Music Made Me Do It

"SHOW ME THE MONEY!" The Hollywood depiction of an agent doesn't really apply to the world of live agents in music. Alex Hardee – a partner in Coda Agency – unpacks exactly what he does (repping Liam Gallagher, Sia, Janet Jackson and Lewis Capaldi), and how it started with his nose getting snapped in Manchester for telling someone they looked nice.

Chris Swanson co-founded the record label Secretly Canadian in 1996. He's now the head of the group that also includes labels Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar and the Numero Group, as well as Secretly Distribution. Here's how he built America's ultimate indie label from nothing?

Guv Singh had to make a choice – between his desert company delivering puddings to stoned students, and turning his rave promotions hustle into a management company at the heart of Afroswing. Spoiler: he chose the latter, after a flood, investing in a trampoline park and a job at Philip Green's Arcadia that sucked.

An investigation into the world of professional songwriting with Eg White – a man who believes that how much he stands to make from writing songs with artists is intrinsically unfair on THEM, having penned huge hits for Adele, Will Young, James Blunt, Celine Dion and countless others.This is the story of how being a songwriter for others can be the most profitable profession in the music industry.

Barbara Charone is affectionally known as BC, and is a legend in the world of music PR. She's represented Madonna for her whole career, as well REM, Foo Fighters, Mark Ronson and Metallica.This is BC's story of how she became the music industry's leading press officer and co-founded her own company (MBC PR), having already built a successful career for herself as an American music journalist in London in the early 1970s.

What does a Mastering Engineer do, and how can you become one? Mandy Parnell is a legend in the game, mastering records for everyone from Bjork and Aphex Twin to Nick Cave and Snoop Dogg. She's been nominated for Grammys and has formed her own studio, called Black Saloon. This is how Mandy built a career for herself in the music industry, obsessing over sound.