Words by Ed King
On Friday 8th March, the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM) Birmingham will be hosting a special panel and discussion event – where women from different professional arenas will be ‘discussing the current gender balance in the music industry’.
Free to attend, the event will be held in BIMM Birmingham’s Live Hall from 5:30pm to 7:30pm – to secure your place, click here to visit the Eventbrite page or visit the BIMM Birmingham website for more general information.
Live music will also be performed from BIMM Birmingham’s students, with Alessandra Curle, Eve Pitt, and Julian Bastock playing from 5:15pm until the panel and discussion starts – followed by Renaye & Nandipa, and Lydia Mason playing once the panel and discussion has come to close. There will also be a chance for more informal discussion and networking with those both on the panel and in attendance.
Organised to coincide with International Women’s Day, the panel and discussion at BIMM Birmingham will address the disparity that still occurs between genders in today’s music industry – including why in 2019 is ‘female fronted’ still being referred to as a genre, and the gender imbalance that many still see in the music industries festival and live circuits. The latter is an especially pertinent issue, with festival programmers across the UK and North America being called upon to present line ups with more female artists; a selection of female professionals from within different areas of the industry will look at these pervasive issues of inequality and encourage a group discussion from the other panel members and the audience.
On the panel will be Jo Jeffries, who has a well established carer across the music industry as both a performer in her own right and a songwriter for international pop artists including Holly Valance and Michelle McManus. In 2016 Jeffries founded the local arts and music collective 7LOCO, which works with major brands and broadcasters to promote talent from across the music and entertainment industry. Then in 2017 Jeffries also launched the Birmingham Music Awards, celebrating artists from all genres in both a high profile annual awards ceremony and monthly networking events.
Also on the panel will be Sue Buckler, a long standing radio plugger who has represented artists from Kylie to Britney Spears – achieving airplay for the rosters of major labels and music groups from Sony to Virgin. Buckler is also Head of Radio for the online distributor Ditto Music, working across global territories to promote the music of new and unsigned artists from a catalogue of genres.
Writer Sophie Maughan will offer further insight from the world of music journalism, as a current contributor to publications included Metal Hammer, TeamRock and Distorted Sound Magazine. Whilst Nova Twins (aka Amy Love and Georgia South) will represent current performing artists at the BIMM Birmingham panel event, bringing their worldwide experiences from clubs and concert venues into the discussion.
BIMM Birmingham hosts a free to attend panel and discussion on ‘Readdressing Gender Balance in the Music Industry’ on Friday 8th March. To secure your place, visit the Eventbrite page and register here.
For more on BIMM Birmingham, visit www.bimm.co.uk/birmingham