{"id":236105,"date":"2025-07-16T16:58:52","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T15:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=236105"},"modified":"2025-07-16T16:59:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T15:59:38","slug":"i-remember-thinking-no-way-im-not-doing-that-its-too-much-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/i-remember-thinking-no-way-im-not-doing-that-its-too-much-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I remember thinking, no way, I\u2019m not doing that, it\u2019s too much pressure.’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having studied journalism at university, Kay Wrate saw the word \u2018research\u2019 in an ad for a job at PRS. Whilst she continued to look for a writing job, she figured this alternative role would at least be somewhere she could utilise her newly acquired skillset. It involves research, right, like journalism?<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, when I went for the interview, they said, nope, it\u2019s not research-related; it\u2019s just data entry. I thought, you know what, I\u2019ll give it a try\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

It worked out pretty well. Nearly two decades later Wrate is MD of the publishing division at legendary UK indie Warp Records which has, over the years, been home to artists such as Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher, Brian Eno, Broadcast and Maximo Park. Wrate herself currently works with a roster that includes Dry Cleaning, Jessica Winter, Kelsey Lu, Loraine James, Slowdive and Speakers Corner Quartet.<\/p>\n

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She was born and raised in London \u2013 \u201cMy parents met in Chelsea in the seventies, the era of punk, ska and reggae\u201d. It was an environment which bred an eclectic taste in music and a passionate curiosity for culture.<\/p>\n

She recalls: \u201cDad was a London cabbie and mum always worked in retail. They always said to me, \u2018Be ambitious; the world can be your oyster\u2019. We were really lucky in that sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they had always been told they wouldn\u2019t amount to anything. They both left a school at 13. They were so frustrated and they just didn\u2019t want my brother and me to have the same experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a teenager I always felt a bit out of sorts in a way, because I was very into guitar bands. I listened to everything, but I think I was always drawn to more alternative music, I guess. US stuff, like Nirvana, but I was also into Britpop \u2013 I loved Blur, Elastica, Lush, Skunk Anansie, that type of thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI related to it because I could go to Camden and see these people on the streets, or I could go get on a bus and go to see shows at the Brixton Academy.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div> <\/div> <\/p>\n

So an entry-level job at PRS, whilst taking her further away from her planned career, journalism, took her into the orbit (albeit as an outlying satellite initially) of her first love: music.<\/p>\n

For a while, she tried to combine the two. \u201cAbout a year in to working at PRS, me and a group of friends started a magazine called Volume. We weren\u2019t getting any breaks and we wanted to promote the people around us \u2013 all the artists, the photographers etc. So I had something super creative, but also something really practical to pay my bills, pay my rent, do all of that stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cI applied for so many editorial assistant jobs at that time and I just couldn\u2019t get a foot in the door. If there was a position available, it would be unpaid and that just wasn\u2019t possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time I was learning more about music publishing. I found it really interesting and it was connected to something I loved. I was also working with an amazing crew of people. We\u2019d go to shows together. It was a bit like school again, we were all learning and sharing knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div> <\/div> <\/p>\n

The march of technology, however, eventually mean that a lot of registration processes became centralised, and so Wrate\u2019s role became redundant. To its credit, PRS \u201cactively tried to find new jobs for all of us\u201d.<\/p>\n

For Wrate, this meant a move into labels, into publishing and into the upper echelons of the UK independent music sector. It is somewhere, with the odd blip, she has flourished ever since.<\/p>\n

\n
What was it like moving from PRS to Domino and what did you learn there?<\/h6>\n

I worked there for five years. I\u2019m still super-close to everyone there.<\/p>\n

It was really nice to be in-house, working with artists, having that connectivity and learning even more about the impact of publishing. It was a much more rounded role. I really got to understand contracts, I learned the artist relations side \u2013 and about A&R, which has always been amazing
\nat Domino.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou knew you were at a company that had built artists\u2019 careers; everything felt connected.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was a really fantastic catalogue, really broad. And it was just exciting to be in that world, being young at a music company, out at gigs two or three times a week, you knew you were at a company that had built artists\u2019 careers; everything felt connected.<\/p>\n

\n
What were your ambitions at that point?<\/h6>\n

I think at that time I was really happy with what I was doing, because I was still actually working on the magazine then. I was really happy working at Domino. I loved the music I was working with. I loved the team. I was enjoying doing my side stuff.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t thinking about A&R. I always thought in some ways I wasn\u2019t really good enough to do that. Sometimes I\u2019d have a few suggestions, but I always felt more comfortable on the administration side.<\/p>\n

