Interview with Jessica Wilson, Co-owner, COO and CMO of Global Artist Management Enterprise – Seven20
As Co-owner, COO and CMO of global artist management enterprise – Seven20 – Jessica Wilson wears many hats. We were fortunate enough to find a gap in Jessica’s busy schedule to be able to sit down with her and find out all about who she is, her experience – from organizing raves, to running global music campaigns – and of course, about all things Seven20.
Firstly, we’d love to know more about who you are outside of Seven20. Who is Jessica?
A mother of two, a partner and a music fan are my bedrock, my career has always kind of been inextricably linked to who I am personally. But it is my lifelong passion of music that brought me to where I am now. I would say I have always had a lot of powerful energetic love for life which I used to direct towards promoting events and chasing new acts to see live, and as I got older that energy never left. I just started to use it in different ways.
What were you doing before Seven20?
I have always been involved in the music industry in one way or another. I began by throwing raves, which ultimately led me across the country through collaborations with different promoters and artists. After that, I got more into PR and started to run PR campaigns at major labels for artists like Tiesto. That’s when I first met Dean and Mark Gillespie, who were managing deadmau5 and Calvin Harris respectively. From there I got asked to come work with them on the management side and that really kickstarted the journey I’m on now.
What is your role at Seven20?
Well, I wear a few different hats at Seven20. Some official and others unofficial, but I’m the active COO & CMO which basically means I manage the managers and operations while I also oversee all external marketing. Two roles which are equally as challenging as they are rewarding, because in a creative company like Seven20, a company that is constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, everyone has creative ideas and solutions. So, it’s my job to try and pull them all together to ensure we are streamlined in our vision.
Why Seven20 and what do you see for the future of the company?
Dean’s whole ethos is so strong, the bedrock of the company is the protection of artist IP, which is such a pivotal and meaningful mission to be a part of in the music industry. Having worked in the business for over 20 years I know how important an issue this is and how difficult it is for artists, so that is really what drew me to the project in the first place. There is no other setup globally really trying to protect artists’ vision as much as Seven20 is. And through innovation and the use of new technologies, we really hope we can continue to build out the model of partnering with artists and help them achieve their goals of being complete owners of their creative IP while championing them to do what they love.
