Tag: max martin

Equalizer Project, Now in Its Fourth Year, Makes Strides in Increasing Female Representation in Music

October 27, 2020

In 2017, Spotify launched the Equalizer Project to highlight the underrepresentation of female and non-binary creators in the Nordic music industry—and provide them with the knowledge and inspiration they need to level the playing field. Since then, Equalizer has supported numerous Nordic creators, including Sarah Dawn Finer, Petra Marklund, Sabina Ddumba, Silvana Imam, and Janice, through networking meetings, producer camps, and more.

Initiatives like Equalizer are still much needed: Behind the 50 most played songs on Spotify in Sweden in 2019, only 4.1% of the producers were women. Among the songwriters, only 20% were women. This shows a marked increase from 2018, when only 0.8% of producers and 10% of songwriters were women, and from 2017, when none of the producers were women—but there remains significant ground to be gained.

“It feels more important than ever to continue working with Equalizer when the year has brought such extensive challenges for the entire music industry, says Jenny Hermanson, Nordic MD, Spotify. “Although the statistics show a small step in the right direction, with more women represented as songwriters and producers behind the most-played songs, gender equality is an issue that must constantly be addressed.”

This year, we’ve continued Equalizer by creating a totally virtual program that will continue to give music creators knowledge and inspiration. From new videos that teach music production to a digital inspiration conversation with British hitmaker Charli XCX, here’s what participants have to look forward to:

Equalizer Project landing page

To make all things Equalizer accessible in one place, we’ve created a new landing page, spotify.com/equalizer. Head there for information about the project, including the networking sessions, producer camps, dinners, and Way Out West Festival Talks we’ve put on so far, and how Nordic creators can apply for Equalizer’s upcoming events.

Equalizer Producer Camp Seeks to Level The Playing Field

September 14, 2018

Female artists have a strong hold on Spotify’s playlists, but their presence behind the scenes is lacking. In fact, Spotify’s 50 most-played songs of 2017 featured no female producers–that’s right, zero–and nearly 90 percent of songwriters were men. According to statistics from the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the number of female songwriters increased by less than 1 percent (to 12.3 percent) from 2012 to 2017, and the number of female producers remained at just 2 percent during the same five-year period. When looking across 300 popular songs, the ratio of male to female producers is a staggering 49-to-1.

We know these stats are not okay. That’s why we founded the Equalizer Project in the spring of 2017, which is an ongoing initiative connecting songwriters and producers with industry professionals (including Katy Perry, Max Martin, First Aid Kit, Icona Pop, and more). Tomorrow, our commitment continues with the start of Equalizer Camp, the project’s first course in music production. The camp is aimed at giving women, transgender, and non-binary artists and songwriters a chance to develop their skills and learn more about production during three weekends at Spotify’s headquarters in Stockholm. The course will mix theory with practical, hands-on learning inside world-class facilities at Spotify and Northbound Studios.

“We’ve invited 10 artists from different backgrounds and music genres with the purpose of providing tools for greater influence in the studio,” says Jenny Hermanson, Nordic Managing Director of Spotify. “A producer has a lot of power in the creative process and it’s important we see more diversity in this role. We want to give the participants valuable knowledge, inspiration and fun weekends at Spotify. It’s going to be so exciting to follow their journey.”

On the first day of the course, Swedish producer duo Jenny and Cecilia Vaz will offer instruction, and American producer Trakgirl (whose previous work includes collaborations with Jhene Aiko and Timbaland) will visit the camp. Throughout the program, Equalizer podcast host Linnea Henriksson will participate with an impressive array of fellow artists: Janice Kavander, Fatima Jelassi, Iman Conta Hultén, Maria Andersson, Naomi Pilgrim, Isaac Toll Wood, Naomi Namasenda, Svea Kågemark and Beri Gerwise.

“I’ve always been very involved in all parts of what happens in the studio, from writing my music to producing, but I’ve felt an urge to become even more technical and self-reliable,” Linnea Henriksson says about the camp. “What I look forward to the most is to meet new colleagues to bounce ideas with, everyone with different music in them. It feels incredibly inspiring and fun to get started!”

But that’s not all we’re up to. The Equalizer podcast, hosted by Linnea and Evyn Redar, will premiere its third season September 24. Like its accompanying program, the Equalizer podcast works to amplify the voices of women in music. This season, Linnea and Evyn will chat about the industry with such accomplished guests as Miriam Bryant, Cleo, Alessia Cara, and more.

Looks like the Equalizer Project is shaping up for a busy fall season–and that’s a big step forward for underrepresented people in music in Sweden.

Cover photo from Equalizer Networking Event held June 9, 2018 in Stockholm. L-R: Janice, GRANT, KIDDO and Becky and the Birds.

Equalizer Project Networking Dinner – Get to Know the Rising Female Stars of Swedish Music

June 15, 2018

On her “Witness” World Tour stop in Stockholm this weekend, pop megastar Katy Perry did more than perform. Before entertaining the thousands of fans in her audience, Spotify invited her to sit down with the next generation of Swedish female music professionals to network, provide advice, and encourage them to follow their dreams.

Katy was invited to be a part of the third Equalizer Project networking event and dinner, during which five up-and-coming female creators (artists, songwriters and producers) met with industry professionals including Katy, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, and Swedish songwriter and record producer Max Martin—one of the most awarded producers globally—to share their experience and learn from each other.

The Equalizer Project was initiated last year in our Stockholm office. The project, which currently includes a podcast and networking events, comes out of a desire to fuel discussions about equality and breaking norms in the music industry, and music studios in particular. The goal of these discussions is to drive change and increase the prevalence of women in the music industry.

Other guests included Spotify’s Nordic Managing Director Jenny Hermanson, as well as some of the world’s most prominent producers and songwriters – Shellback, Noonie Bao and Tove Styrke. The group welcomed five rising Swedish talents to the dinner on Saturday.

The five rising stars included names such as Janice Kavander, whose debut album “Fallin Up” was released in the beginning of 2018. Another attendee, Caroline Cederlöf aka GRANT made her 2018 debut with three critically acclaimed singles. Triple threat producers, songwriters and artists Thea Gustafsson aka Becky and the Birds, Bishat Araya joined the crew along with Emma Bertilsson aka KIDDO, who has co-written for Icona Pop, Soleima, Alan Walker, and SHY Martin.