MBW’s Inspiring Women series profiles female executives rising through the ranksTheir careers are profiled, from their professional breakthroughs to the senior responsibilities they fulfill today. Inspiring Women is supported by Virgin Music Group.
Donna Caseine, now Executive Vice President and Global Creative Director of Reservoir, was destined to work in music from an early age.
Growing up in Los Angeles, her mom worked for Disney and her dad ran a recording studio, and she sat in the studio and watched people record and create.
“I was the kid with headphones on listening to every note, dissecting the music and trying to isolate the vocals, bass or drums. I was also the kid reading the liner notes,” she said. “I have no choice, no ‘What else can I do with my life?'” It was a moment of love. It’s always been music.
Because of that early exposure, Kessian found a job right out of high school as an assistant to her father’s studio client’s assistant. Her task was to answer the phone on its second ring, which eventually turned into providing feedback on the song.
This led to a job as an assistant at what was then MCA Music Publishing, where she began working for one of her mentors, Carol Ware, whose husband was the late Songwriter Leon Ware (who co-wrote songs with Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and Minnie Riperton, among others).
While working at Ware, Caseine learned the delicate balance between working for the company and advocating for creators.
She explains: “At the time, businesses had different agendas. The synergy agenda was successful, but there was a lack of transparency in the deals and there were different philosophies on corporate strategy that didn’t necessarily align with creative thinking.
“Carol would often come over and say, ‘I’m frustrated and this is our strategy for moving forward with this writer.’ I had to feel it and see how it affected both parties.
This experience shaped Caseine’s approach to publishing today. “I’m an artist/writer advocate, so I lead from there, but with the music industry, both need to be aligned,” she said.
“I often think of the creative team as being at the heart of the company and commercial affairs, and the deal team and so on being the head of the company. You definitely need both to survive.
MCA merged with Polygram to become Universal Music Publishing, where Caseine worked for 20 years until joining Reservoir eight years ago to open a West Coast office.
While at UMPG, Caseine worked with Prince, Mariah Carey, Alanis Morissette, Ariana Grande and Jill Scott, among others.
She was promoted to her current position at Reservoir in 2020. Songwriters such as Ali Tamposi and Steph Jones (As shown in the picture). She was recently instrumental in signing publishing management deals with Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records.
Discussing the latter, Kessian said: “From the Olympics to The Voice and everything in between, Snoopy is everywhere and more culturally relevant than ever. Additionally, he will The release of new music will also bring Snoop’s music and artistry into the spotlight again.
“What he and the Death Row team are doing to build the legacy of Death Row and move the brand forward is really proud For me and Reservoir, this is the moment to join the Snoop team.
Here, we talk to her about A&R, lessons learned throughout her career, evolving the music business, and more.
Do you have any habits or rituals that ensure you’re the best version of yourself at work?
I’m a runner, so I run 5 out of 7 days a week and that’s how my day starts. This is a moving meditation. Sometimes it’s an opportunity to spend time with friends.
This is often an opportunity to consider a deal, respond to something, or research what to do next. The day can get away from you, so I really encourage it when people, certainly myself, do something for themselves every day.
What is your A&R approach? How do you get the most out of the creatives you’re working with?
My attitude towards A&R is, do I like it? Can I work with this person? Do we have a shared vision and plan that we can work with other team members to achieve?
As I tell my team, just because a writer happens to be available, doesn’t mean they are a Reservoir writer. If I don’t feel good about myself, if I don’t feel good about the team, then that’s not something I can advocate for. If you don’t believe in someone or something, if you don’t like it, you can’t defend it.
How do you help songwriters build their careers in today’s climate where it’s hard to make a living from music?
It’s constantly evolving. You have to listen with your ears and your heart. Every successful artist was once a new artist. It’s about being able to communicate the opportunity to our writers, discuss the merits of doing that session, and take the time to develop the artists to be a part of that story.
Can you pinpoint the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career?
Ironically, part of this is part of my daily running ritual. I have now run nearly 19 marathons, and my career is a marathon. This is not a sprint, and success does not happen overnight.
