These organizations are taking action to expedite equality and empower women to step up, fight back and build a better future for all of us. The music business has a long way to go towards reaching full equality for all gender expressions, but these badass, women-led organizations are doing their part in changing the future of the music industry. Check them out, do your part, and get involved! ⚡️🚺
Women Led Music Organizations You Should Join Right Now
We Make Noise
Founded by Erin Barra, We Make Noise is a music education platform connecting teaching artists to the creative youth in Brooklyn and beyond. They’re also a global non-profit that harnesses the power of music and technology to advance gender equity through training, community building, career development experiences and more to cultivate limitless potential for those looking to succeed in the music industry, no matter their background.
Reservoir Media
Reservoir Media is an independent music company based in New York City and with offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, Toronto, London, and Abu Dhabi. It is the first female-founded and led publicly traded independent music company in the U.S. Founded as a family-owned music publisher in 2007, the company has grown to represent over 150,000 copyrights and 36,000 master recordings with titles dating as far back as 1900, and hundreds of #1 releases worldwide. Reservoir founder and CEO, Golnar Khosrowshahi was named to Billboard’s 2020 Power List, as well as named one of Billboard’s top 100 most powerful female executives for 2017, 2018, and 2019. In 2021, she was named Billboard’s Executive of the Year.
We Are Moving The Needle
Founded by Grammy-winning mastering engineer, Emily Lazar, We Are Moving The Needle is a nonprofit organization supporting all women recording industry professionals, audio engineers and producers, working to create measurable change by empowering women in the recording and professional audio industry with the education, equipment and the mentorship needed to succeed at the highest levels.
They provide resources and support for both those at the very start of their education as well as those currently in their recording and production careers battling the overwhelmingly male-dominated landscape of the industry.
Audiofemme
Since 2012, Audiofemme has consistently sought to uplift the voices of female and non-binary music writers and to approach music and culture criticism from an intersectional feminist perspective.
Music Production for Women
Music Production for Women aims to give female musicians the skills necessary to take on the music industry with confidence and help and guide them through every step of the process through providing education, community support, visible role models and encouragement. In the last 2 and a half years MPW has delivered classes to thousands of students across numerous countries across the globe.
WOMEN SOUND OFF
WOMEN SOUND OFF is an Oakland-based intersectional platform founded and run by women. They’re a platform celebrating creative women from all industries and walks of life, focused on empowering, educating, and connecting women throughout their creative entrepreneur journeys. From music and media to tech and art, they work to create powerful and safe spaces for women to form alliances and have their voices heard.
She Shreds Media
Mexican-American queer musician and badass human, Fabi Reyna founded She Shreds Media as a community-driven, comprehensive answer to guitar culture and music media. Dedicated to women & gnc guitarists and bassists, their mission is to educate, empower, and inspire people through unexplored musical and cultural landscapes. Their vision is to continuously refine, redefine, and reimagine the possibilities of how music connects us, ensuring an inclusive and accessible music community 100% of the time.
Women in Music
Women in Music is an organization with a mission to advance the awareness, equality, diversity, heritage, opportunities, and cultural aspects of women in the musical arts through education, support, empowerment, and recognition. Their countless events celebrate the female contribution to the music industry and aims to strengthen the ties between the two for a better future for women in music. WIM believes all voices are welcome in the conversation about equality.
By joining WIM, you’ll get access to in-person networking and educational workshops all over the world, online networking groups, directories, newsletters, forums and more to help you directly interact with the WIM community. Additionally, WIM provides resources to thousands of women in need in various stages of their careers.
Change the Conversation
Founded by three successful music executives, Leslie Fram, Tracy Gershon and Beverly Keel, Change the Conversation fights gender inequality in the music industry by providing support, education and a community of like-minded female artists and executives all working towards the same goal of equality.
