Image of Kate Young
Jury

Kate Young
Founder
Soho Music

LONDON, UK // Kate Young is the founder and head of Soho Music, one of the leading music supervision and branding agencies in the UK.

Housed in The Gin Factory Recording Studios in central London, she oversees the direction of the company in both commercial and creative work with award-winning clients such as O2 and Nike, BMW, Cadbury, Toyota etc.

Soho Music’s omnipresence in the ad world makes sense when you look behind the scenes. Officially founded in 2006, Soho Music was the product of Young’s unique approach to music supervision. Equally informed by her time at an ad agency and her years of schooling as a musician, Young’s approach is one that aims for harmony between client and creatives.

First trying her hand at supervision while working at ad giant Saatchi & Saatchi, Young soon figured out that her training in composition gave her a unique edge when it came to translating clients demands.

Soon Young had too much work for even her to manage and she began the process of founding Soho Music, an agency designed to replicate her skillset and her values as a supervisor. “At Soho, creative has to come first”, Young explains. Now housed in The Gin Factory Studios, a complex of commercial recording studios owned by Young and record producer MJ Cole, Soho Music is an intrinsically creative music agency, working alongside the producers and songwriters with which they share their building and help deliver on projects.

“The impact it has on what we do is massive; we have everybody coming through the doors, there’s so many high-profile artists and producers” Young enthuses, “it gives us an edge in how we’re able to work; it’s not how other supervision companies are housed. It’s just the access; it's unrivaled.”

Young has made a habit of championing the more social-minded side of music supervision and advertising. Not only has Soho Music supervised projects for Macmillan Cancer Support, and the Greater London Authority’s ‘London Needs You Alive’ campaign, but she’s also placing a new emphasis on education in her new role on the advisory board of the Guild of Music Supervisors.