Craig May
Marketing Director - International at Red Bull Records
Since first coming into contact with Amanda through the Band Of The Day app, and then on to business dealings with Applauze, Sounds, and most recently AMC, her passion, enthusiasm and knowledge has always been extremely impressive! She is amazing at fostering communities and engaging audiences through creativity and positivity. I hope to continue to have dealings with her in the future and she will be an asset to any company that hires her.
Bryan Vaughan
Amanda has been stellar to work with! She's constantly finding ways to make every project more successful and is truly passionate about her work. Not to mention has quite an impressive skillset that she has managed to make applicable and relevant across multiple industries!
Bryan Mooney
Account Manager @ OpenFan | Artist Manager @ Small Batch MGMT
Amanda founded and continues to lead and nurture the most supportive and valuable professional community that I've ever come across. Through her dedication to AMC, she is no doubt responsible for the career successes of numerous artists and music industry professionals.
Amanda has proven a unique ability to build engaged online communities that provide far-reaching benefits both on and offline, and she would be an asset to any company that she chooses to work for.
Talia Kraines
Amanda is one of those people that is fantastic at bringing others together. Her community skills and positive outlook have introduced me to many new contacts in the music industry as well as a lot of new music through her work at Sounds and Band of the Day. One of those people you’d be lucky to have on your team, I’d recommend Amanda to anyone.
Andrea Slobodien
Product Manager at Smule, Inc.
Amanda and I first crossed paths when she was at Applauze and I was at 8tracks. We worked together on a cross-promo campaign that was instrumental in driving new users to the newly-launched redesign of the 8tracks app. After our initial meeting, we kept crossing paths at various music tech events and women in music groups. I have always been in complete awe of Amanda and her passion for building communities around music. She is truly a force: a go-getter who doesn't take no for an answer, effortlessly hip, and so in touch with how young people relate to and respond to music. If you're looking for someone to build and sustain an audience of passionate, music-loving users, then do yourself a favor and hire Amanda right now.
Brodie Jenkins
Songstress/Writer/Creative Human
Amanda has been an excellent mentor and advisor to my band as we navigate the ever-changing landscape of the music industry. She is insightful, intelligent and strategic, and has created a wonderful resource for artists and managers through the Artist Managers Connect Facebook group. She would be a valuable asset to any company/community she joins.
John P. O'Malley
Partner at Guerrilla Management
Amanda is warm, professional, and has band-width. I had the pleasure of working with her at SXSW where she managed a fun and exciting brand house which served as a community hub for artists and industry professionals. Amanda is a rare gem that can hang with the artists, take gear with the techs, and help join dots with the professionals.
Andrew Keyes
Business & Legal Affairs Intern (Acquisitions & Co-Productions) at Lionsgate
Amanda is a consummate connector, both online and in real life. She has introduced me to many valuable music industry contacts, and she does a tremendous job as the founder and manager of the Artist Managers Connect (AMC) Facebook group. AMC is by far the most useful group that I belong to on social media; it is a place where music professionals share practical tips and recommendations that you just don't find anywhere else on the Internet. People flock to Amanda because she is a genuinely warm and open person who develops rapport very easily. Furthermore, she is one of the most ambitious and entrepreneurial people that I know. She is always making her own opportunities happen, never one to sit back and just hope that something falls into her lap. She has my highest recommendations!
Sarah Haswell
Product Marketing Manager at UnitedMasters
I've crossed paths with Amanda both professionally and personally over many years, in different roles and across multiple territories. Amanda has a great malleable quality that she brings to every professional role I've seen her take up, making her a unique asset to any company.
Amanda is the definition of a Connector -- she has the innate ability to make friends to engage and assist one another, and that ability spans many different territories, cultures and niches. If you need to connect with someone anywhere in the world, Amanda's the person to make it happen. She has a great energy, an insatiable curiosity and a willingness to take chances in everything she does.
Jesse DaSilva
Amanda has been incredible to work with, both at Sounds and within the Artist Managers Connect community. At Sounds she created and deployed numerous successful marketing campaigns that massively increased our audience and maintained high engagement.
