We were lucky to catch up with Audrey Mallory recently and have shared our conversation below.

Audrey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

When I started in the music industry, I knew I wanted to make a difference, but I didn’t know how. I desperately just wanted to get a foot in the door and do whatever it took to prove myself. The opportunities I’ve been given have not come easily, and have required a lot of grit and determination, but once I was given that chance, I knew I wanted to use it to give independent artists the best guidance available. A lot of my very close friends are musicians, and watching their struggle showed me there was a need for educated individuals who could help raise the bar for them and be their advocate. There’s nothing more rewarding than helping artists who don’t know where to start to progress their career. It’s a priceless feeling knowing that you’re the reason an artist’s life is changed for the better, and watching that growth come full circle. I’m so blessed that I get to wake up every day and do thetwo things that I love most for the rest of my life – helping others and music. What a journey it’s been.

Audrey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Growing up, I always wanted to be a performer. As a child I was completely immersed in music, starting with classical piano and making my way to drums by my pre-teen years. When I was a teenager, I got into theater, started my own band as the lead singer, and played multiple gigs all around my hometown for the next 4 years. By high school graduation, I wanted to make being a vocalist my career, and felt the universe pushing me in that direction with the guidance of my supportive parents. in 2013, I was accepted into Belmont University’s commercial voice program after a knock-out audition, and was quickly on my way to Nashville to start the next chapter of my life. After one semester in the vocal program, I realized I wanted to completely change my path. Helping others and music have always been two of the things I’m most passionate about in this life, so I decided to make a career path out of it. The following year I began fresh faced in Belmont University’s music business school, majoring in Entertainment Industry Studies and Music Business. After graduation in 2016 and a 3 year internship in booking/promotion, I set out to figure out what exactly it was I wanted to do in the music industry, and how I was going to help people.

I finally landed my very first industry job in 2018 at Naxos of America as their label services representative. I inherited 80 small classical music labels to be their main point of contact and help them navigate the music industry waters to help them succeed. I had found my niche. After just 4 months at the company, I was promoted to a full time label manager, and was given 250 of the top tier priority labels, and proceeded to take care of those relationships for 3 years. I learned a lot in that first job, but especially my love of nurturing independent artists and labels – guiding them to success in the music industry.

In 2020, I transitioned my career to Symphonic Distribution where I client managed 50 of their top tier priority clients of all genres for 2 years. I watched small independent artists rise from the ground up with my help, and land interviews at People Magazine, get on the cover of major pop editorial playlists at Spotify and Apple Music, and get their life’s work in a popular tv show or film.

In 2022, I was offered my big break job at Universal Music Group. After I changed my career, I wanted working for UMG to be my biggest goal, and I worked towards that goal every day post graduating from college. All the hoops I jumped through, all the hard work and willingness to do whatever it takes brought me here and I couldn’t be happier. Being in client management and label operations is a thankless job, but it’s also the most rewarding one, and has put me in a position to work with some of the biggest artists in the world. I am so thankful and wouldn’t have it any other way.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I’ve not always had the best supervisors in past positions. Because of this, when I became a manager, I wanted to approach my team in an entirely different manner than what we’re all used to. I have found that using a gentle management style not only makes them see me as an equal, but they respect me and come to me with their ideas for improvement, when they need extra support, or want to just vent. I do an accumulative approach to keep up the level of expectation as a whole instead of singling out a weak link. With my experience, the team members who are up to speed and are following protocol are unaffected, but the individuals who are not, that message will speak to them. I like to maintain a positive approach at all times, which really helps with work ethic within my team.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I go into every professional situation with the big three: reliability, efficiency, and choosing kindness. These were the values my parents raised me with, and they have become the most important personality traits that have stayed with me through my life. Because of this, people know I’m someone they can always count on without a doubt, and that I’ll see through any situation good or bad to the end.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audmallory
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/audreymmallory/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audreymallory
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Audrey_Mallory

Image Credits
Stuart Singleton and Symphonic Distribution