Reeperbahn Festival

Supported by the European Union's Creative Europe programme, Keychange is a global network and movement working towards restructuring the music industry to achieve full gender equality.  

THE CORE ACTIVITIES OF KEYCHANGE  

Keychange is a large-scale career development programme for artists from women's and gender minorities, as well as innovators in the industry. Keychange helps all participants advance to key stages and leadership positions in the industry. By 2024, 272 artists and innovators will have graduated from the programme.  

The so-called Keychange Pledge is a statement of intent for festivals, music organizations and companies to achieve gender balance. Over 600 festivals and music companies have already signed the Pledge.  

The manifesto recognizes the achievements, ideas and proposals that have emerged from the Keychange network and calls for collective action.

Keychange is led by Reeperbahn Festival in co-leadership with PRS Foundation and Musikcentrum Öst, supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, in partnership with Tallinn Music Week, Iceland Airwaves, BIME, Oslo World, Linecheck/Music Innovation Hub, Ireland Music Week, SACEM, Liverpool Sound City, Way Out West, Spring Break, MAMA, Mutek and Breakout West. 

Here you can find out how to join the movement.  

As an individual, you will be making a helpful contribution to Keychange's intentions if you primarily attend festivals that consider gender balance on and off stage. 

Learn more about the Keychange Pledge and register your festival/organization here. 

Keychange includes all transgender intersex and non-binary performers among the 50% of women for each festival. It is important that all genders are recognized and represented. The goal is to address the imbalance between those who are currently represented and those who are consistently underrepresented. 

Keychange began at the 2017 Reeperbahn Festival as a European talent development programme for female artists and innovators led by the PRS Foundation.  

The 50/50 commitment was proposed by the original Keychange festival partners. These partners wanted to show that they were serious about their commitment to gender equality, in addition to providing showcase opportunities for underrepresented talent. In 2019, Keychange announced a new 4-year program with new project leadership, the Reeperbahn Festival, funded by Creative Europe. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, 74 participants will be selected for the programme each year. 

In 2017, women represented 26% of the lineup at major music festivals in a sample in the UK and less than 10% of the headliners in a survey conducted in the US. 64% of signatory organizations have already met or exceeded their goals. More than 200 Signatories* from around the world have shared data on their goal achievements. This shows that by the end of 2021, 64% of Pledge Signatories have already met or exceeded their goal of having at least 50% of artists and professionals be women and gender diverse. Additional Pledge Signatories are working on self-defined timelines (all within 5 years of signing the Pledge) and are making significant progress toward achieving their goals.  

Reeperbahn Festival has already achieved a 50/50 balance. 

Festivals and organizations are committed to achieving a gender balance that makes sense for their own lineup, programming, and genre of music. For example, major classical events such as BBC Proms and Aldeburgh Festivals take into account the number of female composers they commission, popular music festivals take into account the number of women on their stages, and conferences take into account the number of women* on their panels.  

For music festivals, 50/50 is measured by the number of performances with at least one self-identifying woman, transgender person, or non-binary person. 

Our priority in this first phase is to ensure that 50% of the scheduled programs include at least one woman/transgender/non-binary person. Many of the festivals go even further. We want this first goal to be achievable and for everyone working on it to think about long-term changes. 

Some festivals average 50/50, as their lineups naturally fluctuate around the 50% mark. 

Orchestras could use the 50/50 goal for commissioned composers and/or the number of players, the number of principal players, and the balance of senior staff. Concert halls could look at the lineups on stage (as in our Keychange festivals) or other aspects of their organization, e.g., senior staff, backstage staff, etc. Music colleges could look at students, faculty, senior staff, live music programs, guest musicians. Agents, publishers and labels can look at the record of the artists they sign. Other charities or trade organizations could also consider the makeup of their board and staff while pledging to encourage their members to sign up with Keychange as well.  

Radio stations could use the pledge to look at the quota of hosts or the number of guests they invite to their shows.  

Editorial staff can use the Keychange pledge when hiring writers, editors, photographers, etc.  

Organizations with youth groups or educational programs can also apply a Keychange Promise to this area of their work.  

We strongly believe that the goal needs to be defined and staffed by the festivals and organizations themselves, and we will collect data annually to measure its progress. 

Because every festival and organization is different, and our signatories may make different commitments to different areas within their institution  

Our goal is to increase the number of FLINTA* performing at festivals and working in the music industry at all levels, rather than creating restrictive or dismissive policies. Keychange is about celebrating the efforts of music organizations that sign up, rather than naming and shaming those that don't. 

All signatories of the Keychange Initiative join the so-called Pledge and provide data via a central database. 

The momentum right now for gender equality across the creative industries provides a great opportunity to work towards real change. There is much more recognition of gender differences in music than there was before. This is the first step on that journey; now it's about men and women in positions of influence promoting role models, investing in emerging talent, recognizing the barriers for women* in a male-dominated industry, and shaping change for the betterment of all. Current Keychange partners* are encouraging more festivals and organizations to join the gender equality pledge to create lasting change in the music industry and highlight new opportunities. 

Keychange is a program that will gain momentum over time and last as long as it does. We will use the data we collect and feedback from participating festivals to steadily take the program further, whether it continues to focus on festivals or other areas of the music industry. Success will be the moment Keychange is no longer needed, but until then, we will do everything we can to promote positive action in the music industry.

The representation of women* in the music industry remains very low in all European countries. In the collecting societies of the participating countries, FLINTA* make up 20% or less of the registered composers* and songwriters. FLINTA* earnings are still lower, and women* are underrepresented in leadership positions throughout the industry and on festival program stages.