Women In Music awards

shesaid.so
Jul 30, 2017 · 4 min read

shesaid.so partners with Women In Music for 2017 awards

November 2017 will mark the fourth Women In Music awards, the event for which is set to showcase the breadth of outstanding work and achievements pioneered by women in the Music industry. Taking place in Central London, shesaid.so is proud to partner with the awards this year, to stand with the important celebratory and inspirational significance represented by both organisations. The categories for the awards are:

  • BUSINESSWOMAN OF THE YEAR
  • OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION
  • CAMPAIGNER
  • RISING STAR
  • MUSIC CHAMPION
  • INTERNATIONAL WOMAN OF THE YEAR
  • THE COMPANY AWARD: DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE
  • ROLL OF HONOUR

Lucy Blair Pettersson, now Director of International Sales and Marketing at The Orchard, was added to the prestigious WIM Roll Of Honour in 2016 and her outstanding influence also saw her name included in the Alternative Power 100 Music List published by shesaid.so earlier this year. She told us how it felt to receive the Roll Of Honour award:

LBP: Absolutely thrilled — it was a huge privilege to be selected, especially in such ridiculously talented company as my fellow inductees. It’s a pretty incredible feeling to be considered in the same league as women whom you’ve admired for a long time, such as Emmy Lovell and Jane Third. Over the last few years I’ve become increasingly passionate about promoting and supporting great women in the music industry, and have championed gender equality in music through my curation work with Brighton Music Conference and Amsterdam Dance Event, so it was really wonderful to have those efforts recognised. And the best thing was that I was nominated by female friends in the industry, including Lara Baker from AIM. As she wrote in a brilliant blog post last year, “Other women are not competition — they are your greatest allies.” And they make for pretty incredible friends, too.

Music Week Women In Music 2017

ssso: And Lucy, why do you think these awards are important?

LBP: While things are improving all the time, we still don’t have parity of opportunity and remuneration for women in the UK music industry, or any other industry. In the UK, women are likely to earn £300,000 less than men over their working lives, and the gap in average full-time annual salaries between men and women is 24% — more than four decades after the Equal Pay Act of 1970 was introduced. However, during my 7 years in the music industry, the discussion around gender equality and diversity has moved firmly into the spotlight, and it’s encouraging to see it becoming a much bigger priority for the music industry and beyond. It’s been fantastic to see and take part in the rise of networking groups, communities and initiatives such as SheSaid.So, DevelopHer (formerly Girls In Tech UK), AIM events, and of course Music Week Women In Music! There is still very much a need for these types of initiatives in order to spotlight and promote the incredible achievements of women in music; to improve diversity and inclusion; to eradicate sexism and implicit bias; to get rid of the gender pay gap; and to improve the number of women in both senior executive-level positions and traditionally male-dominated roles, such as production and engineering.

Plus, events like the Women In Music Awards help to create invaluable communities and support networks within the industry, bringing women and men together to form connections, and to empower and encourage each other at all stages of your career. Those networks can help you to find new projects, learn new skills, and encourage you to never stop learning and developing, building your confidence and connections along the way.


We spoke to the shesaid.so teams worldwide about a woman in music who represents the current market and movement for greater equality across the industry. Here is a selection of their nominations:

Georgia Meyer, Senior Project Manager at Boiler Room:

I choose to nominate Kieran Yates for the outstanding contribution award.

She is a fearless, bold, unapologetic journalist for music and young people. She resolutely sticks to her principles and discusses gives voice to under-represented communities. She’s also always the smartest most knowledgeable person in the room.

Harriet Moss, Global Creative Manager at Manners McDade:

I would like to nominate for International Woman of The Year.

Solange — One of the most incredible, engaged, real, raw, honest and moving live performances I’ve ever seen, on this recent tour. Her latest album articulates so many huge and important topics and discussions, and she gives a voice to women that is so honest and rarely heard. A powerhouse & a role model to artists and women of the industry.

Emma Lee, Freelance Digital Communications Manager:

Music Champion: Marea Stamper (The Black Madonna) for advocating the gender equality in the electronic music industry and being the positive example for fighting for her rights.

Kathleen Alder, Founder, WildKat PR:

Businesswoman of the Year — Rebecca Allen (President of Decca Records in the UK) she is an absolute inspirational force of nature. Kind, forward thinking and challenging. People like working for and with her and she has shown how working up the ranks in a big company is possible without a pushy mentality. She also is a mother of two young daughters and really in my eyes a positive role model on family and work balance.

Amanda Maxwell, Office Manager at Boiler Room:

For the Campaigner category…

DJ Isla for Grenfell — currently one of the only artists who is daily on the ground helping people — communicating on what’s going on and stopped her whole schedule to go back to her beloved community.

And for Rising Star…

Ray BLK — sick album, sick vocals, live and truly excited to see where she goes from here.

The deadline for nominations is midday on Monday 31st July so if you have been inspired by a woman in the industry and think their contribution should be recognised, nominate them here: http://bit.ly/WIM

shesaid.so

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We are a carefully curated network of women with active roles in the music industry: www.shesaid.so

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