The international women’s collective female:pressure has released the latest edition of its FACTS survey, providing valuable insight into how many women are being booked for dance music festivals.
According to the FACTS survey by female:pressure, the overall share of female and female-identifying artists at electronic music festivals has risen 15 percent since 2012. This is the fourth edition of the survey, which was first published in 2013.
Back in 2012, just under 10 percent of surveyed festival acts were female — a number that has steadily risen to around 25 percent by 2019. At the same time, the number of male artists has steadily declined, from around 82 percent in 2013 to 65 percent last year. The number of non-binary artists, artists who do not identify with a gender, and “mixed” artists has remained statistically steady in that time.
While the results do signify that efforts by groups like Keychange — an initiative which encourages festivals and music organisations to achieve a 50/50 gender balance by 2022 — are paying off, the study cautions that festival bookings are still greatly dominated by men.
It also states that “larger festivals tend to have lower proportions of female acts,” and that “publicly funded festivals and festivals with female artistic directors have higher proportions of female acts.”
Data for this edition of the survey was collected over the past two years by by members of female:pressure, with festival organizers and the female:pressure Trouble Makers. 166 different festivals were surveyed, pulling results from from 392 festival editions.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, we speak to six women who work at Beatport, learning about their jobs, and what they think needs to happen to encourage diversity within their respective fields.
Name: Nicky Böhm
Job title: Label Manager
What led you to your current job at Beatport?
Going to drum & bass parties in Bristol and London gave me my first proper taste of club culture, and after university I started working at a film production company for a music video director. Moving to Berlin in 2006 catalysed my switch from film to music and since then I’ve been lucky to work at various indie labels (Kitty Yo, !K7 and BPitch) in a variety of guises before joining Beatport in 2014. Being part of the Label Management team is fantastic as I get to work with so many different accounts across a myriad of genres and with a whole host of diverse personalities.
What needs to happen to encourage more diversity in your field?
We’ve got a 50/50 split in the label management department which is great. The next logical step is to have more female representation at the executive level.
Current favourite tune on Beatport:
Name: Samantha Luber
Job title: Senior Software Engineer, LINK
What led you to your current job at Beatport?
Honestly, a lifetime of passion and dedicated work in music and technology. Starting from university, I worked as a promoter in Detroit while studying computer engineering. Thereafter, working as a software developer by day and a hobbyist modular synth maker/producer and avid techno supporter by night in Seattle, LA, and (most recently) Berlin. Much of my past work is centered around creative innovations in predominantly technical applications.
I joined Beatport Engineering last year to build media streaming and content management services for providing more accessible access to music for DJs at all skill levels: the perfect position for combining my experience and lifelong interest in the field.
What needs to happen to encourage more diversity in your field?
More mentorship, training, and support programs for minority groups already working in the music and technology industries. There exist many “learn to code” and “learn to DJ/produce” opportunities targeted at bringing newcomers into the field, but less for supporting working minority professionals looking to grow beyond entry-level positions in their respective field. Retention is also important!
Current favourite tune on Beatport:
Name: Lilia van Beukering
Job title: Jr. Artist Relations Manager
What led you to your current job at Beatport?
Part of my cultural management studies at ICART Paris was completing a few internships. After reaching out to what felt like a trillion music companies in Berlin, I joined JackmodeAgency as a booking assistant in 2016. About a year later I started at Modern Matters and got the chance to learn everything related to techno, experimental and avant-garde music PR. Finally in 2018 I joined the Artist Relations team here at Beatport. It’s so gratifying to collaborate and meet with such a varied range of artists, as well as to be able to work on so many different products, projects and events. Above all though, you can’t compete with the office’s atmosphere, shaped by the music passionate people involved.
What needs to happen so more women are working in the same field?
In my experience, this part of the industry and artist management seem to be well represented by women. What I’d like to see happen: have more women at executive levels. We should also join women and women-identifying music industry groups, reach out to our peers as much as we can, show support and trust, and recommend them as much as possible! Talking about diversity and inclusion at work is crucial and we should be opening up about this topic more.
I was given my opportunity to work at Beatport by another strong female leader, Christina Duran (shout out!), over eight years ago. Since then, my career path has taken a detour I would have never imagined — starting in operations but finding my way into technology and product development. What I’ve found really special about my journey is how naturally I’ve been welcomed into the technology side of our business, which is a credit to the culture that Beatport has fostered, as well as having mentors (both male and female) who have encouraged and supported that journey.
What needs to happen to encourage more diversity in your field?
I firmly believe that embracing diverse perspectives is critical to success, and welcoming women into a sector like technology and product development goes to the heart of that sentiment. I’d love to see more women given the mentorship and encouragement I’ve received to break down the stigma surrounding women in technology.
