Electronic music organisations Pioneer DJ, Beatport, Sentric Music Group, AFEM, Mixmag, RA, IMS, and Women in CTRL partner with ground-breaking platform, InChorus, to launch the Electronic Music Inclusion Initiative (EMII, pron. Emmy) to take a data-led approach to creating more inclusive environments across the industry.
The first phase of EMII’s work will be focused on research into harassment & discrimination across the sector. From today, anyone working in the Electronic Music industry will be able to access InChorus’ survey at electronicmusic.inchorus.org in order to anonymously speak up about microaggressions and other forms of harassment.
The survey will be available for four weeks, and will offer key insights into the behavioural trends affecting the industry. This first step for the Electronic Music Inclusion Initiative is designed to provide new insights on harassment, bias and discrimination issues within our culture and inform the next steps we can collectively take as an industry to address them. commented AFEM General Manager, Greg Marshall.
The electronic music industry has been determined to act following numerous claims of sexual harassment, discrimination, and toxic cultures. As such the initiative is driven by feedback from across the industry - creatives, music professionals, and the infrastructure around the music industry - who have cited instances where inequality exists. All EMII partners stand in solidarity with a shared goal: to strive for real, pro-active change and greater inclusion.
As the lead partner, Pioneer DJ’s General Manager, Mark Grotefeld commented, Diversity and inclusion are key priorities for Pioneer DJ. We are proud to support the Electronic Music Inclusion Initiative in order to push for systemic change across the industry. We hope this will continue the progress and empower individuals to share their experiences of bias and harassment and encourage the industry to adopt robust listening tools that enable targeted action and progress.
Once the research is collated, EMII will release the findings back to the wider industry. The initiative has a clear mandate to avoid data for data's sake. Instead, EMII will use the insights to highlight high-impact steps that organisations can take and to offer targeted resources & support to individuals across the sector in order to promote inclusion within the ecosystem.
We all have a duty to prevent harassment of all kinds and cultivate a speak up culture across the EDM sector that enables change. Ultimately, cultures are shaped by the inappropriate behaviours that are tolerated every day. We are serious about culture change and believe that bringing actionable data to this conversation is key, as what is measured can be improved, commented Rosie Turner Co-Founder of InChorus.
To participate and speak up about your experiences, or for more information, please visit electronicmusic.inchorus.org.
Quote from AFEM
AFEM General Manager, Greg Marshall commented: “This first step for the Electronic Music Inclusion Initiative is designed to provide new insights on harassment, bias and discrimination issues within our culture and inform the next steps we can collectively take as an industry to address them. AFEM encourages anyone who has experienced harassment, bias or discrimination of any kind while working in the electronic music industry to take a moment to log details through the anonymous reporting tool provided.”
Quote from Women in CTRL Founder Nadia Khan: “The electronic music industry has a sexual harassment and discrimination problem. Microaggressions and more ambiguous forms of sexism are more common than outright harassment, having an anonymous space to speak out is important as many times we see incidents go unreported in fear or being shut out, losing work and opportunities.
There’s not one monotonous form of discrimination so an intersectional approach is key to addressing the bias that exists. Queer women of colour not only experience sexism, but racism and homophobia. Women in CTRL encourage all across the EDM industry to come forward, speak out and share their experiences so we can have tangible data to identify key issues and work on solutions to make the industry a safer and more inclusive place.”
About InChorus
www.inchorus.org provides analytics & data-led interventions to build more inclusive workplaces. InChorus’ software allows employees to anonymously log incidents of harassment. This data is then aggregated into key insights and can be used to create customised training offerings and solutions. In this way, InChorus enables companies to manage the best diversity and inclusion initiatives and focus on prevention- steering their culture away from more severe incidents.