “Lydia is someone you might not expect to see on this list! A lot of our industry (Music) is geared towards winning at all costs and the competitive side of the business. Technically, Lydia and I are direct competitors in AI, but we get along great. If you have a competitor led by a competent and kind individual, there is no reason you can’t respect each other, like each other and even help each other out if the occasion arises! Lydia is incredibly smart and has assembled a great team. Honestly, she’s great!”