International Women’s Day with Roberta Hickey

To mark International Women’s Day, we hosted music industry mogul Roberta Hickey in the Pure Ibiza 94.7 Studio.

Roberta is Head of Artist Bookings at Mac Global, the UAE Community Manager at Beatport, and Founder of Little Pink Book, her women in music platform.

In honor of International Women’s Day, Roberta spoke with Clint Maximus about her music industry experience, what’s exciting about the MENA region’s music scene, how we can all make the music industry more equitable, and her female artists to watch.

 

Tell us about your day, what kind of a day have you had so far today?

I’ve had a good day today. I actually was on Jenn & Alfie’s, ‘The Buzz’ radio show, I did an all female guest mix to celebrate International Women’s Day.

 

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your career, things that you’ve done in the past? 

I’m Roberta Hickey, I’ve worked in music industry for 12 years now. I started doing social media for Carl Cox and Carl at Space. It was amazing to work with such an icon from the go, and after that I spent a few years at MTV, which is where I’d say I’ve learned everything I know, because I did anything to do with music there; from TV shows, to digital, to events, which was amazing. After that I worked on  different artists platforms, and then did a year at Meta, on the music label platforms across Instagram, Facebook, and Oculus. Then I moved to Dubai a couple of years ago, working more on the live side of music, bringing international artists to the region, some artist management, and also, growing Little Pink Book, my women in music platform here.

 

Let’s talk about Little Pink Book. Tell us about it, how it started and where it’s going and how you think it’s evolving right now.

I launched Little Pink Book in 2019, in London, and focused on panel talks, which were all about shining a light on women in the industry. I always wanted to make sure there were women involved that are in predominantly male roles, like sound engineers, tour managers, as well as artist managers, and women from labels. I would always ensure there was a real mix on the panel so that women come in and could be inspire, see the range of roles that are available in the industry, and also show them role models for these male dominated areas. Helping to equalize the music industry is is really what it’s all about.

I’ve been growing LPB ever since during lockdown, we couldn’t do the in person panel and events, so we did a few virtual ones. We did an amazing partnership with Mixcloud and Pioneer DJ, where we did female led live streams, free DJing and production lessons, and we gave away equipment to women who are who are getting involved.

Really everything we do is about encouraging women to to get involved in the industry, whether it is on the behind the scenes side, or artists, producers. Then I moved to the UAE a couple of years ago and launched here. And what I’ve really loved about launching it here is that I feel a lot of people that can make a really big difference in regards to growing a community of women in the music industry. It’s obviously a much newer industry here, so I think there’s a lot of impacts that Little Pink Book can have in the UAE. We’re also looking to do some activations in Saudi Arabia, I’m really excited about the potential of it in the region.

 

Speaking of the region with your yur career, you’ve obviously been doing a lot stuff in the UK. So how’s the comparison compared to abroad in Europe, in the UK, as it is here in the UAE? 

I think the really exciting thing about the region is that there’s the opportunity to do things for the first time. Obviously there’s those opportunities everywhere, but it’s more prominent here, the ability to really make an impact. For example, I just worked on the first ever Jazz Festival in Saudi Arabia, we brought Chaka Khan over for her debut, a female power icon. I think the opportunity to do things like that and bring artists to perform in this part of the world for the first time, it’s amazing for artist, it’s amazing for the audience. That opportunity here and what that brings is something that I’ve been really enjoying.

 

Now also, what do you think some of the challenges women are facing now in the music industry? Whether it be abroad or here? And how do you think we can actually do something to improve it?

I think  the challenges are the same as ever. It’s still a lot of men in in the very senior roles and making the decisions. There’s definitely changes that are happening, which is amazing.

There’s a lady called Nadia who has a ‘Women in Control’ platform, who’s doing a big push about ‘seat at the table,’ getting females in those senior roles. I’ve been seeing a lot more females in board positions. There’s definitely movement but I think sometimes with that people think “oh everything’s fine, it’s done”… but there’s still such a long way to go. I think that’s almost a challenge in itself.

There’s change, but there’s still a long way to go. I think what we need is, is for everyone to be aware of it, and to be conscious so that on lineups, there’s diversity in your lineup. And from an education perspective, not from a token perspective. There’s so much amazing talent out there, that you don’t need to be choosing just a female opener for a token, it’s just not necessary. People really need to spend the time to educate themselves, work out who the amazing talent is out there and get them on your lineup, give them the jobs, give them the promotions.

Women can be helping women, but also male allies too, should be looking out. And if you do feel there’s a woman in your workplace who you don’t feel is being treated fairly or given the recognition, then help them.

 

Let’s talk about women to watch out for, who do you think are the other women who are sort of paving the way?

There are so many! At the minute, I’m really loving LP Giobbi. I think she’s just going from strength to strength, she has the Femme House platform. Arielle Free is just absolutely taking off, which I love to see because she has such a hard work ethic, such passion. She’s now got her own label ‘Free Your Mind’, and she’s been supporting a lot of female talent. Sam Divine, who’s been just a total icon and pioneer for so long, I feel like she’s really recently getting all the recognition she deserves. Obviously, my girls Jenn Getz & Alfie, we always have to mention, are absolutely smashing it. A lot of exciting females really making their mark at the moment, which is amazing.

 

What about future plans, what’s happening with yourself and your projects? 

I’m really focused on Little Pink Book this year and wanting to grow our community. So if you are based in the Middle East, and you’re either in the music industry looking to get into the music industry, a DJ or an artist, then please do follow us on Instagram, it’s @_LittlePinkBook_, and we’ll be sharing all the news of upcoming events there. We’ve partnered with LPME Studios in the region, where we’re gonna be doing a content and event series, which is all about championing women in the music industry. We’re having some conversations in Saudi Arabia also, so hopefully you’re going to be hearing and seeing Little Pink Book a lot more this year.