Spotify back equal opportunity directory to promote gender equality for women in Audio and Music Production. In a blog posting, Spotify and SoundGirls have announced the launch of ‘EQL Directory’ a Global Database for Women in Audio and Music Production.
The announcement continues that ‘It’s estimated that less than 5% of all audio professionals are women. Many people in the music industry are – and have been – working to solve this issue by providing educational, networking, and community resources to increase diversity in these fields. And yet, the excuse still exists, “We want to hire a woman, but we couldn’t find one.”
“In order to make change, everyone has to agree there’s a problem to solve in the first place,” says Anna Ingler, co-founder of the Upfront Producer Network, which represents 100-plus female and gender-nonconforming producers in Sweden.
The EQL Directory, powered by SoundGirls (a nonprofit dedicated to expanding opportunities for girls and women in music) and sponsored by Spotify is a global database of professionals that seeks to amplify the careers and achievements of women working behind the scenes in music and audio. Anyone can add their name to the database and for any person looking to hire a more inclusive creative team they can find professionals in their area.
“[We] face the myth that there are not very many women or non-conforming people working in audio, and because of this people don’t even bother to look. The EQL Directory proves that this is not true,” says Karrie Keyes, co-founder of SoundGirls and Pearl Jam’s long-time sound engineer.
The EQL Directory is one of many initiatives Spotify has developed to support equity in the audio industry. In August, the company created three full-time residencies in its Secret Genius and Spotify studios to support hands-on career development for female studio engineers. For this and other initiatives the full blog can be found here.
