The biz's brightest new talents tell their stories. This week it's the turn of Believe marketing manager Charlotte Spillerova.
What made you want to work in the music industry?
I always enjoyed festivals in Europe. Since I was a Czech expat living in the Middle East, my summer holidays revolved around travelling and going to as many festivals as I could, just to get my fix. When most friends went to university, I didn’t because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Then one summer I ended up backstage at a festival with a friend, and was surrounded by a lot of cool artists and industry people. Suddenly, I realised that I could also work behind the scenes and that there are jobs available, it was like an epiphany. I worked in events and interior design for a few years and then, at 22, came to London to be in music.
What’s been the biggest obstacle?
Moving countries to work in the industry and having zero contacts or experience. My family and a lot of my friends didn’t live here, so I had to start from scratch. Things didn’t always go according to plan, so I’d just work around it. I started at a music institute, lost some money because I dropped out, then thought I wanted to be a tour manager or even an A&R. I was promoting for The Columbo Group and scouting for MTA Records, but it wasn’t anything permanent and I felt a bit lost. All that made me realise the direction I wanted to take. If you stick to your values, stay motivated and stand out from the crowd, others will notice and it’ll work out. However, I do feel extremely lucky that I didn’t have to do years of internships or work experience to get to this point.
What’s your proudest achievement so far?
How much I’ve grown at Believe in a short amount of time. I was an apprentice and working as a distribution label manager for a year before moving to the label team to work on campaigns. I was always into the more niche genres, so for the past year I have been working on our label Phases that focuses on electronic and modern classical music. Last year, I had great success with both Max Cooper and Erland Cooper. We had massive support from 6 Music and ended up on Albums Of The Year lists in Mixmag, DJ Mag and more, that was a proud moment.
What does the biz need more of?
It is said a lot, but there still aren’t enough women working in the industry, or even as producers. I also like all the recent awareness around mental health, we need more of that.
What’s your dream music job?
Probably something similar to what I am doing now but on a bigger scale. I like that I get to be creative with the artists I work with and think of new ways of how we can help them evolve.
CHARLOTTE’S RECOMMENDED TRACK: Bonobo – Ibrik
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