The innovative year-long talent development program provides women and gender minority participants with the skills and opportunities they need to progress to the next stage in their career.
19 JANUARY 2022 – As the lead funder of their work in Canada, FACTOR (The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings), today shares the news that Keychange, the pioneering international initiative for gender equality in the music industry, welcomes 76 new faces to its 2022 talent development program – including eight artists and innovators from Canada. Selected by industry and export experts as future leaders, the new cohort of artists and music industry professionals from 12 different countries will take part in a year-long program, following an open call that received 590 applications.
Participants include Shereen Perera, Senior Producer of Women of the World Foundation (UK), Samantha Slattery, Founder of Women in Music Canada (CA), Mathilde Neuville, Co-founder of Consentis for the prevention of sexism and sexual violence in music (FR) and the hotly tipped alternative indie Rough Trade artist, Laura Lee & the Jettes (DE).
As a Sponsor, FACTOR has committed up to $350,000 over four years towards the work of Keychange in keeping with the mission of promoting inclusiveness in the Canadian music industry which is reflective of the diversity of Canada’s population. The SOCAN Foundation is also a sponsoring organization in Canada, alongside Keychange Partners Mutek and Breakout West.
The 2022 Canadian participants are
Artists Alysha Brilla, Liliane Chlela, Mise en Scene, Paris Pick
Innovators Flora Garnier, Isabelle Banos, Noreen Hamid, Samantha Slattery
Launching with a digital kick-off February 16-18, this extensive program aims to equip the 76 women and gender minority participants with the skills, resources and opportunities needed to fast track them to the next stage in their career.
Alongside the full network meet-ups, participants will take part in Creative Labs at the 13 festivals that are partnered with Keychange in Europe and Canada. The Creative Labs will take the form of workshops, seminars, studio sessions, masterclasses and more. In addition to these opportunities, the program’s artists will take part in international showcases, Innovators will be invited to international music conferences and each participant will be invited to benefit from a mentoring scheme created in collaboration with shesaid.so.
To date, 133 participants have taken part in the Keychange program. Canadian 2021 Keychange participant Mar Sellars (Mar On Music Management, Radio Host, PR and Consultant) says
My experience with Keychange was nothing that I could ever have expected. When we met up (pre-COVID) in Sweden, I was blown away by the amazing people I met as fellow Keychange participants, incredibly smart, talented, worldly, creative humans. Everyone has such a dynamically different background, colleagues who are in production, marketing, psychology, the musicians themselves and more.
Listen to the Keychange 2022 artist playlists at SoundCloud and Spotify. Read more about each of the full list of 76 brilliant participants on the Keychange website here.
About Keychange
Keychange is a pioneering international initiative which is transforming the future of music. By encouraging festivals and music organizations to pledge to have at least 50% women and minority genders in their programming, staffing and beyond, Keychange is creating a more gender representative, and more inclusive music industry for present and future generations.
Keychange encourages all music organizations, festivals, venues, broadcasters, agencies and beyond to take the Keychange Pledge and to work towards a representative music industry. Join the Keychange Pledge at keychange.eu and visit Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Keychange is led by Reeperbahn Festival, 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, Different Sounds, SACEM, Sound City, Way Out West, MaMA Festival, MUTEK and Breakout West.
Keychange is sponsored by FACTOR, Fundación SGAE, GEMA, Gorwelion Horizons, IMRO, the Musicians’ Union, Norsk Tipping, Roskilde Festival, SOCAN Foundation, Songtrust, SoundCloud, STEF, STIM, Talent Norge, Ted Baker and Italia Music Lab.
Keychange Ambassadors are Shirley Manson, Imogen Heap, Tony Visconti, Alexa Feser, Dermot O’Leary, Hinds, Emily Eavis, Nadine Shah, Paulette Long OBE, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, iskwē, Corinne Bailey Rae, Joy Denalane, Kate Nash, Sara Potente, Ave Tölpt, planningtorock, Jess Partridge, Carla Marie Williams, Claire Edwardes, Avtomat, Karolina Czarnecka, Darcy Proper, Tones and I, Tegan and Sara, Margherita Vicario, Claudia Pereira, Brisa Fenoy, Linnea Henriksson, Mari Boine, Samsaya, AURORA, First Lady of Iceland Eliza Reid, Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, Peaches, James Foley, LYDMOR, Andreea Gleeson, Flore Benguigui and Alice Phoebe Lou.