“Our mission is to raise awareness and create change so that more female voices will be heard in country music. Our goal is to have more women played on radio stations, digital streaming platforms, signed to record and publishing deals and offered high-profile opportunities, such as more slots on tours and festivals and performing on TV and awards shows.”
shesaid.so
Established back in 2014, shesaid.so is a global network of women in the music industry. Made up of women from record labels, bookings, artist management, tech, creative and more, this organization curates and speaks on panels discussing the importance of the movement with hopes to inspire anyone who will listen. Additionally, shesaid.so challenges the industry’s outdated framework with their Alternative Power 100 Music List and works towards increasing the number of women who progress in their careers.
“shesaid.so started as and continues to be a space where members can openly ask for advice, share jobs and events, announce new projects and build community. There are currently over 3,000 international members in the global community and an additional 10,000 members across our 15 local chapters.”
Women of Substance
The Women of Substance Podcast features music by Female Indie Artists every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In addition to the podcast, their website provides amazing resources for musicians. From industry connections to industry contacts and websites to help you grow your fanbase and learn new skills, they’ve got it all.
The Women’s International Music Network
Founded in 2012 by Laura B. Whitmore, The Women’s International Music Network brings together women from all facets of the music industry and produces events, creates opportunities for performance and networking and works to bring the conversation around diversity in the industry into the forefront. They work to create a hub to connect women in all facets of the music industry and works to expose role models, events and educational opportunities that focus on women in music.
She Knows Tech
Founded by Jasmine Kok and Co-Founder Meghan Smyth, She Knows Tech is an organization that aims to close the industry’s gender gap through highlighting and celebrating women in music tech. Jasmine is incredibly passionate about gender diversity and equity in the music industry, specifically in regard to representation in recording studios, and has worked to support female and non-binary producers, engineers and technologists in building successful careers in music. Meghan is co-founder of SKT, a software engineer and audio engineer, and her passion lies at the intersection of music, visual art, and technology.
Together, they channel waves of trained women into technical roles in the music industry and dispel the notion that there are not enough female professionals in music production and technology. They dream of working in a music industry that is flooded with female-identifying producers, engineers & tech performers, and so do we!
FutureFemaleSounds
FutureFemaleSounds is all about empowering girls through sound and action. Their mission is to highlight female DJs, promote female role models, and introduce young women to DJ’ing as a medium of artistic expression, self empowerment and professionalization through DJ workshops, cultural management masterclasses, and preparing participants to work with sounds in the future.
SoundGirls
SoundGirls is all about inspiring and empowering the next generation of women in the music industry. Working to inspire young women to enter the realm of professional audio and music production, this organization is all about providing a place for women in music to connect, network and share experiences and advice with others in the industry.
“SoundGirls.Org supports women working in professional audio and music production by highlighting their success and providing a place for them to connect, network, and share advice. SoundGirls.Org provides support, career development, and tools to help those working in the field advance in their career.”
Women of Color in the Arts
Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA) is a national, grassroots service organization dedicated to creating transformational change in the arts sector. We do this by championing racial equity as a basic tenet of eliminating systemic disparities in the field and by providing a platform to help strengthen and amplify the voice and visibility of women of color. By working to fortify leadership and reinforce a world where everyone holds shared power at the decision-making table, WOCA aims to cultivate a just and inclusive field with the intent of creating equitable systems for all to prosper inside and outside of the arts.
Keychange
Keychange is a movement fighting for a sustainable music industry. They support talented but underrepresented artists and encourage organizations to take a pledge for gender equality. Selected by industry experts as future leaders, the new cohort of artists and music industry professionals will take part in Keychange’s year-long talent development program which provides women and gender minority participants with the skills and opportunities they need to progress to the next stage in their career.
Femme House
FEMME HOUSE creates opportunities for women, gender-expansive, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ creatives in the technical and behind the scenes areas of music. They are developing the future producers, mixers, engineers, DJs, artists, and executives of the industry by providing education and scholarships, cultivating community, furthering visual representation, and leveraging our platform to amplify the voices of marginalized communities.
In Conclusion…
We’re in this together. Regardless of your gender, everyone should be concerned about the representation of women in this industry. Equal representation affects not only the women in this business, but the quality of the industry as a whole. Luckily, organizations like these are working hard to make a change. Make sure you’re doing your part to do the same!
