Meet Pamela Charbit Toledano | A&R Manager, Warner Music Group

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pamela Charbit Toledano and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pamela, can you share the most important lesson you’ve learned over the course of your career?
The most important lesson I’ve learned so far in my career is to never take no for an answer. If a door is closing, make your own door and figure out a way to go wherever you want and need to go. It’s a pretty basic concept but it really did wonders for me. So many times in my career, especially when I first moved to America, I’ve been told that I couldn’t do certain things because I had a different culture and point of view or because I wasn’t this and that. Don’t listen to nobody, path your own way the way you want to while being genuine and good to others.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am originally from France, in a small town near Paris. I’ve always been obsessed with music, but never knew that there were other jobs besides artist and manager so I went into law school in hopes of becoming a music lawyer in New York City. I went into this crazy bilingual program teaching you French, British, and American Laws, to drop out a year after because I hated it. There were no music business programs in France at the time, so I decided to study Communication and marketing since this is a field that can be applied to any industry. At the same time, I founded On The Move, an online music magazine centered on up-and-coming artists. On The Move blew up in France and we had a lot of artists such as Twenty One Pilots, Lewis Capaldi, Luis Fonsi, and more before they had their first hit. The magazine became one of the biggest independent music websites in France. While doing this, and studying, I was working another job to save money as I knew I wanted to move to America and try my luck there. I also joined the team at Virgin Radio for a while where I was conducting interviews with artists and writing articles about music. Once I finished studying and had enough money saved, I left France for LA. I didn’t know a single soul there and had never been to LA before moving there. It was a complete culture shock but also the start of a new life. I enrolled at UCLA in their Music Business program, then joined Beats 1 (now Apple 1) for a year. A month before Covid, I joined the Warner Music Group team, where I am now. This is my story. Nothing was easy or given to me. I had to fight against all odds, visas and more to be where I am now. This is what I am the most proud of. to know that I earned everything I have today. I don’t have anyone I knew who worked in the industry and didn’t ask for a single dollar from my parents. I moved apartments 5 times and I remember one time having 0.25 cents left on my account after having to pay for a new deposit. I figured it out. I overcame the challenges by believing that God had something great for me around the corner, and with the support of my family and close friends. As Eminem said: “Success is my only m**** option, failure is not” – this has been my motto since I moved here because I knew that if I didn’t make it work, I’d have to go back home to France. I learned that no matter the amount of success or money you have, the real impact comes from the way you make people feel. I met some people who made me feel at home when I first moved, those I’d be grateful to for the rest of my life. This is also my goal as A&R, to help artists and songs so people can feel something through the art. Music has helped me when I was at my lowest point and is still one of the things I love the most in life. Something about me is that I never take things (or people) for granted and people who know me know that I am always appreciative of the simple things in life.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
For breakfast, we’d go to Delice, to get some fresh croissants and coffee. The real deal. I’d bring her to my favorite vintage and thrift shops in the valley and in Fairfax, and at night we’d stop by Davey Wayne’s for drinks and dance. The day after, we’d go to the beach in Santa Monica, maybe in Malibu, and stop by PitaBu for some shawarma there. We’d go to Universal Park just to go to the Harry Potter castle and probably end up buying so many chocolate wands. At night, we’d get some sushis at Tsuri Sushi or some vegan bolognese pasta at Nic’s on Beverly. The day after, I’d probably bring her to Amoeba for some vinyl digging, and we’d go to the Griffith Observatory to look at the sunset.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people I’d like to send a shoutout to. We can start with my family and husband who have been supporting me since day 1. I also would like to thank Brian Malouf who was my A&R teacher at UCLA when I first moved to America. He was the very first one to see the A&R in me and to believe in my ears and my vision. He taught me a lot and I met lots of amazing people thanks to him. He’s also an incredible producer and engineer. I recommend you all to look him up. Big shoutout to Julie Pilat, Aton Ben-Horin and everyone who have been believing in me and gave me a chance along the way.

Instagram: pamcharbit