At AMC, Amanda has fostered a welcoming community of thousands of artist managers around the world. She has created many opportunities for community collaboration and networking, both online and during events she coordinated.
For as long as I’ve known her, she’s always been a pleasure to work with and shown a genuine interest in helping others succeed. I would highly recommend her!
Randy Ojeda
Artist Management at Cigar City Management // On-Air Host at Cigar City Radio
Amanda is an incredible leader and community manager. She founded and leads a group of Artist Managers that has grown steadily over the last few years, while fostering a sense of community and camaraderie. She is dedicated to the growth of independent artists and music industry professionals, and is one of the first people I turn to with questions and ideas. Amanda rules.
Brandon Bogajewicz
Amanda is a force. Her passion and enthusiasm are all infectious. I've witnessed her lift up coworkers, clients, and bands with her skills and dedication. And her group Artist Managers Connect is a labor of love that helps bands and managers around the world. A perfect example of Amanda's spirit and work.
Marcus Garceau
Amanda's creative energy goes unmatched, and her ability to manage and drive content for artists & companies is a rare talent. She has a way of curating a culture that is fun & organic, and always high performing. At Band of the Day, she single-handedly drove content creation for a vast user-base - and helped further the careers of countless artists in the process.
Of all her fantastic skills & achievements, Amanda's best quality is her attitude. Her positivity & work ethic make her an invaluable addition to any team - I loved working with Amanda.
Jonathan G. Graynor
Head of Events Strategy at Kobalt Music & AWAL
I've had the pleasure to work with Amanda on two separate occasions, 1.) through the artist I manage while Amanda was leading social media for the SOUNDS app and 2.) as a board member for Artist Managers Connect, the organization Amanda founded. Her vision and understanding of community management and social media engagement are unparalleled. With the SOUNDS campaign I worked with Amanda on for one of my artists, she was able to strategize an effective community management approach so that my artist was able to significantly grow an engaged follower base. With AMC, her engagement approach has helped the organization exceed growth expectations and foster an active community of highly-engaged artist managers. She'd be an asset to any company that is smart enough to hire her
Thi Lam
Amanda is what you would call a "connector", a valuable human-being with a knack for building active communities in the music space. I met Amanda at SXSW around 5 years ago when she was working on Band of the Day and I immediately knew that she was going to be a pillar in music scene; I was definitely right!
Marc Cantone
Producer, Short Form at Universal Kids
Amanda is one of those rare people who has business acumen, boundless creativity, and an unstoppable work ethic while also being a pure joy to work with. She lights up the room with her ideas, personality and warm smile. She’s a home run hitter with a heart of gold. And she doesn’t mix metaphors like this.
Charles Alexander
Amanda, is easily one of the best, brightest and most effective music biz professionals I know. I have known her since her days at 'Band of the Day. Where she was one of the most admired and respected tastemakers in music. Her tech savvy was also without peer.
Now as a moderator of Artist Managers Connect on Facebook, a group she has helped grow to almost 4K in members, she still exhibits her deft people skills and resource development abilities. All of which would make her a valuable addition to any team focussed on building an audience and getting the word out about any artist, organization or product.
Jonah Burlingame
Digital Strategist | Principle UX | Entrepreneur | Speaker | Artist
No One-Hit-Wonder in Amanda Van West! I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Amanda for about 3 years through her efforts with Applauze and Band of the Day. Above all, I have been continually impressed with Amanda’s ability to discover and curate new artists. I can trace many of my favorite new artist discoveries back to her. In addition to her talent is her personality - to know her is to love her. You won't find a more genuine person. I'll certainly miss her at the helm of Band of the Day and the events at SXSW but she's destined to go on to do even more amazing things.
Eamon Mulligan
Director Product Marketing & E-Commerce at Empire Distribution
I first met Amanda at a MusicTech mixer and was instantly impressed with her knowledge of music, as well as her intelligent commentary on the intersection of music and technology. Throughout the years she has become an ally and a voice for up and coming talent. As an artist/product manager this has proven to be invaluable as she has been able to help gain exposure of my artists with her keen ear for talent.
She is always professional and gets everything done within the timeframe expected. If you get the chance to work with her, I'm sure you'll have all the same things to say about her!