45 Music Festivals Pledge to 50/50 Line Up Gender Equality

Male-dominated music festivals will fade out after 45 events pledged to achieve a 50/50 gender equality by 2022.

An initiative driven by Keychange, a movement from the PRS Foundation that wants to achieve change in live music has managed to sign up 45 international music festivals to a new initiative to drive gender equality within festival line-ups. The pledge features 45 events committed to achieving gender equality on their rosters by 2022, featured participating events include Reeperbahn Festival, Way Out West, The Great Escape, Liverpool International Music Festival, Pop-Kultur, Canadian Music Week, and BBC Proms. CEO of PRS Foundation, Vanessa Reed has said: “We support diverse talent across every programme we run at PRS Foundation. 40% of our grantees in 2017 were from a BAME background and 53% featured female artists. Our focus on gender equality in 2018 aligns with the centenary for some women being given the vote in the UK. 100 years on, the push for gender parity across society continues and with increased public awareness of inequalities across the creative industries we have an opportunity to respond and commit to tangible change in music.” “The Keychange network of female artists and industry professionals and the festival partners’ idea of establishing a collective pledge will significantly accelerate change. I hope that this will be the start of a more balanced industry which will result in benefits for everyone.” For more information and updates on Keychange click here.