Current favourite tune on Beatport:
Name: Jordan K
Job Title: Manager, People & Culture
What led you to your current job at Beatport?
I joined Beatport a couple of years ago as the Office Manager in our Denver office, with the added goal of re-integrating Beatport in the local DJ scene. My recent transition into HR means I’ll continue to nurture our global organizational culture via projects like integrating our new Beatsource team in our recently-opened LA office, lead our recruiting, take over shesaid.so Denver’s chapter and bridge our internal culture with the global DJ community at large with music-focused initiatives and events programming.
What needs to happen to encourage more diversity in your field?
I come from an admin background, which is already heavily represented by women, so I want to change the perception that admin roles must act as support to leaders, and instead show that it’s time to be the leaders ourselves. Alongside more representative leadership, I want more mentorship opportunities for the next generation of industry workers, who currently feel out of the status quo, to create a paradigm shift in who runs the music industry.
Current favourite tune on Beatport:
Name: Roberta Annecchino
Job title: Customer Support Representative
What led you to your current job at Beatport?
I am the oldest employee in the Berlin office: everything started more than a decade ago when me and my dog were travelling through Europe playing a bunch of uncommon records and working for the French-Berliner vinyl label Trenton Records. Berlin just bewitched me and I decided to stay after I got the job in the Customer Support department in 2008. I am a natural born problem solver and I could teach your grandma how to DJ with Beatport LINK in a few minutes! What I love about my job is all the people I talk to every day and of course the music — it’s like a big worldwide family When I am not working at Beatport I am a full-time mom and amateur puppeteer!
What needs to happen to encourage more diversity in your field?
Customer support is about empowering others with the knowledge of the products and a lot of patience. I would like to see more IT women involved in the support department: they have the skills to solve a technical issue and be polite communicators with the customers.
UMEK picks a few killer selections from Beatport’s new [Peak Time/Driving/Hard] section.
Considering the amount of nagging from users who struggle to get through thousands of releases in today’s hyper-productive world, the never-ending debate on what is and isn’t techno and how tracks on Beatport are listed, I believe splitting one genre selection into two distinct sub-departments was the right decision. The separation will help people find music they are looking for faster while giving everybody the ability to dig for all genres and sub-genres freely. I believe both styles are still very much techno, but at the same time, I’ll hopefully save an hour or two every week searching for the music I need for my sets and know where most of the tracks I might like are hiding.
In a way, this also reflects the growth of the techno scene. When I started to DJ back in the early ’90s, you could hear everything from house to techno, breakbeat, drum & bass, and a bunch of other genres at the same party on one floor in one night. Fast-forward a couple of years, the scene has split, and mixing all styles in one room became very rare. Later, as the audience grew, the genre-based scenes have started to separate further, and in recent years it’s become quite normal that somebody who listens to a specific style of techno doesn’t listen to other shades of the genre at all. Beatport’s decision to divide its techno section into two well-defined categories — [Peak Time/Driving/Hard] and Techno [Raw/Deep/Hypnotic] — is merely catering to what’s happening at festivals and in clubs all over the world.
Another good outcome of the split is the fact that producers with a less mainstream sound will now have a better chance for their releases to get noticed, allowing for additional breakthroughs in various techno circles that would not have happened otherwise.
UMEK – Cybernetic Implant (Original Mix) [1605]
“Cybernetic Implant” is a melodic techno track of mine that I absolutely adore. To be honest, I love all my tunes, but from time to time, there is a track that I’m very proud of, and this is definitely one of those. I have high expectations for this track, and I hope it will touch many hearts.
Spektre – What Once Was Lost (Original Mix) [Kraftek]
This track is truly something else in the world of techno. It has a very interesting synth line, and I love the innovative use of the pluck sound with hammer beats.
Ramon Tapia – Last Step (Original Mix) [Say What?]
My “DJ Crystal Ball” predicted the success of this track long before its release, and it turned out I was right! So many people asked about this when I played the demo, that I just knew it would be big. Honestly, I’m not surprised, as this Moog-like arpeggiated synth line combined with pounding beats always moves people on the dancefloor.
This is such a powerful track with some colossal rave leads. I’ve been playing this one for a while now, and never disappoints — the crowds love it.
Teenage Mutants – Return (Original Mix) [1605]
What a melody this monster track has! It somewhat reminds me of the ’80s era but with a modern 2020 twist. The break will make you move for sure!
Dok & Martin – Feeling of Glory (T78 Remix) [Autektone Records]
This track has some great raw beats with stellar rave sounds. I’d describe it as big, bigger, and the biggest altogether.
Sven Sossong – Super Soaker (Original Mix) [Complexed Records]
In the era where arrangements and automatics are more crucial than ever, every detail counts, but for this track, saying “less is more” is more than accurate. It’s so simple, so minimal, yet so effective.
