74 participants chosen for Keychange programme
Seventy-four artists and music industry professionals from across 12 countries have been selected from over 650 applicants to take part in the 2020 Keychange development programme.
Launching with a full network meet-up in Stockholm on 13 February, the programme aims to give the 74 female and gender minority participants the skills and opportunities needed to advance in their career.
The programme, part of the new-look Keychange 2.0 led by Reeperbahn Festival in partnership with PRS Foundation and Musikcentrum Öst, will benefit three cohorts of participants over four years. Keychange announced the initiative following a €1.4 million funding boost from the European Union’s Creative Europe programme in August.
Among the first group of participants are Estonian singer and violinist Marrja Nuut, Berlin-based lo-fi pop artist DENA and London alt-soul singer Anaïs.
Alongside meet-ups and mentoring sessions, participants will take part in ‘Creative Labs’ at one the 13 Keychange partner festivals, including Iceland Airwaves, BIME and Way Out West. The labs will offer showcase opportunities to artists, as well as workshops, seminars, studio sessions and masterclasses. Polish consulting company Chimes will oversee all training.
“We are pleased that a more inclusive approach to recruitment has resulted in a very diverse and exciting group of participants for 2020”
In accordance with feedback from the 2018 edition of the programme – which consisted of 60 participants – a percentage of Keychange funding will go towards participants’ childcare arrangements.
The announcement comes as the number of signatories to the Keychange pledge of achieving a gender-balanced line-up by 2022 surpasses 300. Norwegian organisations Talent Norge and Norsk Tipping, as well as the UK’s Musicians’ Union have recently joined the movement as sponsors.
“The Keychange talent development programme lies at the core of the initiative,” says Christina Schäfers, Keychange lead and head of Reeperbahn Festival’s programmes in arts, word and film. “While the pledge encourages organisations to book diverse talent, we’re helping the talent get to their stages.”
“We are particularly pleased that a more inclusive approach to recruitment has resulted in a very diverse and exciting group of participants for 2020,” says Schäfers, noting that the programme represents “many more gender minority participants and a diverse range of ethnicities, genres and career levels” this year.
“We can’t wait to host this incredible cohort at the full network meet-ups in Stockholm and at Reeperbahn Festival.”
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Reeperbahn selects Denmark as 2020 focus nation
Reeperbahn Festival 2019 wrapped up on Sunday (23 September) following four days of panel discussions, keynote interviews, industry announcements, award ceremonies and live performances.
Organisers of the Hamburg-based conference and festival announced Denmark as next year’s focus nation shortly after the close of the 2019 festival, which drew more than 50,000 visitors, including 5,900 music industry professionals.
A “record” number of Danish bands will be present at Reeperbahn 2020, which will take place from 16 to 19 September. Denmark-focused networking events, panels and pre-events will also take place.
17 bands from 2019 focus country Australia performed at Reeperbahn this year, with Glenn Dickie of Australian music export office Sounds Australia commenting that he “couldn’t be happier with how our year as focus country has played out.”
“Our artists and managers are excited by all of the business opportunities that have been presented to them and we are excited to continue this momentum in presenting great Australian music to the German market,” says Dickie.
A “record” number of Danish bands will be present at Reeperbahn 2020
A host of industry announcements were unveiled at this year’s Reeperbahn, including the future of gender equality campaign Keychange, the creation of a mentorship scheme for European music managers and the launch of Pitchfork Music Festival in Berlin.
Ukrainian rapper alyona alyona was this year’s winner of international talent competition Anchor, with a jury comprised of Tony Visconti, Bob Rock, Peaches and Kate Nash, among others.
At the International Music Journalism Awards, IQ’s news editor Jon Chapple took home the gong for best music business journalist of the year, with Juliane Liebert of Radioeins winning best German music journalist of the year and Vivian Goldman receiving the English equivalent award.
German rock festival Open Flair (20,000-cap.) won the best festival award and multi-genre festival Haldern Pop (7,000-cap.) was received the prize for best booking.
Tickets for Reeperbahn 2020 are available here. Under early bird rates, applicable until December 31, conference tickets are priced at €138 and a four-day festival pass is €99.
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Keychange 2.0 unveiled at Reeperbahn Festival
Artists Kate Nash and Peaches revealed details of the next phase of music industry gender parity project Keychange at Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg today (19 September).
A presentation, hosted by Kate Nash and Peaches alongside Pitchfork editor Puja Patel, laid out the foundations for the next four-year stage of the project. A new management structure, headed up by lead partner Reeperbahn Festival, was also announced.
The news follows the recent announcement that the gender balance initiative received €1.4 million in funding from the European Commission.
Keychange 2.0 will support 216 music creators and industry professionals – 74 each year – from countries including Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
The participants will take part in a talent development programme of showcases, panels, workshops, training sessions, networking events and creative labs at 13 festivals across Europe and Canada, including two full network meetups in February and September.
A global database will list all participants and the more than 250 signatories to Keychange’s 50/50 gender-balanced line-up pledge, as well as a mentoring scheme, Keychange conference, online resources, ambassadors and an expanded management team.
“Its encouraging to see all these organisations involved with Keychange because it means that things can finally start to change,” says Nash. “Music is about feeling part of a community and feeling included – it’s about being seen and heard.”
“Its encouraging to see all these organisations involved with Keychange because it means that things can finally start to change”
An open call for Keychange 2.0 participants will launch in October 2019 through the initiative’s website. “Innovative and boundary-pushing” applicants from all partner countries are encouraged to apply. Six participants will be selected per country – three artists and three industry professionals.
Reeperbahn Festival, alongside other leading festival partners from each country – Iceland Airwaves (Iceland), BIME (Spain), Oslo World (Norway), Tallinn Music Week (Estonia), Ireland Music Week (Ireland), Way Out West (Sweden), Linecheck (Italy), Liverpool Sound City (UK), Spring Break (Poland) Mutek (Canada), BreakOut West (Canada) and MAMA (France) – will each host six to twelve international Keychange participants.
“With Keychange 1.0, we have been addressing the necessity of gender equality in the music business since 2017,” comments Reeperbahn chief executive Alex Schulz.
“Phase 2.0 not only extends Pledge 2022 for balanced line-ups in festivals to other organisations and music sub-markets, but also expands our mentoring programmes and workshops as well as the European database, so that our innovators and artists can implement the transformative power of Keychange in the best possible way and carry it out into the world.”
Reeperbahn will work closely with Keychange founder PRS Founder and Sweden’s Musikcentrum Öst to lead Keychange 2.0.
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