We’re happy to be speaking today with an acclaimed and respected member of the Sony Music Entertainment family, Cherriana; greetings and salutations, my friend! Before we dive down the proverbial Q&A rabbit hole, how is the freshly-minted holiday season of 2023 treating you?
It was truly an honor to converse with VENTS magazine—thank you for having me 🙂
The holiday season has been quite fulfilling for me. However, instead of being freshly-minted, I’d say my holiday season has taken on a cumin-flavored twist, as I’ve been in Dubai, UAE for weeks on a business trip organizing and managing the Sony Music Entertainment Asia and Middle East Strategy Conference 2023. Diverging from regional corporate meetings, this conference marks the inaugural occasion where SME combines both Asia and the Middle East for an annual conference. Attendees included the top executives from various regions.
Organizing this significant event involved substantial effort, but it’s also an incredible opportunity. I’m honored to contribute a Dubai twist and infuse some cumin spice into the holiday season, facilitating Sony Music executives in gathering, exchanging ideas, and making strategic decisions to foster the flourishing and sustainable growth of Sony Music.
Congratulations on your role as Artist Development and Marketing Fellow at Sony Music Entertainment’s NY headquarters! Starting at the tip-top – and for those not in the know – can you explain what you do in your position?
Absolutely. Except during the busy holiday seasons, like the recent weeks when I need to switch to an alternative priority project, the majority of my time and my main responsibility are focused on developing Sony Music’s Asian and Middle Eastern artists’ presence and performance in the North American market.
To achieve this goal, my daily work involves observing and analyzing the performance of both market and artists, evaluating and selecting priority artists and releases, communicating and designing retainers with agencies, negotiating and closing deals with them. I also work collaboratively with the artist team and external parties to maximize their performance in the market, manage offline events and activities when the artists come to NY, and present and report the artists’ performances at the annual strategy conference to the top executives.
How did your own celebrated tenure as a provincial singing champion in China, as well as your time as a country music artist based out of Nashville, prepare you for your current role with Sony Music Entertainment?
It’s amusing to reflect on my artist career era; it feels like it happened in the last century. Perhaps it’s because that era unfolded during my teenage years in various cities and even in another country, whereas now I’ve been working full-time offsite in NYC.
Nevertheless, these experiences have significantly shaped my understanding of music industries in different cultures and guided my career path to align with where I feel most at home and can contribute my abilities the most. These experiences have provided me with insights from various perspectives and have played a crucial role in shaping the person I am today.
I believe that my academic background, majoring in music business for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees at Belmont University and New York University, combined with my success as a young artist in China during my teenage years, has equipped me with the necessary talent and qualifications to understand both the business and creative aspects.
This background ultimately prepared me for my role as an artist development professional at the headquarters of Sony Music Entertainment. I don’t think I would be qualified if I lacked any of these experiences, and for that, I feel immensely grateful for the path I am on.
As the youngest staff in your office at Sony Music Entertainment in NYC, what do you bring to the table that others may not?
Certainly, everyone in our office in New York is highly experienced and sophisticated, having worked here for decades. Each person is like my professors from school, individuals I deeply respect and from whom I can learn so much.
However, I believe I was selected to join the team for a reason. Sony Music has brought me on board expecting me to provide exclusive insights that are difficult to replace.
As an international citizen from Asia with a six-year academic background studying music business for both degrees in the United States, I bring an international perspective and mindset, understanding and being familiar with both Western and Eastern music and cultures. Additionally, having experience as an artist and internships in mainstream music industries in both Shanghai and Nashville, Tennessee, allows me to serve as a bridge between different cultures and between the art of music and commercial business concepts and operations.
Beyond these points, as a Gen-Z individual with a part-time role as an influencer on the Chinese social platform “Little Red,” I am continually aware of and closely connected to digital trends online. This enables me to efficiently provide the team with timely ideas and a mindset for digital marketing for our artists.
Therefore, I believe that my dual professional roles in both cultures (artist and corporate) and my active presence as a Gen-Z influencer uniquely position me to play a vital and necessary role in the team and the office. I am here to learn, to grow, and simultaneously contribute with my unique and exclusive strengths.
Before your full-time career, you interned at Sony Music’s New York headquarters for three consecutive semesters. Did that prepare you ultimately for what you do now?
Absolutely. As I mentioned, I don’t believe I would be qualified for my current position if I were to revisit any previous moment in my life. Every step I took has contributed to shaping who I am today.
I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to intern at the Sony Music New York office right from the start. During that time, I reported to two supervisors. Shridhar, the President of Corporate Strategy and Market Development for Asia and the Middle East, who is also my current supervisor, oversaw the direction of my major projects; while Kevin, the General Manager of Sony Music Taiwan, provided guidance on my detailed day-to-day tasks.
