On the 8th of March, Women’s day is celebrated all around the globe.

This is still necessary. Like in many other sectors, gender equality is still not a reality in the music industry. Especially, the barriers high-achieving womxn repeatedly face in their careers, are still an urgent issue. The good news is that there is some progress. With AB, we officially committed ourselves by signing the so-called Keychange Pledge and incrementally pursuing gender equality. Slowly, we are building a better world. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen overnight.

No equality without equity. 

The theme of this year’s Women’s day is #EmbraceEquity. The goal of this campaign is raising awareness to why equality is not enough. People have different needs and backgrounds. For real inclusion, we need a flexible professional regime adapted to everyone’s individual needs. Without such flexibility, creating an inclusive group is a near impossible task.

We did some introspection and reflected on the measures AB takes to reach equity. Are these sufficient? Do we (as employees) feel our workplace is flexible and adaptable to our needs?

“I never feel judged for what I say or do… I can simply shine and be myself in a slightly demarcated professional playground, which is how I function best.” (Wati)

Due to health issues, it’s difficult for me to work in the evenings after a full day of work. Therefore, I try to plan these evenings in the weekends or holidays to avoid having 11 or 12 hour workdays. In general I spent less time working evenings than my colleagues. Of course this requires flexibility from both my colleagues, my employer and myself. Sometimes I feel like I should have taken a different route 10 years ago, considering the working circumstances and the “management-style” of the sector when I just arrived in it. In the past I saw colleagues turn their temporary leave into a definitive goodbye because the work/life balance was irreconcilable. However, I do see a positive change in the profiles working in the music industry and in AB. (Anonymous)

“Two years ago, I started a course in photography. AB supported me financially and practically, partly because this study could be beneficial for my current position in AB. In combination with flexible work-hours, this could’ve been possible. However, in practice this was less evident. I still had to work in the evenings and weekends, and finding alternatives proved tricky and time-consuming. Is this the result of wanting to do too much or is it a result of too little ‘equity’?” (Lien)

Personally, I experience a healthy work-life balance in AB. As a single mother, the flexibility of AB allows me to align my professional rhythm with my children. However, in comparison with other companies, I do relatively little evening- and weekend work. It is a fact that, in jobs with irregular work hours – in AB as well as in other sectors – women frequently look for other jobs as soon as they start a family. As a result, women are still underrepresented in the music sector, and especially in technical and leading positions. In that regard, we still have a long way to go. Because women are a huge surplus value, at every age, for every organization and in every function.” (Ilse)

  On the 8th of march, the female staff of AB will go to VIERNULVIER to further discuss this theme. Last year we organized a first get-together in AB for all f/x from the music industry. This day was so inspiring and motivating, we simply had to repeat it, be it on another location. If you would like to join us next year, contact us here.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the programmers of Europe's most iconic venues co-curated a playlist to highlight some fantastic up-and-coming female acts who are leaving their mark on the European music scene. (Thanks to Liveurope, the first pan-European initiative supporting concert venues in their efforts to promote emerging European artists.)