As part of our Horizon Future Leaders series of interviews, we are connecting with the music industry’s next generation of leaders to gather candid advice and insights into their career journeys.
This week we spoke with Peyam Zangana, Audience & Marketing Manager at Beggars Group. A 2020 lockdown graduate, Peyam was the first ever intern in Beggars’ current rotational internship programme, gaining hands-on experience across marketing, operations, radio and promo, publishing and multiple record labels.
That opportunity became the foundation for his growth into a full-time role, where he now helps shape campaigns for artists across 4AD, Matador, Rough Trade, XL Recordings and Young.
Today, Peyam’s work revolves around understanding how fans connect with music online, from tracking conversations on TikTok and Reddit to developing influencer campaigns and paid media strategies that reflect how audiences actually behave. His sharp eye for digital trends and audience insight helps bridge the gap between artists, labels and fan communities.
For those looking to follow a similar path, Peyam’s advice is both practical and forward-thinking: learn the basics of advertising platforms like Meta, Google and TikTok; stay curious about how fans engage and create online; and don’t hesitate to reach out to people in the industry, whether through LinkedIn messages or by building your own presence in music communities.
👇 Keep reading for Peyam’s reflections on digital strategy, community engagement and why understanding audience behaviour is now one of the most valuable skills in music marketing.
What’s your current role in the music industry?
I’m the Audience & Marketing Manager at Beggars Group.
What does your general day to day look like?
The marketing team work centrally at Beggars, facilitating services for 4AD, Matador, Rough Trade, XL Recordings and Young. So each day is different and varied!
My main tasks include facilitating influencer campaigns, generating audience insights on artists, contributing to social media strategy through a marketing lens, and facilitating paid media like TikTok and Instagram advertising.
What steps did you take early in your career to gain experience and build skills to get you where you are now?
I did a business management with marketing degree and any chance for a case study I’d pick a record label or music industry related example - including my dissertation!
But aside from education, I’ve always actively stayed on top of what’s happening in the current online music landscape. I have a separate TikTok and Instagram account and trained my algorithm to show me artist socials, music discovery pages, fan accounts and relevant music subcultures. I grew a fascination with how audiences speak to each other and contribute to growing discourses.
I genuinely think a marketing mindset is important to cultivate. Keep an eye out for billboards, ads, paid promotions and ask yourself questions as to why you think the record label made those choices.
What opportunities did you explore early on that were particularly valuable?
I was the director of the student-run record label at my uni. Making the most out of smaller funds helped me think of creative solutions. Also just working with friends who are artists, offering to help with social strategy. It’s low-lift but helps you practice the strategy muscle.
Has the opportunity landscape changed since then?
I was a 2020 lockdown graduate, so the landscape was…unique. I would say the online sphere is transforming so radically right now that more roles and internships are popping up in specific branches of marketing - audience roles, community manager roles, creator marketing roles. It’s all expanding!
Are there any specific internships, projects, or initiatives that you would recommend to newcomers looking to pursue a similar role?
The Beggars Group paid internship! I was the first intern in the current initiative. It’s a six month rotational internship where you get to spend blocks of weeks in marketing, operations, radio and promo, publishing and one of the record labels we house, plus smaller stints in other departments.
You really get a strong snapshot of the entire record label process for a release, which is integral in understanding how to work with all departments from a marketing perspective.
What advice do you have for building and leveraging a professional network in the music industry?
LinkedIn! It’s exhausting but reach out to enough people and some will get back to you, I always try to!
A rogue one - I’ve recently seen the rise of people using TikTok to build their networks. Some are creating “cultural commentary pages” in efforts of being hired, some are calling out to like-minded people looking to get into the industry, and it’s all generating a lot of community building and generating awareness for opportunities
How has the evolving digital landscape impacted your role, and where do you focus to stay ahead?
How long do we have? My main role is actively staying ahead of the evolving digital landscape. The main thing I watch out for is how people are talking about music online, and how people are using music online.
I look for how trends grow on TikTok in subcultures, what people relate to the most about an artist when they’re blowing up. But then also I’m trying to suss out what other labels are doing.
For example I saw a TikTok boosted ad from a fan account earlier this year and started taking notes of label fan accounts. Thank goodness I did because fan pages are very much a buzzword right now!
What trends or changes do you see on the horizon for the music industry, and how can early career professionals prepare for them?
The focus online is shifting from artist-focused marketing to community engagement.
The focus for years has been on figuring out how artists can fit into the world of short-form content. But user-generated content is at an all time high and the power is with the fans. Making sure fans have experiences they can feel connected to is definitely rising.
Look into Discord, Reddit, X, communities, they really push the discourse out there! Fulfill the stan fantasy on TikTok and engage with music communities to really learn what they want out of releases.
What’s one piece of advice you wish someone had given you at the start of your career?
If you want to go into marketing, it’s probably best to vaguely understand how advertising platforms on Meta, Google and TikTok work! Marketing roles can differ and not go into advertising, but it is a big part of most campaigns. Meta has a learning resource called Meta BluePrint and Google has Grow With Google.