Live Nation Women Fund invests in Gritty In Pink

The Live Nation Women Fund has invested in startup Gritty In Pink, which is bidding to help develop a hiring platform for diverse female professionals in the music business.

Founded by Shira Yevin, Gritty in Pink is building the INPINK marketplace – a pipeline of talented female and non-binary freelancers accessible through a searchable, online roster of professionals across the country.

The Live Nation Women Fund aims to provide capital and resources for underrepresented female entrepreneurs across the live music space, with the strategic deal contributing to Gritty In Pink’s upcoming $1 million pre-seed round.

“The Live Nation Women Fund is intended to support female entrepreneurs like Shira and her business that is full of passion, purpose, and tenacity”

“We are thrilled to support Gritty In Pink through the Live Nation Women Fund with an investment to advance gender equity through their new INPINK platform,” says Ali Harnell president and chief strategy officer of Live Nation Women. “The Live Nation Women Fund is intended to support female entrepreneurs like Shira and her business that is full of passion, purpose, and tenacity and work together to create access and opportunity for women in live music.”

Gritty In Pink, which has a vision to be the global destination to hire female freelancers in music and every industry, is also partnering with Live Nation Women on an All GRL Jam series residency at The Echo LA, which features 50+ female/non-binary musicians performing themed cover songs. The business is also backed by singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge, who serves as strategic advisor.

Since 2020, Gritty In Pink has hosted more than 75 live and virtual events and worked with 20-plus brands and charities. Yevin previously crashed the Vans Warped Tour with her all-girl band Shiragirl and created the Shiragirl Stage, which featured over 300 female artists, including Joan Jett and Paramore.

“It’s been the ride of my dreams so far, watching Gritty grow from a little event series in January 2020 to a livestream show, online network, launching a marketplace, teaming up with legendary names like Melissa Etheridge, Joan Jett, and now Live Nation,” says Yevin. And to think, we’re just getting started. The future of music is female.”

Women creatives and professionals are encouraged to sign up and submit a free listing on the platform and those hiring in the music industry can search the network of diverse female professionals at INPINK.com.

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Live Nation Women announces Beautiful Noise Live

Live Nation Women (LNW) is joining forces with The United State of Women  to present Beautiful Noise Live – When All Women Vote Week of Action.

Taking place in Atlanta from 19-23 September, the initiative will feature a week of live event programming featuring panels, workshops, interviews, forums and concerts to shine a light on issues that affect women, while galvanising them to vote.

Non-partisan voter registration activations will be onsite at concerts throughout the week including Brandi Carlile at the Fox Theater and Alicia Keys at Cadence Bank Amphitheater on September 22 and 23, respectively. The scheme is named after the Keys and Carlile duet, A Beautiful Noise.

“I’m incredibly proud of what Live Nation Women is doing to encourage positive change and action”

“Beautiful Noise has been a force since it was released and I can’t wait to use the power of live to bring its mission to Atlanta ahead of our country’s critical midterm elections,” says Ali Harnell, LNW president and chief strategy officer. “I’m incredibly proud of what Live Nation Women is doing to encourage positive change and action.”

Alongside The United State of Women, a group of women-focused organisations including The 19th News, Vote Run Lead, She is the Music and Femme It Forward are partnering across all events, initiatives and activations.

“The United State of Women is thrilled to bring our When All Women Vote initiative together with Live Nation Women to ensure more women know the power of their voice and their vote – amplified through the power of music,” adds Jordan Brooks, executive director of USOW. “Every issue we care about is a gender issue, and together we will make a beautiful noise that carries us through Election Day and beyond.”

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Live Nation announces career development programme

Live Nation has teamed with not-for-profit organisation SoLa Impact’s I Can Foundation to launch a new career development programme in the US.

The Live Nation Next Gen scheme is focused on helping young people, primarily from Black and Latinx communities, prepare for careers in the live music industry via free education and training at SoLa’s new Technology and Entrepreneurship Center in south Los Angeles.

The programme features an intensive 10-week programme of courses for local students ages 16 to 21. Each week the students are guided through a curriculum and learning from a host of industry professionals, volunteer advisory board members, and Live Nation executives. The sessions will cover various aspects of creating and managing live entertainment including budgeting, artist relations, booking, marketing, and ticketing.

It will culminate with the students producing their own youth-led live music festival at the SoLa Beehive on 18 June, with each student receiving a portion of the festival’s profits.

“We saw the opportunity to cultivate a direct path to building a more diverse pipeline for young people into our business”

“We saw the opportunity to cultivate a direct path to building a more diverse pipeline for young people into our business by investing in and partnering with the SoLa community,” says Ali Harnell, Live Nation Women president. “We want these kids to understand the opportunities there are to work in live music, and that Live Nation is a pathway for them to become the next generation of great minds influencing the live music business.”

Live Nation has also funded the creation of a jam room at the Tech center where members of the community can perform, record, train, and learn music-related skills, all free of charge to South LA students.

“So much of today’s music and popular culture has been built and nurtured through the creativity of Black and brown artists. It is critical that our young people are equipped to become executives, producers, managers, engineers, and professionals in the music and entertainment industry,” adds Sherri Francois, executive director of the SoLa I Can Foundation. “In Live Nation, we found a partner that was equally committed to creating a long-term pipeline of talented executives of colour in the music and live entertainment industry. It is impressive to see Live Nation’s intentionality in ensuring that diversity, equity and inclusion are pillars shaping the future of entertainment and technology.”

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Ali Harnell named president of LN’s Women Nation

Live Nation has announced that former AEG Presents executive, Ali Harnell, has joined the company to spearhead women’s initiatives as president and chief strategy officer of the newly created division, Women Nation.

Harnell, Venue Today’s Woman of Influence and a five-time Billboard Women in Music honouree, will lead strategy and efforts – both internal and external – to advance and support women in the live music business, as well as creating and developing female-led and female-driven content.

The new Women Nation president will look to expand on existing Live Nation women’s initiatives, forge partnerships with industry groups, drive research and work to level the playing field for women in the live music industry.

“I am truly excited to dive into this new venture where I can combine my experience and relationships with my passion to help drive this historical and aspirational time of change for women,” comments Harnell.

“Ali’s decades of experience and insight into the opportunities and challenges for women in the live music business make her a powerful champion for the women of Live Nation”

Live Nation says the company is dedicated to finding ways to serve and empower its female staff, who make up 45% of its employee base. Existing programs targeted to women include employee-led group 21 chapters of We Nation, the gender-balanced career development programme, Future Nature, and the Women Nation Fund, an investment fund designed to provide capital to female entrepreneurs in the promotions and events industry.

“Ali’s decades of experience and insight into the opportunities and challenges for women in the live music business make her a powerful champion for the women of Live Nation,” says Live Nation chief executive and president, Michael Rapino. “Our goal is to work together to find scalable ways to empower the women at our company, and across the industry as a whole.”

Twice-named International Entertainment Buyers Association promoter of the year, Harnell joins Live Nation from AEG Presents, where she held the position of senior vice president of global touring. Previously, she worked as senior vice president for AEG/The Messina Group, where she oversaw operations and talent buying in the US southeast and co-created and curated talent for UK-based country music festival, Country2Country.

Harnell will report to Rapino and Bob Roux, president of US concerts. She will be based in Nashville and Los Angeles.

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