\n
Why didn\u2019t you feel good enough for A&R?<\/h6>\n

I think it felt like a lot of pressure. It felt like the whole company\u2019s riding on these decisions. I just couldn\u2019t help thinking it wasn\u2019t my place. Even though that\u2019s sort of what I was doing for the magazine \u2013 trying to find new artists and giving them a platform.<\/p>\n

But record company A&R always felt like a lot. Also, I sort of weirdly just didn\u2019t put two and two together. At the time the A&R was being done by freelance people, then an amazing guy called David Donald joined \u2013 plus Laurence Bell is obviously incredible.<\/p>\n

It felt like that was enough \u2013 and I was just kind of doing my little thing on the side. I don\u2019t know, maybe it was also to do with being young.<\/p>\n

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And then you actually took a small break from music, tell us about that.<\/h6>\n

I was starting to try and get jobs for some of the photographers and stylists who worked on the magazine. I was like a fixer, you know, putting people together.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d been at Domino for a while. I wasn\u2019t not enjoying it, but I thought maybe I needed something a bit different. So I actually ended up working for an agency that looked after photographers and stylists for three months. It was definitely the worst three months of my working life.<\/p>\n

I worked with absolute bullies. It was a very toxic environment. The photographers and stylists were lovely, but it was not for me.<\/p>\n

In the end, I went to Universal and worked on their data team. A friend of mine left and asked if I wanted them to put me forward. I was like, \u2018Absolutely! Get me outta here!\u2019<\/p>\n

\n
So you\u2019re back in music, but how did you get from there to A&R?<\/h6>\n

I did quite a short stint at Universal, and then a job came up at Warp Publishing. There\u2019s an incredible woman called Joanna Hagger who got me in there.<\/p>\n

I was doing the royalty side, really enjoying it, because the set-up and culture was quite similar to Domino in some senses. And then I started to say to Theo [Seffusatti], my boss, who founded Warp Publishing, \u2018Maybe we should work with this person\u2019; \u2018What about this person?; \u2018Have we ever thought of this?\u2019; \u2018Maybe this producer would be good for this artist\u2019.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIn the end, Theo said, Put the spreadsheets down, let\u2019s give it a whirl.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the end he said, \u2018You know what, put the spreadsheets down. You keep coming to me with ideas, let\u2019s just give it a whirl. We\u2019ll get a new royalties person in, we\u2019ll do a transition, and you should just get out there and give it a go.\u2019<\/p>\n

I\u2019d not really heard of that many people segueing from spreadsheets to creative like that. But he took a chance on me and I\u2019m forever grateful for that.<\/p>\n

And then when you get into A&R, it is hard work and it\u2019s really rewarding work, but it\u2019s not rocket science either.<\/p>\n

\n
How important is it to be proactive like that in terms of career progression?<\/h6>\n

I certainly think now, as a manager myself, it\u2019s important to have an encouraging environment, because some places definitely don\u2019t. No manager\u2019s ever going to get annoyed at a good idea \u2013 or even a few ideas, and one of them\u2019s good.<\/p>\n

I think it is really important to develop and show that you\u2019re keen and that you\u2019re thinking about where you\u2019re working as a whole, looking at how the puzzle pieces fit together. It\u2019s a confidence thing as well sometimes, I get that, but I do think coming forward will always benefit you in your development, especially if you\u2019re working at a smaller company. It\u2019s so crucial to have a kind of entrepreneurial spirit in that scenario, coming up with ideas in a company culture where you\u2019ll be taken seriously. I always had at that at Warp, which I always appreciated.<\/p>\n

\n
Let\u2019s talk about your progression at Warp, which has been quite remarkable\u2026<\/h6>\n

I started more day-to-day A&R stuff on the songwriter side of things, building a network, trying to meet everyone. And then I started signing people to the publishing company alongside looking after the roster \u2013 artists and writers \u2013 that had been there for many years.<\/p>\n

I think once I was given the chance, I showed a lot of passion. Plus I was coming up with new business ideas. Then, when Covid hit, I sort of weirdly went into overdrive because I felt like we had a real responsibility to support all of our artists through that.<\/p>\n

