Female Disruptors: Stefani M.C. Janelli Of The MIC Music Group On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Vanessa Morcom
Know your worth! You obviously want to work, and want to get all of the jobs and opportunities you can, but you also have to know what you’re putting into it. Your time and energy are not free. You should have a set rate that you are not willing to work under. If you discount your prices for one client, then that becomes what your price is. Know your worth, and the clients that see that value in what you do will come.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, we had the pleasure of interviewing Stefani M.C. Janelli.
Stefani M.C. Janelli is known for her unwavering passion for independent and emerging musicians. As the founder of The MIC Music Group, she showcases artists through compelling interviews, insightful record reviews, and a growing YouTube series. Honored as one of Yellowbrick’s 40 Under 40 in 2023, Stefani combines impressive writing skills with expertise in international marketing, media partnerships, and social media management.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Sure! I have always been interested in music, throughout my childhood I was always playing the guitar and writing songs. During college, I studied classical guitar and earned a Bachelor’s Degree with a double concentration in Music Studies and Music Industry. During my Capstone project in college, I created a music blog called The Music Insight Column or, The MIC. It was a site where I could cover anything I wanted to about music. After my internship was canceled due to the pandemic, I began to further develop my site after many independent artists and classmates reached out for coverage of their music. I continued The MIC while also working on an independent artist’s management team for two and a half years. During that time I was able to see the challenges that independent artists were facing, like song registration, copyrights, press, and release strategy. I wanted to be able to help more artists who were struggling with similar issues in a way that allowed them to stay independent, and not have to rely on an antiquated system like a music label. So in January of this year, I officially expanded The MIC into The MIC Music Group: Mag & Label Services!
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Absolutely. My business model is not a PR company, management company, or music label. It’s a company dedicated to offering an array of services to musicians. If an artist is looking for one specific service, they can pay for one-off, a la carte services. If they’re looking for a more comprehensive approach, we offer packages and can also create individually tailored packages to fit the exact needs of each artist or band. We don’t ask for a royalty percentage or ownership in any of their music, but just flat fees for each of our services. Like a label alternative, where you can build the services that are right for you at this time in your musical journey!
If you’re an artist that wants to keep your independence in the industry but might need some help, The MIC MG is here for you! To champion your independence in the quickly evolving industry.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
What a great question! Saying yes to every artist that asked for coverage. While we received some great, high-quality artists asking for coverage, we also got so many, not-so-great artists! Especially in the beginning. Artists that maybe this was the first song they’d ever recorded, in their bedroom, in Garage Band. Or just artists that had no online presence, couldn’t find them anywhere but decided to release one track on Spotify.
At first, it was so exciting to get these submissions, and I was just starting out myself so I would truly say yes to just about every submission we received. And since I found it difficult to give negative feedback to an independent artist who was just starting out, I would try to pull anything positive I could come up with. And those articles, can be really funny. I learned that if I continue to feature musicians of this level, these are the musicians I would attract. So now I dive a little more into the artist before agreeing to a feature!
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
Strong women continue to inspire me each and every day, especially women who deal with challenging moments with strength and grace. That’s not easy!
My cousin, Laura, has been someone who has inspired me and truly instilled confidence in me, helping me navigate during a very turbulent time I dealt with this past year. She’s strong, intelligent, and always remains so positive.
Other women in the industry who have been open with me on pricing, personal stories, and advice have been such helpful mentors while building The MIC MG.
Also my professor, Dr. Reali. After my internship was canceled in 2020, I pursued an independent study under his guidance, which allowed me to further develop The MIC. I still love to run ideas by him and this year he even invited me back to Ramapo to speak to his Music Marketing class!
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
I believe that disruption is positive, or can be, and is necessary in the music industry filled with insightful creatives. I think something like The MIC MG is a positive disruption. Allowing artists with more tools in their toolbox to be independent instead of relying on simply the old way of doing things. Something that has been disruptive in the music industry, and not in a positive way is the idea that music is free. The introduction of streaming into the industry, while it’s incredible in many ways like how accessible it is, comes at a cost in other ways. Especially now with Spotify, and the fact musicians are getting fractions of a penny for streams makes it increasingly more challenging to have a sustainable career as a musician. So I think the disruption of streaming has allowed so many people to take music for granted as something that is, or should be free. I think this has created a direct domino effect where people don’t want to pay musicians the rates they deserve, etc.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey?
