The brand new project, which was launched just this week, tracks and catalogues networks that tackle gender equality and equity in the European music industry.
The project, called GENiE (Gender Equality Networks in Europe), already has catalogued over 300 networks in 25 countries. On the project website one can look up networks by country or project type (festival, management, radio, community, safe spaces, record labels, workshops, etc.). For now, the project is focused on European networks and designed to motivate cross border collaborations, inspire people to get involved in the music industry in their own countries and showing the paths to do so.
The project was founded by Grace Goodwin, an academic researcher and session drummer from the UK. According to Grace, “geography and regionality can influence the career progression and experiences of women”.
Among the listings one can find in the database are projects that fight for better representation for women, publish job, management and learning opportunities, music festivals representing women and much more.
The project already landed a big, official supporter in the online music service Soundcloud. In an interview with the streaming service and music community Goodwin is quoted saying that there is still a lot of progress to be made. We caught up with Grace via email and asked her a few questions about her project and her academic work within the music industry.
What is your background in the music industry and how did you come up with Genie?
I trained as a session drummer and percussionist at university. I then studied a masters in music industry which led me to advising artists and supporting their work through mentoring. Like most people in the industry I have had many jobs which have included teacher, record label manager, workshop leader etc. I am currently focusing my time on a PhD where I am researching gender equity in the music industry, which also offered some of the inspiration for GENIE.
Can you tell me a bit about your academic background as well? What are some of the things you have researched or published?
I started my PhD in 2023 so I’m considered in the early stages of academia! My research focuses on gender equity with my PhD focusing on regional gender inequality – how where a woman is based can affect her career progression in the music industry. GENIE has recently opened up new doors with research and I am now widening my scope to research in Europe and looking for potential collaborators. I’m hoping to start publishing work during my PhD. I am passionate about delivering research which has tangible outcomes which can make real change in the industry.
I know the project is in the very early stages, but have you gotten any feedback yet from the music community?
The feedback so far has been amazing, I was scared to put it out into the world in case people didn’t really engage with it but I’ve had lots of people get in touch to add their projects since the launch. A lot of people have told me that it has allowed them to find new projects in their own country which is great. I think it is the type of project that will build over time as it becomes more visible.
What do you hope to see this project grow into, in the future? What possibilities do you imagine and what changes do you dream of?
This is something I am really starting to think about as I had to get over the hurdle of launching it first! I think that it is an amazing resource for networking and collaboration so I think these will be some of the wider goals of the project. Maybe organising networking events around major festivals and conferences. Also I want to act as an advocate for these projects- understanding their issues, funding models, best practice; Collating this in some way to then inform cultural policy and support. And now that I am aware of over 350 projects across Europe I want to keep connecting people! The ideal change would be where the type of work I do would no longer need to exist!
