Sound City presented a special schedule of programming on its Guesthouse streaming platform and Facebook page on International Women’s Day and for the week following, promoting the push for gender equality across the music business.

Liverpool Sound City is the lead UK festival for Keychange – the global network and movement, supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, working towards restructuring the music industry to establish full gender equality.

To that end, Sound City has established gender balance across its festival and conference line-ups as well as its training programmes. It is also proud to have a gender balanced staff and Board.

On International Women’s Day this year, Sound City hosted a special Keychange showcase on its Guesthouse platform, featuring sets from The Rodeo, Miss Tati, Kety Fusco and Joanna Duda.

A dedicated Keychange conference was also co-hosted on the Sound City Facebook page, with panels including: ‘Addressing The Gender Gap In Music Radio’, ‘Music & Gender Initiatives’, a Q&A on Creative Europe Support, and a keynote interview with Keychange Ambassador Kate Nash.

Speakers throughout the day included: Alexander Schulz (CEO Reeperbahn Festival & Keychange Co-Founder); Merle Bremer (Project Lead Keychange); Jean Philip De Tender (Director Media EBU); Peaches (Artist/Keychange Ambassador); Francis Gay (Head of Music WDR Cosmo); Irene Suchy (MusicaFeminina); Laureen Kornemann (MEWEM EUROPA); Marie Fol (Keychange); Tia Korpe (Future Female Sounds) and more.
During the rest of the week following International Women’s Day, some of the great women-led performances from Sound City over the years were presented on the Guesthouse platform, including sets from Shishi, Sans Soucis, Kelli-Leigh and Cara Rose.

There was also a replay of the In Conversation between Julie Weir (Sony Music UK/Music For Nations) and Dr Jennifer Otter Bickerdike from last year’s virtual Sound City+ conference; a look back at Tracy Thorn’s keynote speech from Sound City 2013; and Shesaid.so Northern Chapter’s Nina Kehagia explored the incredible contribution of women/non-binary folks to sound, technology, and music – from Pauline Oliveros, Delia Derbyshire, Wendy Carlos, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sylvia Robinson, to SOPHIE, Arca, and Charlie XCX.

Sound City MD Rebecca Ayres said: “International Women’s Day is an important day in the calendar in terms of both lifting women into the spotlight and promoting awareness around the gender inequality that still exists in the music industry. But the fight for greater equality needs to be constant and, indeed, for Sound City, the commitments we have made as the lead UK Keychange festival are year-round commitments, with gender equality being a key aspect of our festivals, conferences and training. We look forward to celebrating women in music on International Women’s Day and beyond.”