Uprising: Alice Benton, From Classical Roots to Industry Innovation

SIREN’s Alice Benton grew up in a music-loving family – whether it was her dad’s ‘80s playlists or her mum’s Steve Right Sundays in the car, the soundtrack of her childhood was never dull. Naturally, when she was five, Alice expressed a keen interest in learning the piano. Her parents diligently bought her one, saving it from being put in a skip, for £50. 

“I absolutely love that piano, it’s so terrible,” she laughs. “It used to be a pub piano, so there are cigarette burns all over the keys and it still smells of smoke.” So Lana Del Rey.

Around the same time, Alice’s older sister told her she’d “really suit the violin,” which is all Alice needed to take it up. “Thinking about it, she did me a real solid there. Though learning to play, I found a life-long love of classical music and grew up playing in orchestras and pit bands,” she explains. “I was that kid that was always hauling a violin around the school halls.”

After a few years of lugging her musical instrument everywhere she went at school, and once finishing her exams, Alice went on to study music at Durham University. Which she absolutely loved. “My degree was very musicology-based, I love the history and politics and analysis of music, and really stepping into the mind of the composer, the times they lived in, why they have written what they’ve written. 

“The music scene in Durham was amazing and I played with lots of different orchestras and groups including the Durham University Symphony Orchestra, which is where I met my now fiancee!”

Durham’s Symphony Orchestra toured Europe every spring, and with them Alice went to play in Madrid, Budapest, Ljubljana, and Barcelona. Sixty students on a massive bus with a percussion trailer, driving for over 38 hours – “the best of times,” Alice reminisces.

After finishing her undergraduate degree, Alice, somewhat unsurprisingly, stayed to do her master’s in musicology – “I loved my course so much, so I specialised in Russian and Soviet music.”

Following four amazing years learning and playing music, Alice found herself not really knowing how to make music her career, or really, what she wanted to do. “At no point during my musical education had anyone explained how this industry actually works,” she says. “Having done some work experience during the summers of university, the first job I had in the industry was at EMI Production Music, then part of Sony Music Publishing, producing library music.”

After a few tries, Alice finally landed the job and got to grips with library music – “you get your ears around every genre ever crossed with every other genre ever, and really get to work on your production skills.” At EMI she had an incredible time and felt extremely encouraged – if she wished to make an album and could make a good case for having it in the library, she was trusted to go and make it. 

Later in 2022, Alice got the opportunity to work label-side, as an A&R at Decca Records for a year, where she gained even more experience working with their roster, which at the time comprised of AURORA and Jacob Collier, but also Alice’s “classical heroes” such as Jess Gillam. “Coming from publishing, it was a bit of a baptism by fire into the label side of the business, but it completely opened my world, there were so many opportunities I didn’t know existed.

“A&R is one of those crazy but wonderful jobs where you just have to make things happen. The amazing head of A&R always told me that the key to it was nurturing your inner ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ – if she reads this she’ll laugh, but it really stayed with me. If you want something you just have to go do it, make it happen.”

After Decca, the freelance world was calling to Alice, and so was the world of sync – she’d always imagined music supervision to be a great job, so that’s what she went and did. While working for a music supervision and composer management agency, she also volunteered for Donne, Women in Music, a non-profit that supports women in classical music. Around this time she also started managing Jessie Marcella, an incredible artist Alice still manages today. 

“Jessie is amazing. Get to know her name, you’ll be hearing it a lot soon, I’m sure,” says Alice. “This industry can feel a bit gate-keepy for artists – that’s why it’s so important that information is passed on and fighting for artists to be heard is an incredibly fulfilling part of the job.”

Looking at the music industry more widely, Alice is passionate about the need to support emerging artists, especially those from underrepresented groups. “It’s a career that’s incredibly tough,” Alice says. “You have to be not only insanely talented, but you’re also running a business and signing deals, so you need to have knowledge of music law, finance, release and marketing strategies.” Beyond this, artists need to understand the logistics of playing live, networking, having a TikTok following as Alice explains, and a number of other caveats. 

So, if we want artists to break through, Alice is of the firm opinion that they need to be given the right tools and information. “It’s why I’ve loved working with artists in my career, just passing as much information forward. And that goes not just for artists, but for anyone you meet. There’s enough space in this industry for everyone, so pass on your information!”

Going back to her career path, it was freelancing that let Alice take a breather, digest what she’d learned in her past two experiences, and really take a look at what’s expected of her in the next decade, or even a couple of decades. More importantly, she had the time to reflect on what she wanted her career to become.

This is how Alice ended up in music supervision at SIREN – a role which pulls together everything she’s previously learned from producing, publishing, labels and composers. Now, she’s in the middle of it all. 

The one thing Alice feels has served her the most in her career so far is keeping in touch with the teams she left and people she used to work with. “Your relationships, your network, are so crucial in this industry, and you never know where people will end up, if you can help them or if they can help you down the line.

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate – somehow I keep ending up working in amazing teams – people I’ve met at EMI, Decca, and now SIREN are some of my current best friends. You can often find ways of working with people again. Hold onto them!”

Looking at some prominent projects, Alice takes us back to her first job at SIREN – a sea shanty for Ocean Saver, with The Longest Johns. “To this day it’s among my favourites, and it will get stuck in your head on loop forever,” she says.

“Another highlight was working on the BBC Olympics coverage with a new version of Edith Piaf’s ‘Hymn a l’amour’. The film still gives me goosebumps, even though I managed to get covid whilst the Olympics are on, so I saw it 50 times a day every day.”

It’s because of projects like this that whenever someone asks Alice about her job she says it’s “just so much fun.” 

“Every day I listen to new music or talk to a new composer, or just discover something new,” she says. “I love talking to people about music, finding out what they are passionate about. If you can talk about music, you can talk to anyone in the world. It also doesn’t hurt that I’ve fallen into another amazing team that is so supportive and talented. I’ve learnt so much from them all.”

For Alice, music has been a categorical constant in her life – through childhood, to university and beyond. In its nature, especially when you’re ‘in’ it, music can be “all-consuming,” as she herself admits. “That’s why it’s important to protect what’s work and what isn’t. I often find at the end of a busy day of music-ing, I either need a gig and dance, or need the quiet. I read a lot and love to cook (current obsession: Nara Smith?!), and any chance to get outside, especially this time of year.

“Honestly, the thing that motivates me is a genuine love for the job. Working in music is something I will never take for granted.”