Work Diaries: Maddy Rueda, Global Program Manager helping music partners at scale
Nov 22, 2022 – [[read-time]] minute read
We’re peeling back the curtains with our series, Work Diaries, where you can experience the inner workings of YouTube. How do decisions get made? What goes into a product, feature or policy? We’re asking YouTube employees to give us the low-down during a five-day period.
Featured today: Maddy Rueda is a Global Program Manager for the Music Partnership Enablement team, with a focus on Music Partner Operations. She works to improve internal efficiencies that enable music labels, artists and publishers to better grow and monetize on YouTube. Outside of work, she enjoys helping nonprofits and students with career and recruiting advice.
Monday
8:30 AM: It’s a cool, rainy day in NYC. I’m starting off the morning with a quick journal entry to recap my weekend and set my intentions for the day before heading to work.
9:30 AM: Arrive at the office. Today I’m focusing on a deck explaining how the Partner Operations team supports Music Publishers globally. Music Publishing is a complex ecosystem, and it’s important to explain the nuances to cross functional teams and leaders so they can better understand the work being done and where additional resources may be needed.
1 PM: I met with Strategic Partner Management and Content Strategy teams to brainstorm how we educate music partners at scale. We want to improve how we make teams aware of what one another does to avoid overlap and communication overload to partners.
4 PM: Hop on a call with a colleague in LA to discuss a training we’re facilitating on Thursday. We’ll be educating the Partner Ops team on how to track trainings they conduct with labels and artists using a new internal workflow.
Today’s highlight: I caught up with a former teammate for coffee — decaf for me, since I can’t handle the caffeine 😅 We caught up on what artists we’re listening to and shows that we’re excited to see. I told him I’m looking forward to seeing an all female, Japanese metal band at the end of the week!
Tuesday
11 AM: Reviewed a 2023 proposal on Portfolio Management. We’re working on figuring out how to better scale partner management to artists, labels and publishers. It’s an interesting problem to solve: How do we provide support more broadly while also ensuring the wellbeing and workload of our employees?
3:30 PM: Discussed top feature requests from labels with the Product Specialist team. We mapped out the stakeholders, artifacts and timelines for feature requests that will enable labels to operate more effectively in the future. Lot’s of great stuff is in the works!
5 PM: Mapped out the programs my teammate and I are supporting in 2023. It’s important to advocate for your work and ensure it’s visible to your stakeholders, especially when working as the “connective tissue” between teams.
Today’s highlight: I’m finally done packing up my apartment! I recently moved to NYC and have been hopping between short-term locations while searching for an apartment. It’s been eight years since I last lived on the east coast, and I’m glad to be back (and closer to my family in MA)!
Wednesday
2:30 PM: Had an intro chat with a Product Manager who recently took over a project on Music Catalog Management, which has a big impact on my team. This feature enables music labels to manage and request updates to their Art Tracks directly in YouTube Studio.
5 PM: Headed to a social work event where we visited a local business and networked with other Googlers — this time, at a local jazz club!
Today’s highlight: The jazz event was a BLAST! I love live music of all genres, and what better way to experience a new city than to explore the local music scene? I’ve also loved being able to get outside of my bubble and meet people with different experiences!
Thursday
9 AM: A major product launch update just came out! Creator Music has been a huge, cross functional project that enables creators to leverage high quality music they can use in videos without losing monetization. I’m working with Partner Managers in each region to ensure we are training our partners on how to use this new feature.
11 AM: Co-led the training for Partner Ops Managers that I had prepared earlier in the week.
4 PM: Met with a manager over video chat. I got into my conference room and saw… melted ice cream on the table? I was already running a bit late and sent them this photo, letting them know I would be a few more minutes late cleaning it up. Lucky for me, it was just a prop! We had a good laugh once I signed on and held it up to show them.
5 PM: Ventured over to the “BooTube” celebration, where we had a trivia contest and folks dressed up in their best Halloween costumes.
Today’s highlight: Colleagues from LA were in town! They work in Label Relations, and their passion for artists is infectious. I loved talking to them about artists they’re supporting, and bonded over our shared excitement about Polyphia’s new album!
Friday
9 AM: Working with another team on a proposal to change how partner manager data is reported internally. Requested reviews from managers and downstream teams that will be impacted.
12:30 PM: Pop over to the grocery store to grab veggies for lunch while jamming out to the new album I was so excited about!
4:30 PM: One of our internal tools isn’t working for my team. Worked with the Product Specialist team to file a bug and notified the team that a fix is in progress.
7:30 PM: Hop on the train to see Band-Maid’s show, the Japanese band I’d been looking forward to seeing!
Working in music had always felt like a pipe dream growing up, so I’d set my sights elsewhere at first – but believe me, it’s not a pipe dream and you can totally make it happen!
Today’s highlight: Caught up with an old professor of mine after work today. She asked me to speak to her class on career prep and how I came to YouTube. I love challenging students to keep an open mind and showcase their transferable skills - you may end up in a completely different line of work from where you originally thought, just like me. Working in music had always felt like a pipe dream growing up, so I’d set my sights elsewhere at first – but believe me, it’s not a pipe dream and you can totally make it happen!