Introducing and International Women's Month 2021
Throughout March, Introducing has been celebrating the fantastic women making music around International Women’s Day. Equality and diversity run deep in our veins, and we always try to champion as many different types of artists from a multitude of backgrounds, to keep our shows sounding fresh but also to let artists know that they all have a place at ±«Óãtv Music Introducing.
Our local shows have been spotlighting local female acts on special shows all month, like Introducing in Suffolk with Angelle, who had live sessions from the likes of Bessie Turner and Buchanan and Dutch, and Shereen and Phoebe’s all women power playlist at Introducing in Scotland. On Introducing Dance on Radio 1, Jaguar has dedicated the entire month of shows to focus on music from women, trans and non-binary artists, with special guest Elkka making an appearance.
If you’ve been on our social accounts, you’ll have seen our celebration of the female Introducing artists we’ve worked with - both past and present. We've had words of wisdom about how to ‘take the space as yours’ from The Big Moon’s Fern, Ela Minus giving us a tour of her hardware synths and performance gear, Brit Rising Star Griff highlighting how ‘change is happening’, and much more. But we still have work to do.
We have also been hosting intimate, inspiring conversations with prolific female artists via our Instagram Live IWD series. We’ve given different Introducing hosts the opportunity to talk frankly about the complexities, joys and frustrations of being women in the music industry. You can hear conversations with Enny, TSHA, Hope Tala and Self Esteem on our (@bbcintroducing).
According to recent statistics on She.Said.So, women make up just 16% of artists, 12% of songwriters and 3% of production and technical roles in the music industry (that percentage breaks down even further, to 0.3%, when it comes to women of colour).
Our aim is to show solidarity for emerging female artists, and we of course want to include non-binary artists, and those of under-represented genders and members of the LGBTQ+ community here as well. We want to make music a less intimidating space. As Griff said, there’s still a way to go. We must keep opening the doors, creating opportunities and eradicating the gender gap.
Diversity and collaboration make the most beautiful music, and we intend to share that with the world.
