Member Spotlight #11: Farhana Aboo Marketing Manager at AEI Group LTD
Interview by: Tara Gardner
shesaid.so: What was your experience like starting off in your career? Were you anxious, passionate, confident?
Farhana Aboo: Looking back now I guess I started out a little anxious as to where my working life would take me. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, other than having a massive passion for music and entertainment, I thought it was impossible to ever work in those industries. So I just started off with going to University- as this is something I always wanted to do. Whilst at university I had to do a work placement and ended up at a PR agency that specialised in music, film and video games. Suddenly I realised that I could have a career in an industry that I have a real passion for, but didn’t think I could work in initially as I couldn’t sing or play an instrument etc.
Once I graduated, I gave myself a year to be able to find a job within the industry. I was 100% determined that I would do this. I did a lot of voluntary work experience at various PR agencies, record companies (One Little Indian, Relentless Records) as well as volunteering at conferences like the Urban Music Seminar. I ended up with an internship at MTV and fortunately that worked out as I had amazing ladies I worked with who supported me from the start. They ended up creating a role for me there, and this was the first big role for me within the music industry.
ssso: How has marketing in the music industry changed in recent years? What do you see for the future of music (from a marketing stand-point, or just in general)?
FA: The exciting thing about this industry is that it keeps you on your toes — it’s forever changing.
Streaming is the biggest game changer in the music industry, as we all know. This has changed how we do everything. The technological advances have really turned everything on its head.
I feel like the more exciting things with both marketing and music itself are yet to come… Opportunities with voice control like Amazon Echo and VR are still during the early stages so it will be interesting to see how that develops.
With people’s consumption habits having changed, (where playlists and singles seeming to be the preferred way to listen to and discover music) curators play an even more important role than ever before. This could be playlist curators on Spotify, or YouTube curator channels like the ones we work with (UKF, TheSoundYouNeed, Subsoul, Drum&BassArena etc) I think this will continue to be more important — I guess they are the “new” radio in some ways.
ssso: On top of your day-to-day at AEI, you’re also a go-to in representing the company as an industry expert at music conferences. How did you cultivate that reputation? What’s been your favorite panel to be a part of?
FA: Well I never thought I would be someone that speaks at conferences — the thought of speaking in front of people terrified me. A couple of years ago, Darren Hemmings from Motive Unknown, asked me to join his panel at AIM’s Music Connected. My instant reaction was to say no, however I am a believer of getting yourself out of your comfort zone and this seemed like it would also be beneficial for my career, plus Darren is very convincing! Following that panel, I had others ask me to speak at conferences and now our amazing publicist Sarah Stam is my official “panel pimp” and actively puts me and other colleagues forward for various things! As a company of 20 years, we’re now finally finding the time to go outside more and tell our story, whereas before we were just focussing on building our brands.
I have done panels at ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event) twice and they have been great! You know you’ve done a good job when people come up to you after to ask questions and set up meetings.
I also believe it is important to get more keynote female speakers out there, so I am happy I can contribute by attending conferences. A great example of a very balanced conference was Fast Forward London this year, where the majority of speakers on stage were female. I would encourage other women who are nervous or anxious to speak to start out with joining a panel. Yes it is scary, but often the scariest things in life will give you the most gratification in the end.
ssso: How do you keep your work / your passions fresh? What do you do to keep new ideas flowing and your team’s energy up?
FA: The company and industry that I work in is so fast moving — no day is the same. You should always be learning something new and working with new brands and concepts.
The whole team at AEI is super passionate and really love what they do — it’s not difficult to keep the team’s energy up. As a company, AEI is really great in keeping up morale and developing the culture. We work hard, but also play hard. We have unlimited holidays, regular staff socials, benefits such as meditation and massages once a month in the office and in general we do all get on really well outside of work. This helps us bounce of each other, be more creative and generally be happy in what we do.
ssso: Can you share some of your favorite conferences? Any coming up that our community might be interested in attending?
FA: I recently attended Music Ally’s Sandbox Summit — they had a great calibre of speakers, I learnt a lot and it’s been great for networking. We also actually run our own conference dedicated to Bass music in Prague called Beats Evolution Conference (BEC) which happens a few days before Let It Roll Festival (the world’s biggest D&B festival who we are partners with). It’s a small, intimate conference but really good to have a dedicated part of the industry.
My favourite conference coming up is Fast Forward in Amsterdam in February… it’s such a great conference — very forward thinking with a great bunch of people. If you can go to it, you definitely should!
ssso: Serving on panels, giving talks and being certified from The Chartered Institute of Marketing, you clearly (and rightfully so!) value education and learning from one another. If you had to convince someone to take the time for these opportunities in their career/personal life — what would you say to them? What do we get out of these experiences?
FA: It’s all about making connections as you never know who you might meet. Studying is one thing but learning from real world experiences is the best way to really understand and conferences are perfect for this.
ssso: Share a piece of advice you were given that really resonated with you.
FA: My ex manager at MTV once told me to make yourself indispensable. The world is constantly changing — you have to make yourself, and your role, indispensable. That has always stuck with me in the sense. You don’t just do a job, you are needed and what you contribute is important.
ssso: Who/what gives you strength?
FA: I think I am quite an independent person, however having a good support network (friends, family, co-workers) is always beneficial. I am quite lucky in the sense that my team are so great that there is always someone to talk to including our head of music James Cotterill. He is definitely a big part of why the music team at AEI is so strong. We all go through tough times be it work related or in personal life — a supportive network is key to helping you get through it.
Another thing that does help is all the supportive groups for women in the industry like shesaid.so and others that I am a part of. Knowing that there are others with similar issues or people you can ask for advice is so good!
ssso: What, if anything, do you think is missing from the ‘women-in-music’ dialogue?
FA: I wouldn’t say anything is missing per say. It would be good to see more actions than discussion. We can all do our part and as long as we keep positive and motivating each other, like within the wonderful ssso community — I believe we will achieve our goals.
I think there has been some initiatives announced — like getting more women speakers at conferences, but I am keen to see how that unfolds globally.
ssso: What are you listening to at the moment?
FA: I’m usually listening to the Discover Weekly on Spotify or my own playlist of old skool hip hop and R&B!
ssso: What’s your favorite way to consume and discover music?
FA: Spotify playlists are great — since I got my premium subscription I can’t go back! Playlists, 1xtra and our own brands’ playlists in particular, TheSoundYouNeed and Subsoul are great sources for new music that I also like.
ssso: What else should we know about you or what you’re currently working on?
FA: I have always been very keen on helping the younger generation especially in terms of getting jobs/career support. This year in particular I was very keen on taking this forward and it so happened others in the team felt the same. So, we started off earlier in the year going out to schools and Universities to speak to young people about how we got started in the industry, options and advice. I never thought I would be able to work in music simply because I thought you had to be an artist to get there and I was always worried that someone from an ethnic background and from Kenya, chances were even more slim. And I feel that young people may also feel the same and I want to do whatever I can to encourage people to follow their passion and do what makes them happy. This is something I would like to carry on next year.
We always take on interns from Universities and have also taken on an apprentice from Big Creative Education (BCE) and I think apprenticeship schemes are a great opportunity for young people. Go here for more info — http://www.bigcreative.education/
