Nicole Barsalona, WIM President.
Photo credit: Mary Slowey

While there are tons of amazing female artists in the music world, women are still in a minority of the leadership roles in the industry. There are many reasons for this, but some of it boils down to life just has more expectations for women — with the responsibilities of family often weighing much heavier on women. But this is where community come in. Women in Music (WIM) has 40 years of women supporting women, offering an inspiring environment for development, support, and growth! You don’t want to miss their next summit — Jan 15th-17th. Read on to learn more!

Where are you based?
I’m based in Boston, MA! I was born and raised in NYC, I went to college in Boston, went back to NYC for my first job post-graduate, lived in Philadelphia for two years, and now my home is Boston where I live with my husband and two daughters.

We heard that a Women in Music Summit will be held in the upcoming year. Can you walk us through how the virtual platform will work and what attendees can expect from their experience?
We launched the virtual WIM Summit back in January of 2021 after our members and partners had been isolated for months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Craving ways to connect, we began hosting virtual programming in 2020 and decided to create a three-day Summit with educational and career development content, and ways to connect at a time when we all needed it the most. This year, we’re using the virtual platform Zuddl where our partner organizations and sponsors can also host virtual booths to share info on the amazing work they do, and attendees can participate in virtual networking and roundtables, a lot of fun bells and whistles while also being able to reach all of our members around the world.

How will the event be structured across the three days, and what’s the format for each of the key sessions?
Our three days follow our three tent poles at Women in Music - Educate, Empower, and Advance. Each day starts with an Expert Advice session in our WIM Community Hub at 11 am ET, hosted by an expert in their field, and then panels and workshops follow, with each day ending in a virtual booth expo and networking sessions.

Here’s a peek at some of this year’s sessions:

DAY ONE: EDUCATE

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Expert Advice: Moving Global Culture with Faryal Khan Thompson, VP Global Markets, Strategy & Development, Empire
Female Founders: From Bootstrapped to Venture-Backed, Meet the Founders Building & Growing Businesses
Artist Services + Management: Strategies for Breaking Through
Turning Followers Into Fans: Content Creation & Community Building, in partnership with Keychange U.S.
Money Matters: Diversifying Income Streams to Grow Wealth
Charting Your Own Path: Aligning Goals, Values and Vision on the Entrepreneurial Journey - A Fireside Chat with Jessica Wilson, Co-founder & COO, Seven20 & The Circuit Group

DAY TWO: EMPOWER

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Expert Advice: Top Tips for Artists & Teams with Amy Lombardi, Head of Artist and Partner Relations, TuneCore
KEYNOTE - Martha Earls (Kane Brown’s manager)
WIM Safe(r) Spaces: Empowering Allies - Bystander Intervention Training for a Safe(r) Music Industry, in partnership with Here for the Music
WIM Workplace: What it means to be a WIM Best Places to Work 2025
WIM Safe(r) Spaces: Mental Health in Music
WIM Safe(r) Spaces: Rebellious Joy & Reclaiming Space
Moms in Music Networking Session

DAY THREE: ADVANCE

Friday, January 17, 2025

Expert Advice with The MLC
Making VP
Job Search Success: Tools and Tips for Landing Your Dream Role
Communicating with Confidence Workshop

…and more!

With hundreds of attendees expected virtually from all around the globe, what are the key takeaways you hope participants will gain from this year’s Summit?
I hope that attendees come away with some new tangible learnings that help them in their career and life; that they feel inspired and a renewed sense of passion or purpose; and that they feel connection and find a sense of community and belonging at WIM.

L- Artist Lauren Eylise R-Nicole Barsalona and WIM President, Nicole Barsalona.
Photo Credit: Nicolle Anderson

As the music industry continues to evolve, how do you envision the role of women in shaping its future?
When we have diverse leaders making decisions and impacting culture, we are all better off. I hope that we continue to see more women in leadership positions, and I hope we can help to shape the future of the industry to support that growth. Learn more about a few of our initiatives that are helping to create this kind of lasting change - including WIM Safe(r) Spaces and our WIM Workplace Initiative - at womeninmusic.org.

What are some of the biggest challenges women still face in the music industry, and how can the WIM Summit help tackle those issues head-on?
One of the biggest issues is the broken rung in the ladder — women make it to a certain level of leadership, but fall off before they reach the top decision-making positions that impact us all.

I myself am a mother of two and a daughter to an aging parent, so I know all too well that there are structural reasons why this happens, among others. When the majority of the family and household management still falls to women as data shows, it's women who take on the bulk of that unpaid responsibility outside of the office and it limits your capacity in so many ways. We have to find a way to work together and collectively enact changes that help support these gaps that exist societally and structurally.

One way we’re working to do that is our WIM Workplace Initiative, which seeks to collect data across metrics of top priorities for women in the workplace to celebrate wins and to identify where we fall short as an industry so that we can find solutions to create a better future together. You can take action with us - find out more here and take the WIM Best Places to Work survey before Jan. 17!

What do you hope the lasting impact of the Women in Music Summit will be on the industry as a whole, and how do you see it influencing future generations of women in music?
I hope that we continue to create safe spaces for women and gender minorities to come together, to learn and have access to career development, to be inspired and to build community. I’ve seen first hand how WIM and the Summit in particular bring folks together and inspire people to finally take the leap and break into our industry, and it’s inspiring and exciting. I myself almost left the industry because I felt that it just wasn’t possible to create the work/life balance I hoped for, and then I saw a panel about artist managers who were also moms at SXSW one year, and it changed my life. Representation is truly powerful, and WIM has served a vital role in diversifying our industry over the last 40 years. I hope WIM continues to educate, inspire, empower, and advance women in music for decades to come.

With Women in Music expanding to chapters globally, how do you see the organization’s role in shaping the future of women in the global music scene?
When I joined WIM we were a small group of ten Board Members and the organization was based in New York, before we launched chapters outside of our home base. Today, we have chapters all over the world and collegiate chapters in colleges across the country. The greatest benefit there is that we have a global network of community-builders and leaders — women and gender diverse individuals who uplift one another, who connect and support one another, who share resources and inspiration and advancement opportunities. WIM’s role is just that — acting to uplift and connect women all over the world, be it artists, executives, and everyone in between, to create a more inclusive and rich industry and art that makes an impact.

Are there any upcoming projects you would like to share?
WIM Safe(r) Spaces - more here!
WIM Workplace to name the WIM Best Places to Work 2025 - more info here!
Find out more about getting involved here!

It has been a crazy past few years, how have you been staying positive?
Honestly, volunteering at Women in Music alongside some of the most mission-driven, passionate people I’ve met really lifts me up when things get tough. Whether its a work-related incident that has me fuming, or a tough day in the world that I’m trying to process, or a piece of advice on a deal I’m seeking, I feel so lucky to have my WIM community to turn to. Outside of WIM, I’m so lucky to have my life partner and daughters to keep me looking forward. It’s all about leaning on your community, wherever that may be for you.

What are some of your resolutions for the new year?
I try not to have resolutions, but I do assess what worked and what didn’t in the past year, and what things I want to be spending my time and energy on in the year ahead. Time is our most precious resource, and the older I get, the more I realize that you really have to be intentional with how you spend every minute of mental, emotional and physical energy. What brings you the most joy? What makes you feel like you have a knot in your stomach? Plan your time according to the former, and ditch as much as you can of the things on the list for the latter. I recently read about a method that Tim Ferris employs and I love these kinds of exercises to uncover what is really worth your time and your heart.

To learn more about Women in Music and Nicole Barsalona, please check out the links below:
Website | Join WIM | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Women in Music are Changing the Narrative