Manager Spotlight offers a small insight into the heads of incredible managers. This week in the spotlight is Willow Dingwall-Fordyce.

How long have you worked in Management?
Believe it or not I haven’t actually been a manager for a full year yet. Working in royalties/licensing at PRS, marketing at Island Records & as an A&R at Global Records I made so many useful contacts and gained so much industry knowledge that I realised that it would be a wasted opportunity not to utilise my wealth of experience with aspiring artists.

Who do you manage now?
Evalina, Nova May & Olive. I also co-manage Taet with Michael Flakes & Conner Westney and am an A&R consultant to Rak-Su under my MGMT company The Misfits Management Club.

Where did you find your first client and what inspired you to take them on?
Whilst working as an A&R I fell down the rabbit hole of watching youtube covers to find undiscovered talent and came across Nova May’s cover of Britney Spears’s ‘Baby One More Time’ and was absolutely blown away by her gorgeous voice and striking beauty that I knew in that moment that we were destined to work together as I was instantly her biggest fan.

What’s a good/bad day at work look like for you?
I’m an optimist. There is never a bad day, only a bad mindset. A great day would be any time I get a song back from one of my acts, whether it be a demo, a feature or the final mastered radio edit. Hearing each one fills me an overwhelming sense of pride & excitement.

What has been the highlight of your management career to date?
As a former artist myself, I tend to live vicariously through my acts, so any highlight to them is a highlight to me. As we have SO much incredible music coming out this summer, if you were to ask me the same question this time next year the list of highlights would be endless. But so far this year I’ve had Nova May’s debut track signed to prominent a dance label, have organised some huge upcoming collaborations & features for Rak-Su, have seen Evalina & Taet reach monumental streaming numbers into the millions and have had Olive’s track ‘Toy’ be selected & signed by Universal to be part of their 100% her album in partnership with She Said So.

What do you think are the big challenges for a manager in 2021?
I am anxious to see how we will adapt back into live music and touring. We have become so reliant on using spotify and social media to promote new music that it will be very interesting to see if live shows are just as important & necessary now to break new acts and cultivate a fanbase.

What music are you currently listening to?
In the run up to summer it’s all about the DJ’s for me: T.Matthias, XORO, DJ SKT, Yola Recoba, Royale Avenue, Bobby Harvey, Tudor, Movada, Lazy Joe, Alexis Knox, AJ Moreno, Just Kiddin, Tom Ferry, CLIK3D & Kisch.