Although women within the music industry work to speak often about the gender inequality and discrimination within the industry to spread awareness, that’s not enough. Here’s some resources so you’ve got the information you need for when a hard conversation pops up.
ALLY ORGANIZATIONS
International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWIA)
IAWIA builds awareness of women’s contributions to musical life through its publications, website, international competitions, conferences and congresses, concert promotion, and presentation, and through its support of entrepreneurial and publishing activities, scholarly research and publications, broadcasts, educations initiatives, and advocacy work.
Sound Girls
Our mission is to create a supportive community for women in audio and music production, providing the tools, knowledge, and support to further their careers. SoundGirls supports women working in professional audio and music production by highlighting their success and providing a place for them to connect, network, and share advice and experiences. SoundGirls provides support, career development, and tools to help those working the field advance their career. SoundGirls works to inspire and empower young women and girls to enter the world of professional audio and music productions. SoundGirls seeks to expand opportunities for girls and women in these fields and to share resources and knowledge through cooperation, collaboration, and diversity. SoundGirls.org
For Women Who Rock (FWWR)
FWWR is an educational organization that began as an effort to spread positive yet informative messages to women in the music industry. We gather our statistics from noteworthy studies and organizations in order to amplify the shocking gender divide across music. Ultimately, our goal is to educate and empower women in the music industry to build a stronger, more equal future.
Women’s Audio Mission
Women’s Audio Mission uses music and media and an incredible “carrot” of a training environment – the only professional recording studio in the world built and run by women – to attract over 1,200 under-served women and girls every year to STEM and creative technology studies that inspire them to amplify their voices and become the innovators of tomorrow. WAM’s award-winning curriculum weaves art and music with science, technology and computer programming and works to close the critical gender gap in creative technology careers.
Women In Music
Founded in 1985, Women In Music is an organization with a mission to advance the awareness, equality, diversity, heritage, opportunities, and cultural aspects of women in the musical arts through education, support, empowerment, and recognition. They provide seminars, panels, showcases, awards, and opportunities that celebrate females in music.
Women’s International Music Network
A website and network that provides resources, networking opportunities, event listing, and PR opportunities for females in the music industry.
shesaid.so
shesaid.so is a curated network of women with active roles in the music industry. Our vision is to create an environment that supports collaboration, creativity and positive values. Established in September 2014, shesaid.so has grown to over 800 members worldwide in less than a year, made up of a balanced mix of medium to high profile industry women across all sectors of the industry from PR to management to music tech to record labels. The majority of shesaid.so’s members hail from London and LA, but they’re continually looking to grow the community across other key music cities including NYC, Chicago, Montreal, and other European cities.
Female:pressure
An initiative that has united over one thousand creatives working in the field of contemporary electronic music, female:pressure is a platform that does a lot of work to raise awareness about the statistical realities of female visibility and under-representation within the electronic music industry. If you want to join, just e-mail infoATfemalepressureDOTnet with the subject line “new member”.
National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment (NABFEME)
NABFEME is the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music & Entertainment, Inc. A 501 (c) (6) nonprofit professional organization led by volunteer entertainment executives, NABFEME was launched in February 1999 with a mission to raise the profile and elevate the awareness of Black women in music and entertainment. NABFEME accomplishes its mission through activities that foster empowerment, education, mentoring, career development and networking.
GoGirlsMusic.com
Founded in early 1996, the organization works tirelessly to help artists through education, networking, and events like the GoGirlsMusicFest, Invasion of the GoGirls during SXSW, GoGirls @ Folk Alliance and more.
The Directory of Women in Professional Audio and Production
This directory provides a listing of women in disciplines industry-wide for networking and hiring. It’s free – add your name, upload your resume, and share with your colleagues across the industry.
Women Crush Music
#WomenCrush Music is a 100% volunteer-run, fiscally sponsored project of Independent Arts & Media, a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization, who is dedicated to creating opportunities through community for inspiring rising womxn songwriters.
Gen Admission was founded by a diverse group of women across the globe with the goal to educate and inform aspiring music industry professionals about the different jobs and opportunities that the industry has to offer. Created by students for students, we work closely with music industry professionals to conduct research and we pride ourselves in combining education and teaching with pedagogy and graphic design to build comprehensive educational resources responding to the needs of the next generation of music professionals.
Fundraising & Grants
PRS Women for Music Foundation: Women Make Music: Women Make Music supports the development of outstanding women songwriters and composers of all genres and backgrounds at different stages of their career. The fund can support projects by women songwriters, composers, artists, bands and performers who are writing their own music.
Note: More fundraising and grant information/resources will be available soon.
News Resources
FEMMUSIC
Interviews with women in music and coverage of live shows.
This site has hundreds of in-depth articles, so people who love music have a place to discover expert advice on the top gear (for almost any discipline).
Note: More women in music news sources will be available soon.
Academic Resources, Studies, Research on Women in the Music Industry:
- UConn Libaries General Guide to Music Resources
- University of Iowa Women’s Studies on Music Database
- Oxford Music Online: History of Women in Music
- The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: Women and the Music Industry in the 1970s
- University of Arizona: Gender in the Music Industry