“You are enough, whatever is inside you is enough. Just own that and make that the most amazing thing possible” Bozoma Saint John, Head of Global Consumer Marketing iTunes/Apple Music and Billboard’s Executive of the Year honoree.
The above short film includes interviews with Tori Kelly, Michelle Obama, Bozoma Saint John, and other powerful women about the evolving influence of women in the music industry.
Billboard held its annual Women in Music gala in New York, honoring some of the most talented, influential and successful women in the music industry. Before the event, Billboard has partnered with American Express to present “Women in Music: Inspiring a Generation,” a short film that spotlights the importance of women in all levels of the industry, whether on stage or behind the scenes.
In the eight-minute video, such luminaries as Billboard Executive of the Year honoree Bozoma Saint John, breakout singer-songwriter Tori Kelly and even First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama weigh in on the increased empowerment of females in music. “Women have been rising to the top of just about every industry in this country,” explains Obama. “And that’s particularly true of the music industry.”
The First Lady also discusses how she women in music helped create the soundtrack for Let Girls Learn, the organization she founded with President Obama to empower young women worldwide. “The President and I launched Let Girls Learn in March 2015 to help girls worldwide get the opportunities they deserve to go to school,” she says in the video. “The song ‘This Is for My Girls’ supports Lets Girl Learn, and it serves as an anthem to rally women around the world to — and I quote — ‘Stand up, put your head up, don’t take nothing from nobody.”’
Shania Twain Accepts Icon Award at Billboard Women in Music 2016, Credits ‘Dreaming, Working Hard & Being Courageous’ ..”I think I was 3 when I realized this was what I was supposed to do for the rest of my life,” said Twain, now 51, in the video preceding her award. For Billboard‘s Women in Music issue, Twain spoke about working on new music for an upcoming album that would be her first since 2002’s Up!.
Billboard Executive of the Year honoree Bozoma Saint John, The streaming service’s secret weapon. Now, after a headline-making onstage appearance and a series of high-profile, star-studded ads, she’s the (glamorous) new face of Apple Music. To hear Saint John, 39, describe the moment, history wasn’t on her mind. In fact, the head of global consumer marketing for iTunes and Apple Music finds the constant preface of “black” and “woman” in articles about her “annoying.” “I am one of the best at what I do,” she says, “regardless of being a woman and being black — those are benefits!” Thinking back, the engineers stirring in their seats weren’t of much concern to her, either. “The strategy was to talk to the people outside — those who are going to be watching in their office or on the phone, the people on social media,” she says. “They need to feel like their best girlfriend just told them about this cool new thing. It needed to feel fun because that’s what the experience of music is. So when no one [in the room] was really going along with the lyrics, it wasn’t scary because I could hear the roar of the crowd outside. I know they’re jamming.”
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