MBW’s Inspiring Women series profiles successful female executives.By ranking the gh businesses, we highlight your career journey from your professional breakthrough to the senior responsibilities you currently hold. meNspiring Women is supported by: virgin music group.
Donna Caseine, currently EVP and Global Creative Director at Reservoir, was destined for a career in music from a young age.
Growing up in Los Angeles, her mom worked at Disney and her dad ran a recording studio where she sat in on sessions and watched people record and create.
“I was a kid with headphones on, listening to every note, analyzing the music, trying to isolate vocals, bass or drums. I was also a kid who read the liner notes,” she says. “I had no choice. There was no ‘what else am I going to do with my life?’ It was instant love. “It was always music.”
Thanks to early exposure and access, Caseine landed a job straight out of high school as an assistant assistant for one of his father’s studio clients. She was tasked with answering the phone as a second ringer, and ended up providing feedback on the song.
She then took a job as an assistant at what was then MCA Music Publishing, where she began working under one of her mentors, Carol Ware. Carol Ware is married to the late songwriter Leon Ware (who co-wrote songs for Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, and Minnie). Riperton et al.).
Caseine’s work at Ware taught her the delicate balance between working for the company while also advocating for the interests of creators.
She explains: “At the time, companies had different agendas. The synergistic agenda was a success, but there was no transparency in the deals and there were varying philosophies in the corporate strategy that were not necessarily aligned with creative thinking.
“Carol would often come in and say, ‘I’m so frustrated with our strategy for moving forward with this writer.’ I got to feel and see how it affected both sides.”
That experience shapes Caseine’s approach to publishing today. “I’m an artist/writer advocate, so I take the lead from there, but I also have a music business, and both have to align,” she says.
“I often think of the creative team as the core of the company and the center of its work, and the deal team as the head of the company. “You need both to survive.”
MCA merged with Polygram to become Universal Music Publishing, and Caseine spent 20 years there until joining Reservoir eight years ago to open its West Coast office.
While at UMPG, Caseine worked with the likes of Prince, Mariah Carey, Alanis Morissette, Ariana Grande, and Jill Scott.
She was promoted to her current role at Reservoir in 2020. From there, Caseine worked on the catalogs of Joni Mitchell and Joe Walsh and signed songwriters such as Ali Tamposi and Steph Jones.photographed). She was recently instrumental in securing a publishing management deal with Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records.
Regarding the latter, Caseine says: “From the Olympics to The Voice and everything in between, Snoop is more culturally relevant than ever. Plus, he’s releasing new music that will once again bring Snoop’s music and artistry to the forefront.
“What he and the Death Row team are doing to continue the Death Row legacy and evolve the brand is I’m really proud This is the moment me and Reservoir join Team Snoop.”
Here we chat with her about A&R, lessons learned throughout her career, advancements in the music business, and more.
Do you have any habits or rituals that help you do your best work?
I’m a runner, so I run five days a week and start my day with that. It’s a moving meditation. Sometimes it’s an opportunity to spend time with friends.
It’s often a transaction, a response to something, an opportunity to think about what to do next. It’s really encouraging when people, and of course myself, do something for themselves every day because the days can get away from you.
What is your approach to A&R? How do you get the most out of the creatives you work with?
My approach to A&R is ‘Do I like it?’ Can you work with this person? Do you have a shared vision and plan that you and other team members can work together to achieve?
As I tell my team, just because a writer happens to be available doesn’t mean they are a Reservoir writer. If I don’t feel something for myself, if I don’t feel something from my team, that’s not something I can stand for. You can’t stand for someone or something if you don’t believe in it, if you don’t love it.
How can we help songwriters build their careers in today’s environment where it’s difficult to make a living from music?
It’s constantly evolving. You have to go with your ears and your heart. Every successful artist was also a rookie at one point. It’s about being able to communicate opportunities to writers, conduct those sessions, invest time in developing artists, and talk about the benefits of being a part of that story.
