‘Songwriters deserve a bigger piece of the pie’: the music publishing boss on the threat of AI

Shani Gonzales: ‘I wouldn’t go to a restaurant, take the food and not expect to pay.’ Photograph: Louise Haywood-Schiefer

Arriving in London in the teeth of the pandemic to take a top music industry job, Shani Gonzales had few opportunities to immerse herself in British culture, with venues shut and parties off the table. The New Yorker instead turned to TV for her education, bingeing on The Crown, Downton Abbey and – a more left-field choice – Naked Attraction.

“I was trying to get as much of a cross-section as possible!” says Gonzales, who heads the UK arm of music publishing giant Warner Chappell. “Music is culture, taste, environment – it felt daunting not being able to leave the house and meet artists in a role like this.”