It’s about consistency, patience, and keeping going, especially in music, which can be challenging when you get “no” more often than you get “yes.” When there may not be the right artist to sing the song, or that writer is a baby writer trying to be a top-notch writer. Maybe you can’t penetrate this week, but if you have a plan, maybe you can do it in six months. It’s about being patient and thinking about the long-term vision.
What’s the best career-related advice you’ve ever received?
The advice I keep reminding myself is to have a short term memory!
You don’t know what someone else’s day is like. When you email them and they don’t respond right away, maybe they can’t. It would be great if someone sent follow-up instructions. I love the follow up. I like this assertion. Not aggressively, but assertion and reminder to regain something with someone.
You may not be able to come to an agreement with someone you are passionate about and really want to work with. If I didn’t get the deal, I don’t think that writer was less talented because they didn’t end up in the reservoir. My question is, how do I continue working with that writer?
Thankfully, one of the life lessons I learned early in my career was to get a roster and find opportunities for the writers I was working with and the writers that were coming to town.
“It’s a small industry, learn how to work with people. You never know how things are going to turn out.
I kept contacting this wonderful woman, a publisher named Judy Staake, and she always came back to me and said, “How’s Julian Bunetta?” I’d say, “Great,” and we would schedule these meetings. Then Julian completed his deal and he was no longer at Warner Chappell. I tried to sign him to Universal, but that didn’t work out and he decided to go to another company.
Did you know? I continued working with him, and when he closed the deal, I saw him at the BMI Pop Awards and he came up to me and said, ‘I got out of my deal. Do you want to talk? I ended up getting the deal and he produced a lot of albums and singles for One Direction. This was a lesson for me to be patient. It’s a small industry, learn how to work with people. You never know how it’s going to happen.
What do you think is the most exciting development in the music industry right now?
Different genres and characters come together.
One part of my career story that I really enjoy is the appreciation for writers from different places, whether they come to Los Angeles and try to write with L.A. writers or they send writers to Nashville or London. Now, with DSP, every week you can listen to a playlist that contains songs from that genre. This makes me very excited.
Plus, check out what different artists have been doing across genres lately. That’s how people listen to music because it’s not just listening to a radio format of pop or R&B or country, you’re listening to a lot of different things together now. One of the many reasons I love music is the endless discovery.
You talked about how you’d like to see creatives get paid better. Are there any other big changes you’d like to make in the music industry?
I don’t know if that’s a change, but there are more opportunities to tell stories.
One thing I’ve been thinking about is looking back at 2024 success stories like Shaboozey and Teddy Swims. Teddy signed with Warners in late 2019 – it was a long process of faith, identifying talent and working with it, rather than just finding talent and saying, ‘Well, this isn’t going to work for a guy, so we It’s done, you’re ‘dumped’. Sabrina Carpenter just released her fourth album.
“With talented people and people who believe in you and advocate for you, you can find your path and find your audience.”
These roles may change from place to place. Maybe you’re not in the right place, maybe you sign an agreement and you’re like, “That’s it,” maybe not. But hopefully, with talent and people who believe in you and advocate for you, you can find your own path and find your audience.
If you could go back to the beginning of your career and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?
be patient. It’s hard to be patient because you’re excited and everyone wants things to happen immediately. But be patient, believe in yourself, and think about things in the long term. I’m very proud that I was able to do this. It’s not easy.
What are your future plans and ambitions?
I have big dreams for the reservoir. I believe in what we are doing, in the way we work and support writers, and in the way we come together.
One thing I say to the team, to myself, to anyone who’s listening is that the writers have signed on to Reservoir. They did not sign Donna Kessian. I’m a firm believer that hopefully someone will remember who signed their name, but people will definitely remember who did what for them. My strategy, my approach is to do something to become part of their story.
Virgin Music Group It is the global independent music division of Universal Music Group, which brings together Universal Music Group’s record labels and artist services businesses, including Virgin and Ingrooves.
global music business
