How Women’s Voices Were Amplified This International Women’s Day
Credit: Jamie Wdziekonski, Carkulture Wage Sae
This week, we celebrated International Women’s Day and today, we’re reflecting on how the music industry amplified the voices of women.
TikTok
On Monday, TikTok launched the first of their four weekly hashtag campaigns in celebration of IWD, with #WhenWomenWin celebrating the leaders of movements towards progress.
Following IWD, TikTok fundraised for organisations that support women with a six-hour live telethon on March 9th. In a media release, the company also committed to donating “$250,000USD to non-profit organisations that commit to the advancement of women’s leadership and economic empowerment globally”.
The team at TikTok Australia also kicked off a month of celebrating Australian women in music by sharing a curated playlist. It shone a spotlight on more than 100 artists and was featured on the app’s Discover and Sounds tabs.
Spectator Jonze (AKA Jaguar Jonze) added the finishing touches with her art paying homage to iconic names like Amy Shark, Mia Rodriguez, Kaiit, Tkay Maidza, Kira Puru and Peach PRC.
NME
NME celebrated with a special edition of their Girls To The Front series. The live series, which celebrates female and nonbinary artists and aims to foster safe gig environments for all genders, was moved online with live streamed performances from Blu DeTiger, Olivia Dean, Orla Gartland and Miss Grit, Bitch Diesel, LÂLKA, The Buildings, Grrrl Gang and Pyra.
iHeartMedia and SeeHer
iHeartMedia joined forces with SeeHer, the largest global movement to eliminate gender bias in marketing, advertising, media and entertainment to produce iHeartRadio Presents SeeHer Hear Her: Celebrating Women In Musicevent this IWD. Cardi B, Gwen Stefani and Kelsea Ballerini took part in conversations about their careers during a live one-hour special streamed on iHeartRadio’s YouTube and Facebook pages. The discussions covered their goals and their positions as leaders and role models, as well as the universal challenges faced by women in music.
Popular radio shows and podcasts across more than 600 iHeartMedia stations were also taken over by women, who had discussions about equality, inclusion, inspiration and amplification of women’s voices. An hour was also devoted to playing the biggest hits and new music from female artists during the evening.
While it’s encouraging to see the ways the industry is opening doors to discussions about women’s roles and the challenges they face during their careers, this is just one step in the right direction. As an industry that still battles with inequality, we hope that in IWDs to come, we’ll be celebrating safer and more inclusive workplaces for all.
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