Mr Luke Howarth MP Chair House Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts PO Box 6021 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600
20 September 2018
Dear Mr Howarth
Re: Parliamentary inquiry into the Australian music industry
I am writing to you in my capacity as Founding Director of Cicada International, Executive Producer of the Australian Women in Music Awards and as an independent advocate for gender and cultural equity for the Australian Music Industry. I am one of only ‘two’ women voted onto the ARIA Board as a Director, in the past 50 years, in my own right.
The Committee has asked to hear how Australian composers, songwriters, performers, and producers can expand their reach and better compete with overseas artists. Creating an industry that is competitive and sustainable must begin with inclusivity and gender equity. This premise has been ignored by all of the major peak and independent industry bodies for far too long, as evidenced by the current lack on women on all our peak industry boards.
Currently, there are no women on the board of ARIA. This has been the case since I stepped down in 2002. On a national scale across the country, only 21.5% of all registered APRA AMCOS members (i.e. songwriters) are women. Whether it be radio playlists, festival line-ups, industry awards, major industry boards, male artists and voices overwhelmingly dominate the Australian music industry.
The Skipping a Beat report, published in August 2017 by the University of Sydney Business School’s Women, Work and Leadership Group1, found that gender-based inequality in the music industry operates on two dimensions:
1. in terms of who ‘makes it’ as a performing success story, and
1 Associate Professor Rae Cooper, Dr Amanda Coles and Ms Sally Hanna-Osborne Skipping a beat: Assessing the state of gender equality in the Australian music industry University of Sydney Business School, 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/business/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/315275/Skipping-a-Beat_FINAL_210717.pdf
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2. who ‘makes the decisions’ impacting the industry.
The report concluded that “women are chronically under-represented in key positions in the music industry.”
Underrepresentation of women on peak industry boards
The Skipping a Beat report analysed board composition for the top four peak industry bodies and found men held 83 per cent of all board positions. The following table shows the current representation of women on Australian music industry peak body boards as well as the board of AIR representing the independent record label sector.
Table 1. Underrepresentation of Women on Australian Music Industry Peak Body Boards
Peak body Men Women Total
Australia Recording Industry Association (ARIA) 5 zero 5
Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) 9 2 11
Australasian Performing Rights Association Limited 10 3 13 (APRA)
Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society Limited 12 1 13 (AMCOS)
AMPAL (representative body for music publishers in 13 2 15 Australia and New Zealand)
Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) 7 1 8
Australian music is loved at home and around the world for its creative talent and innovation, however the voices of Australia’s diverse female performers, songwriters, composers and producers are not being heard.
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Underrepresentation of women at Australian music festivals
The underrepresentation of women at board level is flowing downstream to an underrepresentation of female acts being programmed in Australian music festivals. The following table provides statistics for major Australian music festivals and conferences from 2008-2017.
Table 2. Female Content at Australian Music Festivals & Conferences 2008-2017
Festival Level of female content 2017 DAYS LIKE THIS Electronic Festival NO women programmed Sydney (30 Acts) 2016 GROOVIN THE MOO NATIONAL 79% Male ACTS programmed
2016 SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS NSW 74% Male ACTS programmed
2016 FALLS Festival VIC 68% Male ACTS programmed
2015 VIVID Festival Sydney (Over 50 Acts) NO women programmed. NO Indigenous women programmed.
Australian Women in Music Awards
On October 10, 2018 the inaugural Australian Women in Music Awards2 will be staged at the Brisbane Powerhouse. The event will be produced by the not-for-profit charity Cicada International, with support from the QLD Government Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Office for Women.
The inaugural AWMAs are highly significant with respect to this inquiry because it is the first time in Australian Music history that women will be recognised and acknowledged for their contribution and value across all areas of industry. We received hundreds of nominations for 14 award categories, demonstrating the variety and quality of female artists, songwriters, composers, producers, technicians, videographers, educators and photographers that Australia has to offer.
Where to from here?
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) reported that, in 2017, the Australian music industry experienced its biggest year of growth in more than two decades, confirming the successful
2 www.womeninmusicawards.com.au
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resurgence of the industry following the rise of digital music.
This comes at a time when women are excelling in the digital, technical and production areas and yet, these same women, are virtually invisible across the sector.
The Skipping a Beat report made five recommendations for change in the Australian music industry:
1. Collect more and better data on the music industry on a gender disaggregated basis;
2. Establish a well-resourced independent gender equality industry advocacy body;
3. Use gender equality criteria in deciding public funding outcomes;
4. Increase women’s representation in decision-making structures; and
5. Address gender bias in the Australian music industry by prioritising inclusivity and representation as core industry values (for example through funding and implementing training programs).
I urge the Committee to consider these recommendations in this Inquiry. Together they offer a framework by which future government funding and grant proposals can be assessed to ensure more diversity across the industry and a broader representation of Australian artists on show for the Australian and foreign public to enjoy.
Without this much-needed change the Australian music industry will not be able to develop to its full potential.
Yours faithfully
Vicki Gordon Executive Director, Cicada International Incorporated
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