Grace O'Grady

"If you've attended a festival or concert, it won't be a surprise to learn that an entire ecosystem is working behind the scenes to bring live music experiences to life. From artists to agents to ticketing and sponsorships – countless people are involved in making live music possible.

 Leading the way in one area is 32-year-old Grace O'Grady, Vice President of Account Management for Live Nation UK's Marketing Partnerships. Grace and her team guide brands like Liquid Death, Audi, O2, Barclaycard, TK Maxx, Three, and Pepsi in developing clear, strategic partnerships that engage live music audiences across the UK. 

 Grace defines what it means to grow up in an industry. Grace entered the live music industry as a volunteer at 18, distributing show flyers outside O2 Academy Bournemouth and moving on to roles at the box office and bar shifts, while pursuing a degree in Advertising and Marketing. 

 Consistently recognised for her managerial prowess, communication skills, and institutional knowledge, Grace has been consistently promoted, steadily progressing up the live music industry ladder. Starting full time as promotions and box office manager, Grace quickly rose through the ranks to join the head office of Academy Music Group (owner and operator of venues nationwide and subsidiary of Live Nation UK) in the Marketing Partnerships team. 

 Excelling in her first year, Grace landed a place on IQ's annual New Bosses list, featuring the next generation of leaders within the live music industry.

 By 2018, Grace was Head of Brand Partnerships for AMG, leading the team that manages venue partnership delivery across the group's 21 venues nationwide for brands including O2, Carlsberg, Barclaycard, and Pepsi as key accounts (all still key clients today). 

 In 2021, Grace moved across to Live Nation as Head of Venue Partnerships, a new role created for Grace. In 2023, a 31-year-old Grace was promoted to Vice President of Account Management, currently the youngest VP role in the division. 

 Today, Grace leads a team responsible for delivering some of the most successful music sponsorships in the country. Her team manages ticket access partners across Live Nation's touring infrastructure for brands like O2 and Mastercard as well as key partners across Live Nation UK's 40+ festivals nationwide. Over the course of the upcoming festival season, Grace's team will work with a total of 34 brand partners. 

 Directly line managing eight people, with a total team headcount of 15, the value of accounts being managed by Grace's team this year will be upward of £25M (not for publication). Globally, Live Nation's international partnerships were up 13% as of the company's last Q4 earnings. 

 Grace is generous with her expertise and time, empower ing her team to strengthen and improve relationships with partners. Integral to Grace's success is her ability to bring clarity to situations, her operational excellence, and the deep level of trust she cultivates with her team and partners. It is Grace who makes everyone around her better, asking the challenging questions and guiding us towards solutions and success."