British Live Music Organizations Commit to Gender-Balanced Leadership With New Pledge

Women In CTRL, a non-profit advocacy group, announced Thursday (Oct. 23) that much than a twelve British unrecorded euphony organizations person signed a pledge designed to fortify inclusion targets crossed the industry.

The Seat astatine the Table Inclusion Pledge, the archetypal of its benignant successful the U.K., is centered astir a caller sector-wide committedness to achieving gender-balanced enactment by 2030.

Signees of the pledge see ATC Live and Ginger Owl, and companies including AEG and The O2. All 15 LIVE (Live Music Industry Venues & Entertainment) organisations person besides signed up, including the Association of Independent Festivals, Featured Artists Coalition and Music Managers Forum.

As supporters of the pledge, manufacture allies volition lend to lawsuit studies, stock learning crossed the sector, and enactment successful aboriginal roundtables and adjacent learning sessions. Women In CTRL says this collaboration volition beryllium cardinal to strengthening accountability crossed the unrecorded euphony ecosystem.

Signatories volition besides beryllium required to perpetrate to submitting an yearly check-in to amusement progression crossed cardinal absorption areas, specified arsenic strengthening governance and committee diverseness done reviews oregon word limits.

In April, Women In CTRL and LIVE released a landmark study titled Seat astatine the Table: LIVE Edition. Its findings highlighted advancement successful immoderate areas — including the uncovering that 61% of the Music Venue Trust committee identifies arsenic women oregon non-binary — portion besides revealing disparities successful wider enactment representation.

Forty-one percent of committee members crossed LIVE and its 15 subordinate organisations are women oregon non-binary people, the study stated. LIVE has since released its 2030 inclusion targets, which see 50% women and non-binary practice and 16% women from planetary bulk backgrounds successful elder enactment roles. 

Elsewhere, the study revealed that women’s practice connected U.K. euphony commercialized relation boards roseate from 32% successful 2020 to 52% successful 2024.

Gaby Cartwright, caput of partnerships astatine LIVE, said successful a property merchandise astatine the clip the study was released, “As an industry, it’s wide that we indispensable bash much to amended sex practice astatine the highest levels… Reaching this extremity volition necessitate corporate effort, accountability, and meaningful enactment — but momentum is building. This study provides important penetration into the challenges we face, and the factual steps needed to thrust lasting change.”