During the Music Week Women In Music Awards 2026, we inducted a host of trailblazing industry executives into the Roll Of Honour, in association with Live Nation Women.
They join a huge list of previous honourees, including some of the leading names from across the business like Kanya King, Emma Banks, Charisse Beaumont, Rebecca Allen, Stacey Tang, Laura Monks, Shani Gonzales and Mary Anne Hobbs, who have been selected since the awards began in 2014. The Roll Of Honour aims to shine a spotlight on the variety of individuals who are leading the charge in the music industry and consistently using their platforms to support women, or focus on empowerment and gender disparity.
Following the Women In Music Awards ceremony, Music Week is running Q&A interviews with all of this year’s Roll Of Honour inductees.
Jessica Carsen started her career in the media working for The Financial Times, The Times and the BBC in New York and Washington before joining Sony Music in 2019 to lead its UK communications.
The Covid pandemic hit within weeks of Carsen joining Sony Music UK & Ireland, which meant swift adaptation within the role to face new challenges. Communication, collaboration and nurturing Sony Music’s culture from afar became critical. As part of the senior management team, Carsen not only helped guide Sony Music UK through lockdown, but also the wider challenges that the pandemic created.
As a Government inquiry brought music policy into sharper focus, Carsen took on Sony Music UK’s public affairs work, spanning industry engagement, policy and political developments, and government relations. With five Prime Ministers and six Culture Secretaries in that time – plus a series of policy discussions touching the music industry – it certainly wasn’t a quiet introduction to working in the music industry.
Alongside communications and public affairs, Carsen leads the events team that runs company programming at Sony Music UK’s HQ in Kings Cross. She is also the executive sponsor for Sony Women In Music, an employee-led group which champions female-friendly discussion and action, such as leading pan-Sony women’s networking initiatives.
How do you feel about joining the Music Week Women In Music Roll Of Honour?
“I’m touched to be included in such a special sorority of women, many of whom have inspired me over the years. It’s a lovely surprise that so many people have reached out to me since this year’s Roll Of Honour was announced, so Music Week clearly has a very healthy readership, which is great to see!”
How do you look back on your early years getting into the industry?
“My journey is probably a bit atypical in switching from media into music. I was excited to join another important part of the creative industries, but I was not banking on a global pandemic in my first couple of months. Obviously, I thought I’d be at gigs all the time, and I had a great start at the BRIT Awards 2020, but after that there was a very long spell of learning about a new – and complicated – industry with no live music, no office, no meeting colleagues in person, and homeschooling my two children at the same time. It was an endurance test, to say the least!”
Did you have a mentor at that stage?
“Well, the man who plucked me out of the press was my boss, Jason Iley [CEO & chairman, Sony Music UK & Ireland], so he was my first mentor. Seven years later, I am still learning from him every day. Jason has helped me navigate the personalities and politics of the music industry. In turn, my role is to help him and our company navigate the press, policy and politics in general.”
How has your foundational career in journalism helped in communications?
“What I loved about journalism was being out and about talking to different people, teasing out new information and trying to make sense of what it means. These are skills you need for a comms career in any sector. In a practical sense, journalism also teaches you how to write, and think, clearly and succinctly, which is a valuable skill that I try to instil in others. In terms of using those skills in music, it’s a particular joy to be able to combine my interests and abilities with an industry that is so full of passion and creativity.”
In the push for equality, I feel it’s incumbent on me now as a woman in a privileged position to support others and help improve things for the next generation
Jessica Carsen, Sony Music
Besides your everyday role, you are deeply involved in Sony’s company DE&I schemes. A few years ago, you also appeared in front of the Women and Equalities Select Committee to address misogyny in music and the wider effort to prevent violence against women and girls. Why are those extra responsibilities important to you?
“Much of my childhood was in a single parent family full of women, in a rural town with little money and certainly no ‘contacts’. I was lucky enough to have bursaries fund a large part of my education, so I believe deeply in paying that forward and spreading opportunities to people who might otherwise miss out. As the adage goes, ‘Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not,’ so I’m really proud of what we’ve developed with the UK arm of Sony’s Social Justice Fund, funding such a wide variety of programmes to help young people all over the country. Of course, none of that would be possible without the significant funds that Sony has pledged. I recognise that we’re very fortunate to have this financial backing and trust from our leadership to administer the funds with care and professionalism.
