It’s still rare to find a music-industry conference without at least one ‘manel’ – an all-male panel. Indie bodies WIN and AIM are trying to see off the sausagefests with their public-speaking workshops for women in the industry.
This morning, they announced that they have now trained more than 100 women in the first six months of the initiative, including attendees from the live, labels, publishing, management and legal arms of the industry.
Having reached 50/50 gender parity at its Indie-Con conference in February, AIM has been leading the way here.
“The workshops are designed to be fun, collegiate and informal. Feedback has been fantastic and we will continue to provide free workshops until there are no more manels,” said WIN CEO Alison Wenham.
“Our work training women in public speaking and supporting conferences to make their line-ups more diverse and inclusive is changing the face of the industry,” added AIM’s marketing and events director Lara Baker.
According to AIM and WIN, attendees for its workshops so far have included people from SoundCloud, Kobalt, ATC Management, Domino, Warner Music, Live Nation, Warp Records, Beggars Group, 7digital, AEI Media, Cooking Vinyl, MusicGlue, Ninja Tune, PRS for Music, One Little Indian, UK Music, IE Music, PIAS, Red Light Management, Communion Music and Merlin among others.
The bodies will hold their next workshop in July, although it is already fully booked. AIM and WIN are planning to announce more events later this year in London, around the UK and elsewhere in the world.
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