INTERVIEW | Rhea Pasricha and Katie Fagan give an aural prescription for song
These A&R executives are empowering women in the music business
Popdust was lucky to interview two women that have had such an impact on the music industry. Two key executives at Prescription Songs, Rhea Pasricha, Head of A&R West Coast and Katie Fagan, Head of A&R Nashville, are leading the way. Prescription Songs, founded by Lukasz Gottwald—mega platinum songwriter-producer Dr. Luke—is a worldwide venture representing nearly 90 industry-leading songwriters.
How did you get started working in the music industry?
Rhea Pasricha (RP): Luck! I was lucky that I got accepted into the Clive Davis Recorded Music program at NYU, and started interning at various labels and music production houses from my Sophomore year onwards. During my Junior year, I was an intern in the A&R department at Atlantic Records, which lead to a temp job and ultimately a full-time A&R assistant position working for Pete Ganbarg. Juggling my final year of school and a full time job was tough, but it was the best learning experience into A&R and the music industry. After a couple years, I got an opportunity to move to the Atlantic office in Los Angeles and worked under Aaron Bay-Schuck before ultimately making the move over to Prescription Songs.
Katie Fagan (KF): I was a music major in college at Indiana University, but I had no idea how I was going to get out of Bloomington Indiana and make it in the music industry. I was voicing my frustrations to my roommate at the time, and she happened to have an older brother who was an intern in A&R for a couple of summers. She reached out to him and he immediately introduced me to two of his friends in the industry - one was Juan Madrid who, at the time, was SVP Urban A&R at Warner/Chappell, and the other was Chris Anokute, who was SVP A&R at Universal Motown. I ended up getting an internship with Juan at Warner/Chappell in the A&R department that summer which is what moved me out to LA. I stayed in close contact with Chris Anokute as well, which is what lead me to Luke and Prescription a few months later.
Did you think you'd end up in the position you're in now?
RP: Coming from a first generation immigrant Indian family with NO connections to the music industry, I never thought I'd be able to be where I am now! I owe it all to the amazing mentors I've had along the way - Pete Ganbarg, Aaron Bay-Schuck, Beka Tischker and Dr. Luke. They took a chance on me and empowered me to trust my ears - and sign writers that I truly believed in. I got to my position now by persistent, putting in grueling hours, and a bit of luck in meeting and building relationships with the right people along the way. I feel super lucky to have crossed paths and work with some of the best mentors and writers, which lead me to where I am today.
KF: I second what Rhea said here. Having mentors and people believe in you and take a chance on you is everything. If I hadn't met Chris Anokute I wouldn't have met Dr. Luke, if I hadn't met Dr. Luke I wouldn't have met Beka Tischker. I owe it all to them. I had never left Indiana before moving to Los Angeles and it was terrifying. And being where I am now took a LOT of blood, sweat and tears. It's incredibly gratifying to see all of those tough early days finally pay off, and to be recognized for our hard work and our passion for music. It's really amazing to be in the place I'm in now - it's a place I always hoped to be in one day and I feel incredibly lucky that I'm living it now. If you would have told me a couple years ago that this is where I would be, I probably wouldn't have believed you!
How are you involved with Cirkut and his constantly growing career?
KF: Cirkut is one of the OG's of our team. He actually started working with Luke around the same time I started working for him around seven years ago, and we became good friends after many late nights in the studio. Working alongside Luke for years gave him an amazing platform to launch his own career as a producer, and he's had incredible success on his own with relationships he's developed with artists along the way. Like we do for all of our writers, we are constantly working to get Cirkut and our roster involved in the best artist projects and strategic sessions, depending on what inspires each individual writer. We're so proud of him for his Grammy nomination this year on the Weeknd's album, and so proud of our other writers who got nominated this year too!
How do you choose who to work with?
RP and KF: We're an independent company with a small roster, and we pride ourselves on developing writers. Rather than waiting to see what cuts a writer might have coming through the pipeline, we try to find talent early and trust our guts. Talent is obviously an important quality, but even more important than talent is work ethic and personality. Since it's a 24/7 job, we strive to work with someone who is driven and someone people can root for. We have a "no asshole" policy, which applies to both our writer roster and staff - we're a small family and that vibe is super important to us to upkeep!
What kind of music did you listen to growing up?
RP: We have a pretty eclectic group of music tastes at our company! I think the important thing is that we all truly love music - might sound simple and obvious, but I think that's what makes us kind of special. We are constantly sharing music (whether it's signed to Prescription or not) and giving each other album or artist recommendations. Personally, I grew up listening to varied music but definitely leaned Pop. My ultimates are Michael Jackson, Queen, Prince, Stevie Wonder - and of course, being a Michigan girl I grew up loving Eminem and D12!
How did you find Prescription?
KF: Chris Anokute, who I mentioned above, was my key to Prescription. I have always called him my guardian angel because he took a HUGE chance on me by recommending me for the job as Luke's assistant back in 2011. After my internship at Warner/Chappell, I took a job as an assistant in PR and realized quickly that that was not the path for me. Along the way I stayed in touch with Chris, and when I really felt I needed the change I reached out to him with an updated resume and asked him if he had heard about any potential job openings in music. He responded and said that Luke was looking for an assistant. He sent my resume in and even though he only really knew me as the girl from Indiana who loved music and would send him an email every couple of months, he gave me a glowing review to Luke and after a few interviews, I got the job. The rest is history.