Julien Earle – Interstellar (Original Mix) [Reload Black Label]
I first heard of Julien when I listened to his deconstruction of my tune, and right there and then, I knew there was something about him. He’s a new and up-and-coming talent with exhilarating tracks. I’m currently playing a few of his tunes, and they all work really well. Such powerful stuff for a producer that’s this young and new to the scene!
Mark Michael – Solar System (Original Mix) [IAMT]
This track reminds me of a theme song in a very cool TV series that I enjoy watching. Can you guess which one? An effective track with a huge break and drop.
Quench – Dreams (UMEK Version) [1605]
I can definitely describe this track as “big room techno” for peak hour! It’s one of my favorite trance tunes off all time, and I’m very proud I was able to release it.
Mikey Lion, the head-honcho of the West Coast’s wildly popular dancefloor collective and community, Desert Hearts, revisits his hip-hop roots with a handful of tracks that blend the genre with his rowdy electronic music methods.
Hip-hop was always my first love of music and is ultimately what got me into DJing. When I was 13 years old, I saved up all my birthday money and bought a pair of Technic 1200s and a mixer and used to scratch over hip hop instrumentals for hours every day after school. Eventually, my taste turned towards house music, but I’ve always preferred my house to have that tough hip-hop attitude. I like it hard, I like it mean, and I love house tracks with elements of hip-hop over there. It’s hard to do a house track that incorporates hip-hop elements on it without being cheesy, so when it’s done right, I have so much appreciation for it, and it’s one of my favorite styles of music. When Beatportal asked me to do a chart, I knew I wanted to do something that represented my roots and the house that I fuck with. So I hope you enjoy these 10 house tracks with a hip-hop attitude.
Mikey Lion – I Feel High (Original Mix) [Desert Hearts Records]
This is the A-Side of my new EP coming out on my Desert Hearts Records imprint. It’s actually a chopped up hip-hop sample that makes up the words “I Feel High.” I wanted to make something nasty, tough, and dripping with attitude. This was the result.
Marcos Strous – Tip Toe [Safe Music]
This was one of my favorite tracks of 2019. As I said, it’s pretty hard to have full hip-hop verses over a house track without it sounding cheese —but this song isn’t having any of that. It’s an absolute stomper with hip-hop drums, lyrics, and attitude for days.
Mikey Lion – That’s Hot (Original Mix) [Desert Hearts Records]
This is the B-Side of my new EP on Desert Hearts. It’s not particularly hip-hop, but I think it’s mean as fuck and that constitutes attitude in my book. It’s chugging, it’s synthy, and it’s been killing for me on the dancefloor.
Vlad Malinovskiy – U Make Me Curly (Original Mix) [Flumo Recordings]
Oh man, this tune right here is a classic to me. It’s a buttery smooth house track with hip-hop lyrics over it and it always reminds me of hanging out with my friends back in the day listening to old school rap and vibing out.
When we approached this remix, Rybo and I had never put hip-hop lyrics over a house track before, so we knew we had to do it right. We only wanted to feature the lyrics a few times and let the groove do the rest of the talking, but we were able to splice in some of the grunts and other elements from the lyrics to give it the character we wanted.
Danny Serrano – Money (Original Mix) [Moon Harbour Recordings]
Another track that’s as mean as they come. It’s not particularly hip-hop but the content of the lyrics always remind me of the gangster hip-hop mentality. 10/10 house track with attitude.
This was one of the first tracks I ever made. Gang Starr has always been one of my favorite hip-hop groups of all time. Guru is without a doubt one of the best rappers of all time and DJ Premier is probably my favorite hip-hop producer ever. At the time, I knew I wasn’t going to make anything worthy of Guru’s lyrics, so instead I paid tribute to them by grabbing a vocal sample of Guru talking and chopped it into house track. It’s still one of my favorite productions ever.
Named after one of the most iconic Jay-Z songs ever and riddled with classic hip-hop samples, this tune on Desolat was one of my favorites when it came out in 2016.
Robosonic – Busted (Original Mix) [DFTD]
This is another classic to me that I actually managed to pull off the west coast G-Funk whistle on a house track. It even gets close to being cheesy but has enough gangster attitude to keep it cool. The build is great and when it finally drops it’s a crowd pleaser every time.
Lui Maldonado – Wood (Original Mix) [Playmobil]
I honestly forgot about this song until I started searching for tracks that fit with this chart. In my opinion, this song is the definition of tough. This is what I’m talking about when a track has attitude. On the notes for this song, I actually wrote: “hard, tough, gangsta shit.” Which, oddly enough, is what I end up writing for half the tracks I play.
