DJ supremo and presenter of Radio One’s flagship new music show, Annie Mac has today been announced as fronting Smirnoff’s new Equalising Music campaign. Following an investigation by Keychange the campaign aims to readjust an “embarrassingly lopsided” industry, with Annie Mac challenging everyone to make one small change or “pledge” for 2019.
I’m delighted to be asked to spearhead the Smirnoff #EqualisingMusic pledge endorsed by @KeychangeEU. The music industry is still embarrassingly lopsided in terms of gender parity.. #Partnerpic.twitter.com/bs5vi1cW7c
— Annie Mac (@AnnieMac) February 20, 2019
In a statement today Annie Mac said: “I am delighted to be teaming up with Smirnoff Equalising Music and PRS Foundation’s Keychange to head up the Equalising Music campaign. Together we have the tools and the reach to make a real impact here in the UK. The music industry is still embarrassingly lopsided when it comes to gender parity, We are all acutely aware of the enormous contribution women make to this business, and yet there’s still so much work to be done to ensure they’re embraced and championed, both in front of and behind the scenes. Contributing towards trying to change this is something I personally feel passionately about, and I’m genuinely excited to see the future impact women of all ages will have on the unchartered territories of this rapidly changing industry.”
My pledge is this: from 2019 onwards, we will achieve an over all equal gender balance in the line ups across all of my @AMP curated events from Lost And Found Festival to our London shows and UK club tours. What do you pledge? #EqualisingMusic #Partner @KeychangeEU
— Annie Mac (@AnnieMac) February 20, 2019
The pledge movement is the latest part of Smirnoff’s equalising music campaign which began in 2017, which was set up to accelerate gender parity in the music industry. Speaking today Smirnoff Supremo Sam Salameh said “Smirnoff set up Equalising in Music in 2017 because the music industry had been sidelining female talent for too long. So far we’ve raised awareness of unconscious bias towards female artists with Spotify, redressed the gender imbalance at festivals including Wireless, Lost Village and Snowbombing and empowered the next generation of female talent through a series of DJ and mentorship workshops. And we’re continuing to put our money where our mouth is. This year we’re proud to be partnering with Annie Mac, one of the UK’s leading music tastemakers and an artist widely known for championing gender-balance, on the Equalising Music Pledge. We all know the statistics so now it’s time for action. Together – and proudly endorsed by PRS Foundation’s Keychange initiative – we’re asking everyone in the industry to step up and do one significant thing for gender equality in 2019.” Artists and members of the music industry including BTraits and Rdimental have already today started pledging to make a difference.
I challenge everyone in the music industry to pledge to do one thing to support gender balance in 2019.
See my full pledge on Facebook here:https://t.co/nSgw72eIiu what do you pledge to do? #EqualisingMusic#Partner@KeychangeEU — B.Traits (@BTraits) February 20, 2019
Thank you @Rudimental for supporting #EqualisingMusic. How will you pledge to help close the gender gap in music? pic.twitter.com/mYlBcVaJ8t
— Smirnoff (@SmirnoffEurope) February 20, 2019
Despite increasing chart and award ceremony successes a Keystone study estimates females artists earn 30% less money than their male counterparts and male artists make up 76% of festival performances in the US, with festivals in the UK including Isle of Wight and Trnsmt festival facing criticism for their all male headliners. Vanessa Reed CEO of PRS Foundation and the architect of Keychange today said “We’re excited to see Annie Mac working with Smirnoff to engage even more people from across the music industry in positive actions towards gender equality. Keychange has now united over 150 festivals from across the world in a pledge towards gender balance by 2022 and we’re delighted that Annie’s AMP festival is one of our signatories. Annie’s new call for action, which encourages anyone working in the music industry to do one tangible thing for gender equality, will get more people in music thinking about the benefits of a more balanced workforce. This will help us to achieve the change we all want to see for the next generation of men and women considering a career in an industry that should be open to all.”
We’re proud to be working with the incredible @AnnieMac on the #EqualisingMusic pledge, endorsed by @KeychangeEU. Join us! Pledge using #EqualisingMusic to support gender equality in the music industry. pic.twitter.com/E2an0AyQ3w
— Smirnoff (@SmirnoffEurope) February 20, 2019