"In terms of advocacy, some of this comes hand in hand with my public affairs role, but advocacy for women in general is especially important to me. We all know that huge parts of the world we live in have been shaped by men, for men, over generations. In the push for equality, I feel it’s incumbent on me now as a woman in a privileged position to support others and help improve things for the next generation. At Sony, we are doing that with some amazing childcare policies that offer financial support and shared parental leave that I wish I’d had when my children were little. And I was encouraged to see signage at Reading Festival supporting the Enough campaign, calling out unwelcome behaviour. The London Underground has some good posters on this, too. Ultimately, having grown up in a fiery family, I’m not shy about speaking up, so I might as well lend my voice to the choir of people trying to do good and make change.”
You lead a multi-disciplinary division at the company which spans communications, media, events, government relations and policy. How do you keep abreast of developments in all those areas?
“With the help of a brilliant team in the UK, wonderful Sony colleagues abroad, and through allies and relationships across our industry and beyond. A shout out to the BPI here too, because as the trade body for the recorded music industry in the UK, the BPI team do a tremendous job for their label members and for artists. And among other things, they help breakthrough artists tour abroad through the MEGS scheme, celebrate chart success, champion record stores and, not least, host the Mercury Prize and the BRIT Awards, which are joyous, stand-out moments every year.”
What’s your biggest achievement so far?
“Professionally, I’m really proud of my team at Sony, which we’ve built and adapted over the past seven years. We have a culture of pulling together and supporting each other on matters big and small, and that underpins any and all of my other achievements. Plus, they make me laugh every day and I learn as much from them as they hopefully learn from me. Personally, my biggest achievements are still a work in progress: raising two, well-rounded children (who are now teenagers) while working full-time and, sadly, processing the profound grief of losing my mum very suddenly. Three years on, I think about her every day and I try to channel positivity but it’s the most difficult thing I have ever done.”
What advice would you offer young women about enjoying a successful career in music?
“This is a vibrant, exciting and fast-moving industry. When I joined, a music journalist told me, ‘The music industry is not for the fainthearted.’ They were right! So my advice is: use your initiative, be open-minded, nurture relationships, and be ready to ride the highs and some inevitable lows. Another senior woman in the industry told me early on that, ‘If you’re not having fun in the music industry, something is wrong.’ Work can be hard, but whatever genre you love, music brings joy – summon your energy and find the fun.”
What’s the best advice you’ve ever had?
“I’ve absorbed so much over more than 20 years that it’s hard to distill, but here are a couple of my favourites that I still use all the time: ask yourself, ‘What would make a piece of work go from good to great?’ And, ‘Don’t wait for your boss to make the decision – think through your options and be ready to make a recommendation.’ Sometimes, they are too busy for details so it’s good practice to back yourself to decide and then own the delivery. Learning how to take risks is a key skill, but it can be scary.”
Is there a young woman you'd like to shout out who you think is a rising star in the industry?
“I’m lucky to work with so many wonderful, clever and creative women at Sony that it is very hard to choose – and I don’t want our staff to be poached! Right now, in such a fast-paced political environment, I’m grateful for our senior public affairs manager, Natalia Batchelor, who is whipsmart, shows an instinctive grip on AI policy, and is a classically trained musician to boot. She could do well in many parts of this industry.”
Similarly, is there a young woman artist whose music you're enjoying right now/excited about?
“We have some fantastic female artists on our roster at Sony Music, including Jade, Skye Newman and, of course, the late, great Dolly Parton, who is a total inspiration. One artist to watch is Nectar Woode who I saw perform in a small venue and I adored her voice, her songs and her grace. Go Nectar! What a fabulous name, too.”
Finally, what’s your biggest lesson from 2026 so far?
“Hosting the BRIT Awards in Manchester was not an easy decision, but so worth it – what an electrifying show. It’s the right thing to do to look beyond London, and it was a glorious celebration of music. I loved every minute. Also, what a legacy Kanya King leaves. Her achievements were outstanding. None of us know how much time we have, but what she did with her life is incredibly inspiring and it was an honour to have met her.”
PHOTO: Joe Magowan
