PRS Foundation launch Women Make Music Report at Abbey Road Studios
The PRS Foundation has launched a new Women Make Music Report at Abbey Road Studios to assess and address industry-wide gender inequity. The PRS has called for the music industry to back its central gender equity initiative, Women Make Music, following the new independent evaluation report, which examines the initiative’s impact since it was established in 2011.
The report showed that over £1.46million had been invested in more than 380 women and gender-expansive music creators since 2011. With a 340% increase in demand for support since 2011, only eight per cent of aspiring women and gender-expansive applicants could be supported.
The report also found that 98% of surveyed grantees say the fund is still needed; 94% agreed the fund impacted creative development, and 94% said that Women Make Music instilled a sense of confidence and empowerment.
The fund was established in 2011 as a response to the low representation of women amongst songwriters and composers (at the time, 13%of PRS for music members were women) and the lack of applications to the PRS Foundation for commissions featuring women music creators.
The initiative aims to remove ill-informed assumptions and stereotypes within the music industry by enabling role models, increasing the profile of underrepresented music creators, and raising awareness of the gender gap and solutions to the music industry’s gender issues.
So far, the fund has played a vital role in supporting some of the most promising up–and–comers in the global music community, including Anna Meredith, ESKA, Emma-Jean Thackray, Carleen Anderson, Cassie Kinoshi, Let’s Eat Grandma, Jessica Curry, Judith Weir, Kelly Lee Owens, Little Boots, Errollyn Wallen, Amahla, Marika Hackman, Poppy Ajudha, Rakhi Singh, ROE, YolanDa Brown, Sanity, Phoebe Green, BISHI, Isobel Anderson, Peggy Seeger and Yazmin Lacey.
Although the report shows green shoots, the PRS argue that Women Make Music is still very much necessary. The report highlights the need for the wider music industry to back the fund and outlines eight recommendations for the initiative’s future. See below.
The Women Make Music recommendations:
- Continue, adapt and expand Women Make Music
- Continuously build an understanding of the complex challenges affecting women and gender-expansive music creators
- Embed mentoring, collaboration and networking
- Embed support for parents/carers, music creators with disabilities or health issues, and those with low incomes
- Enhance promotional, performance and showcasing support
- Consult further with gender-expansive creators and stakeholders
- Continue to be a powerful sector voice on gender equity and catalyse better representation in the music industry through further strategic partnerships
- Create and support communities of grantees and an ecosystem for women and gender-expansive people in the music industry
For the full report, head to the PRS Foundation’s website here.
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