Simisola Agbaje: Power Up Industry Professional

Simi is founder of The Blues Project, the UK’s definitive voice for R&B, Soul and Neo-Jazz music. Simi is a deep lover of music, with a passion for media and technology. She brings these passions together in the community-led media platform, The Blues Project, producing original video, innovative editorial and immersive live music experiences focused on showcasing the best of the UK R&B / Soul scene. Simi and her team at The Blues Project turned the COVID pandemic into an opportunity, growing rapidly to become the UK’s leading media platform for R&B / Soul music with audience growth of over 400%, reaching over 300K people monthly and a hyper-engaged audience.

Beyond their original content, as a community-led platform covering the predominantly black genres of R&B / Soul, The Blues Project runs an initiative called the BLUES100 to address the structural disadvantages artists in these genres face and to create a new future for the UK R&B scene. Beyond shining a spotlight on this set of artists and giving them access to opportunities they ordinarily don’t get, the BLUES100 focuses on supporting these artists with opportunities that generate income. The Blues Project has partnered with the foremost brands across the industry for content and live events in support of the BLUES100 including – Ableton, AWAL, Mixcloud, Pioneer DJ, Somerset House, The Jazz Cafe, Sofar Sounds, The Musicians Union.