Artists to seek gender diversity on line-ups before agreeing to play as festivals called out for male-heavy events
AUSTRALIAN musicians will call for gender and race equality on line-ups when negotiating their fee to lobby festivals to book more female, people of colour and LGBTQ+ artists.
Music
Don't miss out on the headlines from Music. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AUSTRALIAN musicians will call for gender and race equality on line-ups when negotiating their fee to lobby festivals to book more female, people of colour and LGBTQ+ artists.
The male-heavy line-ups revealed by some festivals this year, including Byron Bay’s Bluesfest and Unify Gathering earlier this month, has reignited fiery debate on social media about the lack of gender diversity.
Acclaimed indie singer songwriter Laura Jean Englert received widespread support last week for her initiative to draft a letter from artists to booking agents which will ask festivals for their “diversity strategy” before signing on to play.
Englert, an Australian Music Prize shortlist artist who is also studying law, hopes to launch the initiative within the next two months as festival curators start approaching artists to perform on 2019 events.
While still in development, the form letter she plans to send to 50 “most active booking agents in Australia” would give them questions to ask festival programmers about the inclusivity of their line-up when also negotiating their fee and set-time.
Englert appreciates that promoters want to keep the headliners of their line-ups secret in the months ahead of an announcement but believes if artists demand to know who else is going to be playing, or being sought for the line-up, then festivals will think twice about the equality of their bills.
More than 80 European and UK music festivals earlier this year announced a target to achieve a 50/50 gender balance on their bills by 2022.
Englert said no one was accusing promoters of deliberately excluding more female or gender-diverse artists in their bills but as “cultural curators”, they had a responsibility to reflect that Australia’s population is not only male.
“Rock’n’roll in Australia has been like the wild west and that comes from the pub rock tradition because that was the first commercial music scene in Australia. It was macho and often violent,” she said.
“As a female artist, I have had to deal with that my entire life where I have been aggressively treated.
“I am trying to gently remind people they have a responsibility as purveyors of culture for young people that we need to create stimulating line-ups, not just what they are used to seeing and hearing.
“They have to take a risk if they are going to make money off counter culture.”
Some artists have already signalled they are willing to take a financial hit to promote gender diversity in the Australian music industry.
Festival fees in the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars are one of the biggest sources of income for Australian artists as money made from recorded music has been slashed by the streaming era.
Indie rockers Rolling Blackouts CF, who are currently touring America, pledged their support for the “move to insist on inclusive line-ups”.
“We support diversity in music. Everyone benefits. We are not interested in playing festivals or shows that don’t demonstrate a strong commitment to including diverse voices,” the band posted this week.
Singer and songwriter Gordi, the professional alias of Sophie Paynter, said it shouldn’t come down to artists risking their financial future to protest male-dominated line-ups.
She said having more female and gender diverse artists in line-ups also proves inspirational to young people considering a career in music.
“I saw Harry Styles in New York and he has a female drummer who was absolutely rocking it and I was imagining what it would be like for all those girls at Madison Square Garden to see this drummer on stage and think ‘I could do that!’,” she said.
“I know if I got a big offer from a festival at this stage of my career, to turn that down would be a pretty gnarly decision but if it’s part of a bigger movement, then you would hope it could make a difference.
“I do think it is bulls … that it comes down to female artists having to do that.
“One of the fundamental problems is a lot of festival bookers are not looking at a line-up and thinking ‘let’s not choose a female artist; it’s buried in their subconscious to not look at the gender diversity.
“Until it becomes a conscious decision, maybe we do have to be asking them to think about a 50 per cent split so they go looking for more diverse line-ups and in five years time, they will just happen.”
Feminist advocacy group Listen, set up in 2014 to promote safe spaces and diverse gigs, has posted the “top 5 cop-outs for booking a line-up that is not diverse.”
1. We asked some but they weren’t available.
2. We book on talent, not gender.
3. There are some women coming on the second line-up announcement.
4. We are in discussions with female artists for next year’s event.
5. We book bands who sell tickets.
A Listen spokesperson said the recent call-outs of Bluesfest and Unify for their line-ups may have incited intense debate between fans and artists on social media but would eventually get promoters thinking.
