In light of Black Music Month, we are spotlighting pioneers in the entertainment industry making waves. First up is Clark University alumna Rachel Jackson, who now serves on YouTube Music’s Artist Partnerships Team. Jackson’s journey started at an early age while dancing in the performance arts as a ballerina. The Atlanta native later developed a greater appreciation for music and continued to blossom while living in the Black Mecca. Jackson became immersed in its entertainment landscape, making her first splash while working as an intern at Ludacris’ Disturbing The Peace Records. Her resume only evolved after working as the director of A&R at Roc Nation Label before obtaining her current position as artist relations manager on YouTube Music’s Artist Partnerships Team.

Music artists often lament about having access to the money generated from their music streams. In some cases, it takes months for them to receive their royalty checks. Create Music Group (CMG) is implementing a system to address that. The music distribution and publishing company has introduced a beta program called Create Carbon, a credit card directly linked to artists’ royalty revenue, according to Rolling Stone. Create Carbon is a sleek black titanium card powered by MasterCard and can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted. With this program artists can instantaneously access their earnings as soon as they get them. This allows them to explore more marketing opportunities, tours, and other expenses without any barriers. “ For independent artists, almost anything you do involves you being able to act instantaneously. If you want to invest in any type of marketing campaign, you can’t wait two months,” says CEO and co-founder of CMG, Jonathan Strauss . “That’s the reason you see...