1. Follow your passion. When I was first starting The MIC, and still now even, so many people disregarded the idea of a music blog or online magazine, or even being self-employed as something that can just be a cute hobby instead of being taken seriously. I remember having a conversation with another woman in the industry, and I said, “It’s unfortunate, but this is the only thing I’m passionate about.” She said, “Why is that unfortunate? You know what you want to do, and you love doing it.” And that really stuck with me. You’ll find a way to make whatever you want work because if you’re passionate about it.
2. Know your worth! You obviously want to work, and want to get all of the jobs and opportunities you can, but you also have to know what you’re putting into it. Your time and energy are not free. You should have a set rate that you are not willing to work under. If you discount your prices for one client, then that becomes what your price is. Know your worth, and the clients that see that value in what you do will come.
3. Network! This year specifically, I have focused on building my network. It’s not an easy thing to do, especially when building your own business, and being pulled in 100 directions, but it’s so important! I’ve learned that growing my network, especially of other females in the industry, has helped me brainstorm, get tips of the trade, and get feedback on what I’m doing and even advice on how I can maybe do things even better. It’s so ingrained in society to pin women against each other, and it’s often thought that there can only be room for one woman, if that, in any room and there’s not any room for more. Make room, and make room together.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
By not stopping! We’re going to continue to launch more services to help artists, we have a masterclass on the way, an expansion of our YouTube series, and more! Stay tuned to see what we do next!
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
There are almost too many to name, but to start, the music industry is a male-dominated industry. I think being taken seriously in this industry is one of the biggest challenges. I can recall countless times where I’ve been in rooms, usually of all men, and I was spoken over, ignored, or simply not listened to. But when the same ideas were raised by a male counterpart, the ideas were praised. Women need to be heard and respected, especially in this industry.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
Actually, yes! I’m always continuing to read, network, and listen to podcasts but I have a few favorites.
Podcasts: Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Hedlam, and Justin Richmond and Rolling Stone Music Now
Books: I’ve been loving How to Make It in the New Music Business
Practical Tips on Building a Loyal Following and Making a Living as a Musician lately but also, The Only Girl: My Life and Times on the Masthead of Rolling Stone by Robin Green, and Nobody Ever Asked Me about the Girls: Women, Music, and Fame by Lisa Robinson
Another very influential book has been, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero. At first, I thought this book seemed a little cheesy for me, but if you’re really going through it, this is a must-read!
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Free access to mental health care. Therapy and medication can be very expensive. Often therapy is not covered by insurance, and that’s if you have it. So many people do not have jobs that offer insurance like freelancers, and musicians. If they do have insurance, it’s often not very good, and certainly does not cover therapy! Mental Health care is Health Care and should be accessible for everybody.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“When One Door Closes, Another Door Opens.”
If another door hadn’t closed, the door for me to expand The MIC into The MIC Music Group would never have opened. Everything, is a learning experience, even the hard things! If it’s meant to be, it will happen.
How can our readers follow you online?
They can read our online magazine and find out more about our services at themicmg.com.
They can follow us on social media @themicmg!
Check out our YouTube Series here: https://www.youtube.com/@themicmg
Here’s our Linktree including our latest articles and links: https://linktr.ee/themicmg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themicmg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theMICMG
and find our Spotify Playlists here: https://open.spotify.com/user/22ybeltj7aoza7bzdechmmxga?si=ff83595cf94e48b9&nd=1&dlsi=6c86416d27414ca3
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Thank you for having me!
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Morcom is a millennial mom of three and founder of Morcom Media, a performance PR shop for thought leaders. She earned her degree in journalism and worked for Canada’s largest social enterprise. She can be reached at vanessa@morcom.media.