RP: I was working in Los Angeles as an A&R coordinator Atlantic Records when I started to get to know some of the Prescription Song roster. I started setting up some sessions with a few of the writers, and through that process I got to know Beka Tischker and met Dr. Luke. In 2012, they ultimately called me one day to say they were looking for someone to join the team. I loved the writers and the culture at Prescription Songs, and decided to take the leap. At the time, I was the first A&R hire and there were just under 25 writers signed. Fast forward to now, and we have a staff of almost 20 people and almost 80 writers signed. It's been an incredible honor to watch the company grow over the last six years, but what I'm most proud of is that we've managed to maintain the close-knit community among our staff and writers.
What's the best part of working in the music industry?
RP: I think there's no greater reward than signing a writer that may be unknown or under the radar, and working with them every step of the way to achieve their dreams and career goals. To celebrate all our writers and their every milestone - whether it be their first album cut, tv/movie sync, radio play, or Grammy nomination. We work so closely with our writers from day 1, and there's a lot of work that goes into placing every stepping stone along the way. It's a process to take a song demo from its infancy stage to release - we get to see all the steps and incarnations a song takes before it hits the public. And that feeling of hearing a song for the first time on the radio is euphoric. I'll never forget when I heard "Don't Let Me Down" on the radio for the first time. I had signed Emily Warren while she was still in college, and it had been almost 3 years of banging on doors and slowly getting the right opportunities for her. Hearing that song on the radio was an incredible moment for our whole team - I had to pull over to cry! Since then, I've been lucky enough to have a hand with our writers on a few radio records, and the first time hearing it is always stop-the-car special.
KF: We get to listen to music everyday. The fact that it is a job is more than a dream come true. And beyond that, we get to work with incredibly talented and loving musicians who have quickly become close friends and family. It's insanely gratifying to have the freedom to sign things we love when they are just a tiny seed with no following or cuts or hits under their belt yet. I signed FRENSHIP about three years ago when they had only released two songs on Soundcloud that had about 500 plays each. Fast forward to now and they have a full team, a platinum hit, and are signed to Columbia Records. I set up their first show at the Viper Room two years ago, and this past year I got to see them play at Outside Lands for thousands of fans - it was insane! And I also have a writer named Soaky Siren who I've gotten to develop from the early stages, and she currently has Jason Derulo's single "Tip Toe ft. French Montana" that is killing the game right now. She was also nominated for a Latin Grammy last year for her song in Fast & the Furious called "Hey Ma" by Camila Cabello, J Balvin and Pitbull. And we've been cooking up some stuff for her on the artist side as well that I am incredibly excited for. These are just two examples among the amazing roster we have - they are all special and working their butts off, and it's so fun watching them all succeed when their time comes..
What obstacles do you feel women commonly face in the music industry?
KF and RP: There have been many instances in our careers where we've had to stand up for ourselves and hold our ground in a room full of only men. The music industry is definitely a male-dominated world, and for so long women have been under recognized and under appreciated. As females, we are more than competent, we are more than able. It's time the industry acknowledged and celebrated that. It's not a matter of us stepping up - we've already been working twice as hard, sometimes to only get half as far. A lot of the conflicts we have seen seem to have trickled down from an older era of the industry, but we do feel hopeful that the tides are slowly changing.
How have you overcome these obstacles?
RP and KF: In the past, we've had to sometimes fight to have our ideas heard and taken seriously. We've watched our male counterparts get promotions and accolades faster and easier than we've had them come to us. We've overcome this is by leaning on one another and building each other up, as well nurturing a company culture that gives a voice to each and every employee. Thankfully, at Prescription Songs we've been able to work in a very pro-female environment. We've been lucky to have mentors who support and empower every employee, from our interns to our executives, regardless of gender, race, etc. I think it is so important to creating a safe culture where the best idea always wins and where there is zero space for intolerance.
What are your hopes for the future of the music industry?
KF: I'm looking forward to seeing the comeback of the life of a songwriter being a realistic career choice. They deserve to be paid for their work and they deserve to be recognized. Without songwriters we have no songs, and our songwriters are the heartbeat of this industry. We need to take care of them and pay them properly. Steps are being made and I can't wait to see those steps become greater and greater. I'm hopeful this will come to fruition soon.
RP: I cannot agree with Katie more. I hope that songwriters get fairly compensated for their works, and I hope our government helps to ensure that happens. The Music Modernization Act is a great start and hopefully opens the conversation for much-needed reform to bring outdated laws into the modern climate. It's an exciting time for music makers and music consumers. It's never been easier to record and release music - I think that has given a level playing field to the industry and produced a lot of amazing artistry. It's also been super fun to see songwriters becoming artists themselves (including helping many of our writers successfully embark on their artist careers). I love that it's brought the emphasis back to the craft of pure songwriting. I can't wait to see what next chapter holds!
Dan Victor is editor of Popdust and producer of Popdust Presents. He is also a music producer, bassist for Low Profile (live hip hop) & The Coldpress (indie rap) and front-man for Ductape Halo (indie rock). Follow on Youtube.
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