In this Live Style Europe radioshow, we will dive further into the topic of gender equality and diversity in the live music sector.
We will first explore the initiatives that are put into place at supra-national levels with an interview with Dagmar Schumacher from UN Women and with StĂ©phanie Gembarski, from FEDELIMA, who participated in the Voices of Culture programme on “Gender Balance in the Creative and Cultural Sectors“: an international working group to reflect on, analyse and solve the gender inequalities within the cultural sector.
We also mentionned the Keychange programme, funded by the European programme Creative Europe, it is an international campaign which invests in emerging talent while encouraging music festivals, orchestras, conservatoires, broadcasters, concert halls, agents, record labels and all music organisations to sign up to a 50:50 gender balance pledge by 2022.
Then, we explore initiaitves that take place at local levels in Europe, through the inspiring actions and projects from the Live DMA members!
Projects for less gender disparities or gender-based violence for the audience:
- In the Netherlands, the live music association VNPF have won an award for their campaign Ben jé ok? (Are you okay?) which tackles sexual harassment in a positive manner, by inciting people to take care of each other.
- Another campaign which encourages sorority and taking care of others comes from Sweden with their campaign Dare to Care, by the live music association Svensk Live. They have produced resource on the subject (communication campaign, online tests…), and are working to reduce gender inequalities in the Swedish live music sector.
- In Italy, our member KeepOn Live is partner of the Indie Pride association, which aims at giving a space of expression for Queer/LGBTQIA+/Gender minorities artists as well as the audience, focusing on Indie live music to spread their message of visibilisation and inclusion to the world.
- Many other initiatives exist of which our members were partner of, such as the campaign against harassment and discrimination in festivals of the French region Pays de la Loire Ici c’est cool (Here it is cool) that our French member FEDELIMA supports.
Projects working for less gender inequalities for the cultural workers:
- The WAH project by our French member FEDELIMA is a female mentorship project which reunites an “experienced” female music worker and a younger one to exchange on the specific issues women working in music may face. It is also a resource platform to inform people about the inequalities between men and women in the live music sector and the violence women and gender minorities may face.
- Music Venue Trust partners with the PRS Foundation to encourage more young women and gender minorities to break into promoting live music. This programme will provide training, mentoring and practical support to young women and gender minorities who are passionate about live music and want to learn the skills to become an independent promoter. The project aims to offer more opportunities for women, trans and non-binary artists and cultural workers.
- Our member Court-Circuit in Wallonia (Belgium) is also part of the Scivias project, whose goal is to obtain a better representation of women in the live music sector through the artists and the workers.
- In Spain, ASACC is very active in the Mujeres en la Industria de la Musica (MIM) project, which aims to sensibilize and visibilise the conditions of women working in music. We have already talked about this project in our radioshow from October 2018, check it out if you are interested!
- In Switzerland, PETZI have worked on the Diversity Roadmap, a tool aimed at live music venues and clubs, for them to reflect on their working practices: representation of women and other minorities on their stages, how their working team is composed to represent all sensibilities and experiences… They have partnered with many Swiss associations that work for better equality and diversity in the music sector (We Can Dance It, Helvetiarockt…) It is truly a good, simple and efficient tool ! The Diversity Roadmap is now available in English!
This episode also presents LiveFIN, the live music association in Finland.
Tracklist:
- Maydar – Sweet Talk (IKAT remix) (Sweden)
- NUBLU – Muusikakool (Estonia)
- Big Joanie – New Year (UK)