The UK music industry is in mourning after the passing of beloved radio plugger and Thirty Three Music founder Mel Rudder.
Rudder started her career on the street team for Atlantic’s East West Records in 2000, before becoming head of the London street team whilst at university. Upon graduating, she worked in club promotions for Warner Music, and later moved over to Atlantic’s national promotions department where she managed the specialist radio and TV strategies for campaigns.
After 15 years, Rudder founded her own company, Three Thirty Music, radio plugging and consulting for artists domestically and internationally.
In 2016, she also co-founded the record label and management company Salute The Sun, which has represented the likes of Jaz Karis and Barney Artist. In 2017, meanwhile, Rudder worked on the launch of One Vibe, a non-profit organisation supporting young people affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
For me personally, it was important that I was able to bring a new voice to the table with an aim to represent the often underrepresented voices in key conversations at a top level
Mel Rudder
In 2023, Rudder served as Warner’s rep on the committee for the BRITs, and appeared on a digital cover of Music Week alongside Atlantic’s Damian Christian and trophy artist Slawn. In that piece, Rudder spoke about her passion for the ceremony pushing towards its own R&B category.
“For me personally, it was important that I was able to bring a new voice to the table with an aim to represent the often underrepresented voices in key conversations at a top level,” she says. “For example, I feel it is important this year to address the need for a standalone R&B category in the awards as it is a genre that can afford to stand on its own two feet and we have some great talent coming out of the UK that deserve to be recognised on home soil for their contribution to the genre.”
One year later, the BRITs would formally reveal the standalone R&B category that Rudder and so many more were calling for.
More recently, Rudder appeared in Girls I Rate and Music Week’s Mentor Me column where she gave her expert advice for those looking to break into the music industry. One of her key bits of advice? Hold your nerve.
“‘No’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘no’ forever, it might just be ‘not yet’,” she wrote. “Everybody goes through rejection in some way at work, and the music industry is quite cut-throat, it can be harsh, but it’s all about your interpretation of it. A ‘no’ might just mean you’re not ready or you have some more work to do. I learnt the hard way in terms of going for jobs, pitching for stuff, in my general day-to-day work. And even now, I’m not going to get every single song on the radio, but those things might not necessarily be an absolute ‘no’ either. Don’t panic, the right things will come to you if you’re working hard enough and you’re getting yourself out there.”
Music Week extends its deepest condolences to Rudder’s family, friends and colleagues.
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