WOMEN IN MUSIC CANADA
LAUNCHES THE FIRST CANADIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY DATABASE FOR WOMEN AND UNDER REPRESENTED
GENDER IDENTIFYING PEOPLE

TORONTO, ON - March 8, 2022 - It’s been proven: increased gender diversity in the Canadian music industry brings in more money. Last year, Women in Music Canada commissioned a study to show the effects of increased gender diversity on corporate performance. Prepared in collaboration with PwC Canada, and generously funded by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Ontario Creates’ Business Intelligence Program (BIP), the study determined that just a 10% increase in gender diversity can lead to an 18% increase in revenue per employee. Read the study here.

The latest study also showed that the top three barriers for women-identifying, non-binary, gender fluid and gender diverse people in the music industry are lack of access to mentors, lack of gender balance in senior management and lack of overall balance in the workplace. Yet excuses are still being made as to lack of ability to find diverse professionals to increase workplace diversity. What if there was a tool that could make engaging gender diverse folks in your workplace or program easier to achieve right now? Now there is one. Today, the Canadian nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering gender equality in the music industry is announcing the public launch of The Women in Music Canada Directory.

The Women in Music Canada Directory will address the industry need of sourcing gender diverse talent by creating a central place for those seeking performers, industry team, suppliers, speaking and panel programming, as well as employment vacancies and board positions. The directory will engage participants to upload their personal and professional details, representing a variety of fields to showcase individuals’ skills, talents and accomplishments. All information will be self-administered: it’s up to each individual user, to share as much or as little about themselves as they like. Once populated, this directory will connect participants through direct messaging options and will provide a mechanism for the Canadian music industry to easily empower female and underrepresented gender identifying talent for opportunities that arise.

With the launch of the directory, now up and running at Womeninmusic.ca, Women in Music Canada is calling all female-identified Canadian individuals in all areas of the Music Industry to join now by creating their own personalized profiles.  Beginning March 8th (International Women’s Day), WIMC will be launching a series of giveaways to encourage sign ups, including products from female owned Canadian brands and $1,000 cash.  Five lucky members will be selected from the Database on March 18th, so members should create their profiles before then to ensure they are considered for the giveaway.  Those who have already created profiles will also be entered automatically.

"Our organization's mission is to work toward gender equity in all aspects of the music industry," says Samantha Slattery, Executive Director, WIMC. "With the Women in Music Canada directory, we hope to enrol as many music industry members into the database as possible to ensure that it’s a comprehensive and diversely populated resource for the entire music industry to utilize.  There should be no excuses when it comes to gender diversity and parity across our industry and now, with our Database, there won’t be.”

Whether it’s programming a festival, seeking panelists for an important discussion, or looking for new talent to work on an upcoming album, a plethora of qualified diverse folks can be found, with just the click of a mouse. When it comes to gender diversity, Women in Music Database will be the gateway.  No excuses, just equality.  #noexcuses

ABOUT THE WOMEN IN MUSIC CANADA DIRECTORY
The Women in Music Canada directory is a legacy project that has created the ultimate resources for supporting the advancement of women, female identifying and non-binary individuals in the Canadian music industry. The database is the concept of award-winning multi-platinum artists Tegan and Sara, who found it challenging to find women and gender diverse individuals to work with themselves. Our community populated database will allow for personal information, professional details, and additional fields to communicate experience and skills – providing a mechanism for the Canadian music industry to easily source female talent. Our database will address the industry need of sourcing gender diverse talent by creating a central place for those seeking individuals, suppliers, speaking and panel programming, as well as employment vacancies and board positions. The WIMC Database was built with support from FACTOR Canada, Ontario Creates and Slaight Music.

ABOUT WIMC
Women in Music Canada is a registered non-profit organization and one of the largest music industry associations in Canada, with over 2,000 members nationally. The organization is dedicated to fostering gender equality in the music industry through the support and advancement of female identifying professionals and creatives at every stage of their career. The goal is to strengthen the social-economic balance of the music industry by providing professional development, support and resources for our community. For media inquiries please contact: Nadia Elkharadly nadia@ccstrategies.ca