Home 9 About

This page is the result of years of conversations with people in many different parts of the live music ecosystem, asking the question “why is it so hard to get people to book lineups that aren’t all-male or all-white?”

During the forced industry pause of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, those conversations snowballed. People wanted to see change happen, but many had never thought about how. We hadn’t had time to, and a lot of us simply didn’t know where to start.

This resource hub started as a way to address lineup disparity specifically, and it grew from there.

What we see on the stage is just the tip of the iceberg; the issue runs deeper, spanning crewing, production, recorded music, radio, music criticism, the label system, organisational governance, and beyond.

But this, at least, is a starting point. It will remain a living collection to be continually added to and revised. If you have suggestions, feedback, or want to kōrero (talk) about this work, you can contact us here.

Who is ‘we’?

My name is Sarin. I’ve been working in live music for most of my adult life. I built this website out of sheer frustration at the pernicious and global inequity across all parts of the music industry, the inaction that accompanied all the handwringing about it, and the utter lack of resources and information available to people who wanted to contribute to a solution. When I’m sitting in a production office in my 70s talking to people just starting out their careers, I want these stories of inequity to be just that: stories from the past, not continuing narratives of our present.

I hope this inspires others to take up conversations and address exclusion and inequity in their corner of the industry.

It’s all of our responsibility.