Can you pinpoint the biggest lesson you have learned throughout your career?
Ironically, part of it is part of my daily running ritual. I have run almost 19 marathons so far and my career has been a marathon one. It is not a sprint, and success does not happen overnight.
It’s about consistency, perseverance, and continuing to move forward. This is especially true on difficult days in music, where you get a no more often than you get a yes. There may not be the right artist to sing that song, or the writer may be a baby writer trying to find an A-list writer. You may not be able to break in this week, but if you have a plan, you might be able to break in six months from now. It’s about being patient and thinking about the long-term vision.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever heard?
The advice I keep coming back to is to have short-term memory!
You don’t know what someone’s day is like. If you send us an email and they don’t respond right away, we may not respond. If someone sends a follow-up note, great. I love follow-ups. I like that argument. It’s not aggression, it’s assertiveness and a reminder to bring something back to someone.
You may not be able to do business with someone you have the passion to work with. Even if they don’t get a contract, I don’t think the writer’s talent diminishes just because he doesn’t go to the reservoir. My problem is how to continue working with that writer.
Thankfully, one of the life lessons I learned early in my career was to get rosters and look for opportunities for writers I work with and writers coming into the city.
“It’s a small industry, so learn how to work with people. You never know how it will turn out.”
I went on to contact the publisher, a wonderful woman named Judy Stakee. She always came back and said, ‘What about Julian Bunetta?’ When I say ‘okay’, we’re ready for this session. Julian then completed his deal and was no longer at Warner Chappell. I tried to sign him with Universal, but we couldn’t get a deal done and he decided to go to another company.
You know what? I continued to work with him and when he closed that deal, I met him at the BMI Pop Awards and he came up to me and said, ‘I’m out of the deal.’ ‘Do you want to talk?’ I ended up getting that deal done and he produced a lot of One Direction’s albums and singles. It was a lesson in patience for me. It’s a small industry, so learn how to work with people. You never know how it will come back.
What do you think is the most exciting development happening in the music industry right now?
Various genres and people come together.
What I really loved about my career story is the appreciation of writers who come from different places, whether it’s coming to LA and trying to write with LA writers, or sending writers to Nashville or London. Now with DSP, you can listen to a playlist with this song next to this genre every week. That’s interesting to me.
And take a look at the recent moves of artists across various genres. That’s how people listen to music. Rather than just listening to pop, R&B, or country radio, people are now listening to a wide variety of things. One of the reasons I love music is the endless discovery.
You’ve told us how you’d like to see better compensation for creatives. Are there any other big picture changes you’d like to make to the music business?
I don’t know if it’s a change, but there are more opportunities to tell these stories.
One of the things that’s been on my mind is looking at 2024 success stories like Shaboozey and Teddy Swims. Teddy signed with Warner in late 2019. It finds talent and says, ‘Well, it didn’t hit the singles, so I’m done. ‘Fall’. Sabrina Carpenter releases her fourth album.
“With talent and people who believe in you and advocate for you, you can find your way and find your listeners.”
The roles of different places may change. Maybe you’re not in the right place, maybe you sign a contract and think ‘this is it’, maybe you’re not. But I hope that with talent and people who believe in you and advocate for you, you can find your way and find your listeners.
If you could go back to the beginning of your career and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?
Please be patient. Patience is difficult for you because you are excitable and everyone prefers things to happen right away. But be patient, believe in yourself and think long-term. I am very proud to be able to do that. It wasn’t easy.
What are your future plans and aspirations?
I have big dreams for the reservoir. I believe in what we are doing, the way we work and support writers, and the way we come together.
One of the things I tell the team, myself, and anyone listening is that the writers have a contract with Reservoir. They didn’t sign Donna Caseine. I hope someone remembers who signed, but I’m a firm believer that people will absolutely remember who did something for them. My strategy, my approach is to do things that can be part of their story.
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