Having the incredible opportunity to learn directly from these two executives allowed me to absorb new knowledge and gain insights at a rapid pace. I set goals to bring out the best in me, working diligently to achieve the most. Even as an intern, I played an active role in the release projects of C-Pop artists such as Mirror from Sony Music Hong Kong, Nene, and Sury Su from Sony Music China. Among these real-world, hands-on projects, I took the lead in organizing the ‘Sury Su in NY’ events and campaigns. This included bringing Sury to New York University, making her the first and only C-Pop artist to speak at NYU, and successfully executing her first local influencer marketing campaign in NY.
This internship experience not only caught the attention of Sony Music’s social media team, leading them to invite me to host and feature in a video about Life at Sony Music as the international marketing intern who spearheaded Sury’s events in NYC — making me the first intern to be invited to record in this official channel — but it also proved my ability and reliability to my supervisor, and had him recognize my potential and capability to qualify for a full-time key role within his team.
Globalizing the music industry is an important priority for you. Breaking that down for the layperson that may be reading this, what does that entail precisely?
Yes, globalizing the music industry is my primary objective. However, my role specifically involves introducing Asian music to the US, aligning with what you mentioned.
In achieving this goal, I meticulously work to maximize the impact of artists and their music in the US. I work closely with executives and artists, employ various approaches, targeting different aspects to organically enhance our priority artists’ international visibility and musical presence. Unfortunately, I cannot delve into more specific work details.
How big of a part does collaboration with our partners across Asia and Middle Eastern regions play in what you do?
As an artist development fellow with a focus on Asian artists and music, I am consistently engaged in close collaboration and communication with various partners in Asia, including Sony Music Korea, Greater China, the Philippines, and more.
I regularly communicate with them to stay informed about their recent releases, track their performances, understand their priorities, and collaborate on envisioning and implementing plans to elevate local artists onto the international stage.
I strongly believe in transparent communication and efficient collaboration between local affiliates and the headquarters, each offering different perspectives, to construct a comprehensive view that leads to the successful and global development of the best plans for our artists on the world stage.
Can you give our ever-inquisitive readers a hint or three as to who, in your opinion, are some of the brightest lights under the Sony Music umbrella, musically-speaking?
Just like everyone else at Sony, I hold a deep appreciation for all SME artists and their music. SME signed them for a reason — because we love their music and wholeheartedly believe in and support their music careers.
While I believe every artist under the SME umbrella is a shining star destined to shine even brighter in the future, I am particularly impressed by the significant impact P-Pop (Filipino Pop Music) has made on the world stage recently. Notably, artists such as SB19 and Ben&Ben from Sony Music Philippines have achieved substantial streams and global success in 2023. Their unique Filipino melodies combined with Pop have presented amazing music deserving of a wide audience.
I am delighted to witness their recent achievements, showcasing the development of Asian pop music beyond K-Pop on the global scale. I can’t wait for the exciting future that awaits.
Word ‘round industry campfire has it that you’ve been invited to serve as a judge at The Rap of China “中国新说唱” 2024 New York Auditions; congrats! What will you be doing precisely in your role as a judge?
I will be collaborating with respected judges to form a professional panel, bringing together our diverse perspectives as individuals working in various facets of the music industry.
In my role, I primarily contribute the viewpoint of an artist development expert from the world’s leading major record labels. My responsibilities include listening to candidates’ tracks and evaluating their performances with a professional A&R perspective. I focus on aspects such as delivery, tempo, rhythm, beats, lyrics writing, original creation, and stage performance to score and help select and transfer the talented candidates to a bigger stage to help support their music dreams.
When you’re not helping to make Sony Music Entertainment shine even brighter, what do you enjoy doing for fun? Do you still sing?
Yes, I still sing, write, and play musical instruments such as piano, guitar, banjo, and guzheng, a traditional Chinese instrument known for its beautiful sound.
In addition to music, I am also a big fan of outdoor sports such as horseback riding, sea fishing, and hiking. Immersing myself in nature provides a brief escape from the hustle and bustle of city life, allowing me to discover the breathtaking music created by the universe and its beautiful creatures.
I believe that all the music humans create is inspired and recreated from the sounds of nature. For instance, the beats we create are essentially different manifestations of the Earth’s rhythmic patterns. Listening to and feeling the heartbeats and breaths of the Earth helps us come up with inspirations for our own music creations, I believe.
What advice would you give for young interns just starting out at Sony Music Entertainment?
Be determined, proactive, and hardworking. Always say yes to opportunities and consistently learn from others.
Don’t be afraid to express your thoughts and ideas. Be bold in shooting for the moon because even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll land on a star. Dare to dream and take action.
