Annie Flook, Propeller

💭 Thoughts on strong & outspoken female artists, Ganni, and the art of standing your ground.

Annie Flook has spent most of her career working in the agency and label space - first working her way up as an assistant at ICM Talent to helping to book bands like Cannibal Corpse, Frank Turner and Every Time I Die. She used that experience at the agency to land a job in touring & artist development at Warner Music Group where she ultimately spent 7+ years - first at Warner Records, then Atlantic Records, and finally Elektra Music Group where she ran their touring department from 2018-2022. In 2022, Annie both left NYC for Nashville and label life for a dream job running artist partnerships at Propeller where she gets to help artists support causes they are passionate about.

🎯 Current focus

I’m incredibly proud of the work we are doing with Chappell Roan around LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights at the moment. Despite her skyrocketing career, she prioritizes using her platform for good, engaging her fans with social impact, and setting an example for other artists in the industry. We've already broken two records on the platform back-to-back with her, and I’m very excited about the proposal we currently have in front of her team to continue that momentum alongside our partners at PLUS1. Artists like her remind me why I wanted to match artists with cause marketing campaigns in the first place.

📚 The Women by Kristin Hannah

I just finished reading The Women by Kristin Hannah. This book had me in tears multiple times but ultimately it’s such an uplifting and incredible piece of historical fiction [my personal favorite literary genre]. It also made me want to dive deeper into stories of women who were overseas and served during the Vietnam War. 

💪 The art of standing your ground 

Lately, I am practicing the art of saying no and standing your ground on the strategies and concepts we’ve built at Propeller. When we have the ingredients for a great campaign, we can achieve outstanding results for our artist partners and nonprofits. Although there’s a trend of wanting more for less effort, I’ve become more vocal about the tremendous value we bring—tens of thousands of dollars behind marketing efforts, first-party fan data capture, and support for a cause—all in exchange for just 5 minutes of an artist’s time and zero cost to their team. We aim to collaborate with artists and teams who recognize this value and build mutually beneficial campaigns where everyone wins. This has also given me more space and time to really lean into the partnerships that are working and continue to create truly measurable impact for our nonprofit partners. 

🗣️ Strong and outspoken female artists 

I am so excited to see how many female artists are making music right now and not only succeeding via their streaming numbers but are also selling more tickets, headlining festivals, and simply kicking ass overall. From Chappell Roan to Gracie Abrams, Lizzy McAlpine and Sabrina Carpenter, I've made it a personal mission this year to collaborate on campaigns with every young female artist who is outspoken and cultivating a strong fan culture around their music. 

✨ An incredible mentor and friend

When thinking about someone in my industry I look up to, the first person who comes to mind is Nina Webb. She led marketing during my time at Atlantic Records and has spent over 25 years in the industry guiding and developing artists across various labels. Even though I didn’t directly report to her and worked in an entirely different department, she quickly became a mentor to me. She helped me navigate my role at the company and even assisted me in negotiating my first contract. Nina was also instrumental in helping me realize when it was time to leave WMG and how to navigate my next steps. To this day, she remains an incredible mentor and friend, and I owe a great deal to her.

💚 Charli XCX’s rollout for Brat 

The Charli XCX rollout for Brat has been so fun to watch. Having worked on her projects while I was at Atlantic, I’ve always admired how true she stays to herself and her unique talent for separating herself from the pack, never chasing a trend and working harder than everyone else. It’s exciting to see an album campaign that feels so authentically 'her' and clearly has the full support of her label and management teams. It even has me wondering if I can pull off that lime green color in my wardrobe; I’m eagerly awaiting the Brat merch drop!

🥐 Inciardi Prints

I am currently completely obsessed with Inciardi Prints out of Maine. Their prints, inspired by the celebration of food, are so creative and fun. My favorite part of the brand, though, is their innovative vending machines placed throughout the Northeast. Each mini print costs $1 and is dispensed at random, adding an element of surprise and excitement to the experience. It’s such a genius marketing tool that I went out of my way recently to find one while I was in Portland, ME. If you’re wondering, I got the croissant print. 

👜 Ganni 

I’m also in love with the fashion brand Ganni at the moment. I recently invested in one of their ‘Bou’ bags while I was in LA because I saw it on one of my girlfriends. As soon as I purchased it, another friend quickly followed. I get compliments on it pretty much every time I wear it. Not only do I love their design aesthetic, the brand itself is ultra committed to transparency & sustainable business practices. I recently found that they even put out an annual report on how they are working to improve their effect on the environment. Everything I’ve read about the brand just makes me want to shop from them more. They know that they sacrifice profit as a trade off for maintaining a responsible business and I find such inspiration in their approach - I wish more brands would take a page out of their handbook. 

🐾 Pitbull rescues

My pitbull rescue and love of my life, Betty. We adopted her last year from Wags And Walks Nashville and she has completely changed my life - in both the most challenging and rewarding ways. I’ve become such an advocate for pitbulls and the breeds who often get left behind at shelters. They are incredibly misunderstood and such sweet, loving dogs. My nickname for her is ‘Betty Boo’; I even got a portrait of her dressed as a ghost tattooed on me this year.

Follow Annie on Instagram & Linkedin and check out Propeller here.

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