“In my experience, every public call-out that has gained traction online may have resulted in a defensive or lack of accountability response but within the next year, their line-up has been radically difference,” a spokesperson said.
According to Jeff Drake, who books the successful Spilt Milk festival in Canberra, Listen is right.
Their inaugural festival was slammed two years ago when Vera Blue was the only female artist named in its first announcement.
Fast forward to 2018’s Spilt Milk on November 17 is headlined by American artist Childish Gambino and features a wildly diverse bill of male artists balanced with female, people of colour and LGBTQ+ performers including Jack River, Kira Puru, Manu Crooks, Vera Blue, Miss Blanks, Carmouflage Rose, Cub Sport, Ebony Boadu, Hatchie, Kinder, Kwame, Moaning Lisa, Thandi Phoenix and the Jungle Giants.
Drake said the outrage which greeted his 2016 first announce had been a “blessing”.
He said some male artists he has booked since that first event had also asked him about the diversity of his line-ups before signing on.
“I learned so much in 2016 about the issue of equality and privilege, about what we could do and what our obligations and role are in this issue and it’s something I take very seriously now,” he said.
“My first reaction was ‘I am not a sexist!’ but I stopped talking to learn how to approach it.
“Now it is forefront of my mind and I am super happy that the conversation happened and our line-up this year is well-rounded in a bunch of ways.
“Now it is up to record labels to act so we have more and more artists from diverse backgrounds kicking goals at festivals.”
Artists are also leading the charge for more diverse bills with their own mini-festivals.
Gang of Youths have added their A More Perfect Union festival in Brisbane to their national tour with female artists Charlie Collins, Thelma Plum and Jack River also on the bill.
Paul Kelly has signed Angus and Julia Stone, Alex Lahey, Mojo Juju and Angie McMahon for his massive outdoor Making Gravy shows in December.
“It was not a hard thing to put this bill together because there is so much diversity out there in bands and songwriters right now,” he said.
“I’m really happy we could get the people we wanted.”
THE FEMALE ARTISTS WHO WOULD BE ON OUR FANTASY FESTIVAL:
The Headliners
Missy Higgins
Tina Arena
Kylie Minogue
Kasey Chambers
Courtney Barnett
Jessica Mauboy
Kate Ceberano
The Veronicas
Sia
The Legends
Olivia Newton John
Renee Geyer
Deborah Conway
Clare Bowditch
Kylie Auldist
Marcia Hines
Vika and Linda Bull
Casey Donovan
Christina Anu
Kate Miller-Heidke
Sarah Blasko
Adalita
Abbe May
Baby Animals
The McClymonts
Sarah McLeod
Ella Hooper/Killing Heidi
The Faves
The Preatures
Lisa Mitchell
Kimbra
Megan Washington
Amy Shark
Alex Lahey
Camp Cope
Tash Sultana
Alison Wonderland
Nina Las Vegas
Meg Mac
Montaigne
Tkay Maidza
Mallrat
Vera Blue
Thelma Plum
Anna Lunoe
Confidence Man
Jen Cloher
Jack River
Alex The Astronaut
Stella Donnelly
Stonefield
The Discoveries
Nicole Millar
Jess Kent
Kita Alexander
Emily Wurramara
Cxloe
Sampa The Great
Mojo Juju
Cash Savage & The Last Drinks
Melody Pool
Mahalia Barnes & The Soul Mates
Kota Banks
G Flip
Miss Blanks
Gretta Ray
Angie McMahon
Wafia
Kira Puru
All Our Exes Live In Texas
Laura Jean
Gordi
Alice Skye
Okenyo
KLP
Hatchie
Thandie Phoenix
E^st
Woodes
Alice Ivy
Samsaruh
Clairy Browne
Dallas Frasca
Ruby Fields
Rackett
Emma Louise
Bec Sandridge
Joy.
Ngaiire
Muki
Olympia
Electric Fields
Eilish Gilligan
Eliza and the Delusionals
Gabriella Cohen
Graace
Odette
Imogen Clark
Oh Pep!
Rachel Maria Cox
Starley