Believe and TuneCore fund Keychange's U.S. expansion, working towards gender equality in the global music industry
NEW YORK, June 16, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Keychange, the pioneering global initiative for gender equity and justice, celebrated the launch of its United States expansion with an exclusive VIP event held on Tuesday, June 14th at the Swedish Residence on Park Avenue in New York City. The event was hosted by Andreea Gleeson, TuneCore Chief Executive Officer and U.S. Ambassador for Keychange.
Gender equality has long been an issue in the music industry. The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's 2022 study on women in popular music found that representation of women in music has not improved in the last decade. In fact, while women currently represent half of the U.S. population, only 21.8% of all artists were women, 12.7% of songwriters were women and only 2.8% of producers were women. On the industry side, only 13.9% of top executives were women.
Keychange was founded in 2017 jointly by core partners Reeperbahn Festival (Germany), PRS Foundation (UK) and Musikcentrum Öst (Sweden), with support from Creative Europe. The nonprofit initiative has been taking action to empower women and gender minority artists and industry professionals, and Keychange is diversifying and reshaping the music industry to create a stronger and more sustainable community for all genders. Integral to this is a Gender Equality Pledge, which has over 580 music organizations and company signatories around the world. Ahead of Tuesday's event, Sandrine Bossard, Chief People Officer, Believe, and Gleeson joined 75 European and Canadian participants at Keychange's annual meet-up in London to present the Keychange team with a check for $250,000 earmarked for building out Keychange in the U.S.
Yesterday's event at the Swedish Residence in New York had remarks from: Gleeson; the Consul General of Sweden in New York, Camilla Mellander; Keychange Co-Founder Vanessa Reed, currently President and CEO of New Music USA; Ragnar Berthling, Managing Director of Musikcentrum Öst and Keychange Co-Founder; and Keychange U.K. artist participant, Tawiah. Additionally, Keychange U.S.'s new Program Manager, Andrea DaSilva, was introduced during the event.
DaSilva will oversee Keychange's U.S. expansion, developing an ambitious program which, in addition to gender equality, will also focus on race and ethnic diversity and creating opportunities across all underrepresented minority groups in the U.S.
Most recently she worked with Reeperbahn Festival on their U.S. projects. Her background notably includes a stint as the Global Team Leader for Media & Entertainment (M&E) Industries at the International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, in Washington, DC. Leading the M&E Team's 270 trade specialists based around the world, DaSilva directed projects to advance the U.S. creative and innovation economy. Together, they produced in-depth market research, offered expert policy analysis, and built dynamic trade promotion activities for hundreds of clients. As the author of the first 'Top Markets for Media & Entertainment Industries: An Export and Licensing Guide', DaSilva was awarded the Department's top honors, a Bronze Medal for Superior Service. Recently she served as the Project Leader for "Music Beyond Borders" an A2IM-ITA export project to facilitate trade and licensing for the U.S. music and digital copyrights sectors.
DaSilva commented, "Coming out of the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter activism movements—as well as a global pandemic—I am thrilled to be part of this global movement and launch Keychange U.S. to focus on gender equity in the music industry. We believe you see the importance of our initiative and we want your help to build a more inclusive culture sector to benefit artists and entrepreneurs from all genders."
Gleeson commented, "TuneCore and Believe are committed to making the music industry a more inclusive space and with our funding of Keychange's expansion into the U.S., we are putting our intentions into action. Our companies provide services for music creators at all stages of their careers and now supporting this initiative, we can proudly say that we are leveling the playing field not only artistically but socially, across all genders, races and ethnicities."
Joe Frankland, CEO of PRS Foundation and Keychange Core Partner said, "We welcome Andrea DaSilva to the expanded Keychange family and know she will engage with key stakeholders to authentically build an effective and bespoke approach to moving the needle in the U.S. Thanks to the dedication and commitment of Believe and TuneCore teams we look forward to seeing the much needed to change that will result from the sector coming together to tackle barriers."
Said Berthling, "In the post-pandemic world, all talent is needed, and the privileged majority must understand that there is only one path for the future, and that is inclusivity. Keychange is the movement tearing down structural gender barriers and toxic male norms and with an absolute focus on intersectionality. The U.S. expansion will take Keychange to the next level."
About Believe
Believe is one of the world's leading digital music companies. Believe's mission is to develop independent artists and labels in the digital world by providing them the solutions they need to grow their audience at each stage of their career and development. Believe's passionate team of digital music experts around the world leverages the Group's global technology platform to advise artists and labels, distribute and promote their music. Its 1,430 employees in more than 50 countries aim to support independent artists and labels with a unique digital expertise, respect, fairness and transparency. Believe offers its various solutions through a portfolio of brands including TuneCore, Nuclear Blast, Naïve. Groove Attack and AllPoints. Believe is listed on compartment A of the regulated market of Euronext Paris (Ticker: BLV. ISIN: FR0014003FE9). http://www.believe.com
About TuneCore
TuneCore is the global platform for independent musicians to build audiences and careers – with technology and services across distribution, publishing administration and a range of promotional services. TuneCore Music Distribution services help artists, labels and managers sell their music through Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, TikTok, Tencent and more than 150 download and streaming stores worldwide, while retaining 100 percent of their sales revenue and rights for a low annual flat fee. TuneCore Music Publishing Administration assists songwriters by administering their compositions through licensing, registration, worldwide royalty collections, and placement opportunities in film, TV, commercials, video games and more. The TuneCore Artist Services portal offers a suite of tools and services that enable artists to promote their craft, connect with fans, and get their music heard. TuneCore, part of Believe, is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, with offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, Atlanta, and Austin, and operates globally through local teams based in the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, India, Japan and Singapore across 5 continents. http://www.tunecore.com
About Keychange
Keychange is a pioneering international initiative which is transforming the future of music. By encouraging festivals and music organisations to pledge to have at least 50% women and gender minority representation in their programming, staffing and beyond, Keychange is creating a more gender representative, and more inclusive music industry for present and future generations.
Alongside the Keychange Pledge, the Keychange Talent Development Programme unites 75 emerging artists and innovators from Europe and Canada each year, to take part in international festivals, showcase events, collaborations and a programme of creative labs,
Keychange is led by Reeperbahn Festival, PRS Foundation and Musikcentrum Öst, supported by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, in partnership with Tallinn Music Week, Iceland Airwaves, BIME, Oslo World, Linecheck/Music Innovation Hub, Ireland Music Week, Different Sounds, SACEM, Sound City, Way Out West, MaMA Festival, MUTEK and Breakout West.
Keychange is sponsored by FACTOR, Fundación SGAE, GEMA, Gorwelion Horizons, IMRO, Italia Music Lab, the Musicians' Union, Norsk Tipping, Roskilde Festival, SOCAN Foundation, Songtrust, SoundCloud, STEF, STIM, the Swedish Government, Talent Norge and Ted Baker. http://www.keychange.eu and http://www.keychangeus.com
Media Contact
Maria Ho-Burge, Global Head of Communications, TuneCore, 1 9179294888, [email protected]
SOURCE TUNECORE
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