More than two hundred female composers have gathered to raise awareness about gender disparity among songwriters in a drive backed by Naughty Boy and Lily Allen.
The #GETHEARD campaign brought together Grammy-nominated songwriter Carla Marie Williams – who has penned songs for Beyonce and Kylie Minogue – and aspiring women composers in central London’s Kings Place.
The event saw the budding musicians play their material for Mobo-award-winning Naughty Boy and inspire more women to enter the songwriting business.
.@CarlaMarieUK & @NaughtyBoyMusic take their seats and intro the day. It’s demo time #GETHEARD @GirlsIRate pic.twitter.com/0pM7IBhs5X
— PRS for Music (@PRSforMusic) June 30, 2018
It comes as figures from event collaborator PRS for Music – an organisation representing 130,000 songwriters – showed less than a quarter (22%) of its members joining last year were female.
Lily Allen, who penned her latest album No Shame, said: “Having spent 13 years working in this fast moving and ever-changing industry, I am only just beginning to understand the intricacies of how things work myself.
“I’m sick and tired of seeing artists, particularly young females being taken advantage of. It’s time for things to change, I want to be a part of that.”
Williams said: “I love hearing new talent. My mission is to use my leverage to get girls heard in the music industry and to help increase female representation on mainstream playlists. I will continue as long as it remains a problem!”
Naughty Boy, panellist and ambassador for the campaign, said the industry “needs to change”.
“Women make important contributions to music and that should be recognised more. Women have just as much to say as men.”