Women* in the music industry - quota now?
But how do we explain this low proportion of women*?
There are too few tangible role models for women*. Women* are taught early on that the music world is not for them. The insecure income situation, the irregular working hours in order to reconcile it with expected parenthood are further possible reasons. If they dare to do it anyway, they are always surrounded by male socialized people and have to assert themselves in their system according to their rules. Helvetiarockt is convinced that if one gender is a minority in an industry or topic, everyone needs to be actively involved in order to create equal opportunities. This includes involving the underrepresented groups, reflecting on established structures and developing concrete measures. Ultimately, gender does not define whether someone is good or bad at a job per se.
Helvetiarockt has been fighting for more equality for 10 years
With workshops by and for women*, Helvetiarockt empowers people interested in music from a young age to take their place. With the digital music platform "musicdirectory.ch", Helvetiarockt had already shown in the fall how many women, inter, trans and non-binary people there are who are and want to be active in the music industry. On musicdirectory.ch, every association, every festival, every cultural center and every jury can find competent people for their vacancies. The Diversity Roadmap also starts at the roots. It provides recommendations and possible measures for a diverse programme, structures, communication and infrastructure as well as intervention measures against sexualized violence. The Diversity Roadmap is an awareness-raising and reflection tool. It shows various ways to bring more diversity into the music industry - both on and off stage.
What happens next?
The active commitment of all stakeholders in the music industry is needed to initiate a sustainable change process. Raising awareness and reflection are the first steps towards achieving a level of action. The discourse must be pursued and maintained. Shortcomings should be highlighted, as should best practice examples. Helvetiarockt stays tuned, raises awareness, networks, empowers, promotes and demands. But it takes all of us to ensure that everyone has the same opportunities in the future. Regardless of gender, age, origin, physical condition or sexual orientation. We are all people with the same rights but different starting points!
