This project originally started as a plea to help us get to SXSW music conference where we could educate 40,000 attendees on gender disparity in the music business. As of March 6th, the conference was cancelled along with our biggest fundraising opportunity of 2020. With thousands invested in merchandise and booth costs, we're now asking you to help us recover so we can still meet our 2020 goals for scholarship grants for teen girls in need and ultimately survive the year in operation.
Women in music have systemically and historically experienced intense gender disparity and discrimination. Most people, including those working in the industry, are unaware of the severity of these problems. Examples: -- Radio station policies prohibiting playing two female-fronted songs back to back on the air. -- 39% of women in music report experiencing stereotyping or sexualization -- Four out of 871 producers are women of color -- 10% of GRAMMY nominees were women (2013-2019)
Our booth at SXSW (cancelled due to COVID-19) was designed to education music industry insiders on the real effects of gender disparity in business as well as raise funds for our music/sound camp scholarship grants for teen girls in need and to continue producing our podcast "Backstage Chats with Women in Music." If we can recover our investments from the cancelled event, we can continue to operate and meet our 2020 commitments to these girls.
By helping Backstage Chats Foundation stay afloat, we'll be raising the first generation of teen girls to perhaps experience equal opportunity through education, experience, and insights. Thanks to music-lovers like you, these young women will squash imposter syndrome, learn to advocate for themselves, and acquire the skills and experience needed to have a successful career in the music industry, whether behind the mic or behind the scenes.
