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Trade bodies sign up to new Keychange gender equality pledge
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 23 September 2020
The Keychange initiative that seeks to encourage and enable more gender diversity across the music industry – initially in the festivals domain and now in other ways too – has announced that eight trade bodies have signed up to a new pledge to achieve 50% board representation of women and under-represented genders.
This follows the Women In CTRL report earlier this year which highlighted the lack of diversity at board level at many of the UK music industry’s trade bodies and collecting societies. PRS For Music, the Incorporated Society Of Musicians, the Ivors Academy, the Featured Artist Coalition, the Association Of Independent Music, the Music Managers Forum and the Music Publishers Association have all now committed to make positive change.
“PRS for Music is proud to sign the Keychange pledge in a positive step towards rebalancing the scales of gender equality on our Members’ Council”, says PRS For Music CEO Andrea C Martin.
“As an organisation, we look to reflect the broad diversity of our members at every level, and we are committed to investing in meaningful and long lasting change through the PRS Foundation and their impactful talent development programmes. We welcome all new signatories of the pledge, alongside the new ambassadors who will help to spread word of the vital work that Keychange achieves across the global music industry”.
Launched in 2017 by the PRS Foundation, the Keychange project initially focused on festival line-ups, but last year expanded out to include music industry organisations more widely. Over 350 organisations are now signed up to the pledge, and, as Martin noted, in addition to the trade bodies, today the programme announced several more company signees and three new ambassadors.
The new companies on board include: ATC Live, Arts Council Of Northern Ireland, Girls I Rate, Gorwelion Horizons, Boudica, Bido Lito!, BLOC+, Runway Artists, Future Yard, Last Night From Glasgow, Score Draw Music, Off The Record, Baltic Creative, Generator, Scottish Alternative Music Awards, Sound City Ipswich, Suffering Fools Records, Uproar Ensemble and Brighter Sound.
The new ambassadors are Girls I Rate founder Carla Marie Williams, musician Planningtorock, and founding Keychange Project Manager Jess Partridge.