We literally got a spreadsheet together of everyone on the roster and contacted them one-by-one, checking in and making sure that everyone was all right. There\u2019s always been a community feel here, but that just emphasised it and proved that it wasn\u2019t just something you say; it was real.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a>
Kelsey Lu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Senior management took notice, they knew I was serious about it. And so then I became Artist Liaison Manager, then Head of A&R. Then Theo told me he wanted to move to New Zealand. At that point the blood drained out of my body [laughs].<\/p>\n

When he told me, he also said, \u2018You\u2019ve gotta step up now\u2019. I remember thinking, no way, I\u2019m not doing that, it\u2019s too much pressure.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019d planted a thought. And then, as his plans started to come together, he and the MD of Warp Records [Kevin Fleming] said, \u2018We can either look for someone, or you can step up and run the company.\u2019<\/p>\n

I remember I started crying. I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t think I wanna do this\u2019. It just felt so overwhelming. But they were really encouraging, they said they\u2019d support me and they also put support in place around me.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>
Speakers Corner Quartet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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So we hired three people, Nadine Riezouw, General Manager, Rico Taylor-Walsh, A&R Manager US and Emily Moore, A&R in the UK \u2013 which is a lot for an indie company. But it meant that I felt super-supported. Their message was, \u2018Everyone\u2019s gonna pitch in and you\u2019ll get to learn everything you need to know in time; we think you\u2019re good for it.\u2019<\/p>\n

The end result is that we\u2019ve got a great A&R team, we\u2019ve got an amazing sync team, an amazing administration team \u2013 accounts, legal all of that. I would be nothing without those people, really.\u00a0 There\u2019s quite a lot of us now and it just feels like everything\u2019s come together.<\/p>\n

“The artists were all encouraging, same with the managers. There was support across the board.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The artists were all really encouraging as well, telling me I should do it. Same with the managers. There was support across the board, which
\nwas lovely.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m still learning lots, constantly putting ideas forward, thinking about how we\u2019re developing in different territories, how we\u2019re developing the team, what we need in each area, trying to keep ahead of trends, knowing the right people in the right places \u2013 building a community, internally and externally.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s just randomly asking people for a coffee. I\u2019ve done that so much \u2013 and you never know what will come of it. When you do, you find people are so responsive and curious.<\/p>\n

\n
You are a woman of colour sitting at the top of a company with huge responsibility \u2013 and that is rare. How important is it for you to have that voice and how are you using that voice?<\/h6>\n

I think my main goal is just to share and be open with anyone who\u2019s interested in heading in that type of direction.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m so happy to sit with people and break things down. Doing panels, meeting up with people one-on-one\u2026 Whatever will help to smash walls down, or get rid of that \u2018It\u2019s not for me\u2019 feeling.<\/p>\n

It might be by accident, but most of my UK team are women. We have a supportive environment, we\u2019re very encouraging, we talk about their careers not just their jobs, we offer mentoring; that side of things is super important to me.<\/p>\n

\n
Can I ask you about that mentoring; it\u2019s quite structured, isn\u2019t it?<\/h6>\n

Yeah, there\u2019s a company called Future Bubblers and I was approached by them to mentor artists. They\u2019re such an amazing team.<\/p>\n

And over the years, I\u2019ve also done some work with PRS Foundation, which was a real honour for me.<\/p>\n

I think people get worried about how much time it\u2019s gonna take, but it\u2019s often just a couple of hours out of your month. You can make the time, honestly, that\u2019s not a reason not to do it. You get such lovely friendships out of it as well.<\/p>\n

\n
Where do you see your career going from here?<\/h6>\n

I think publishing has changed so much over the past 10 years. It\u2019s become a lot more creative.<\/p>\n

We are working with people across songwriting, film scores, commission work, sync, and just general, really practical day-to-day support. I feel really passionate about building careers that are sustainable.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/figure>This interview is taken from a brilliant podcast series, Did Ya Know?, which tells the often unheard stories of key figures in the British music industry, focusing initially on pioneering executives of colour. The team behind the pod includes Stellar Songs co-founder Danny D and Decisive Management co-founder Adrian Sykes.\u00a0Music Business Worldwide<\/a>\u00a0is proud to be partners and supporters of Did Ya Know? You can listen to it wherever you find your favourite podcasts.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MBW\u2019s partnership with the Did Ya Know? podcast continues, with Adrian Sykes talking to Kay Wrate, MD of Warp Publishing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":236107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236105"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236427,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236105\/revisions\/236427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}