For some, attending a show means belting out your favorite lyrics alongside other screaming fans. For others, it’s grooving to the beat of a funky melody. And for others still, it’s about closing your eyes and letting the music wash over you. Everyone deserves to feel safe when they go to a concert or festival.
Unfortunately, for some music fans, the simple act of going to see live music can mean having to deal with some form of sexual harassment and violence. Out of 500 music fans surveyed by the anti-harassment organization Our Music My Body, 92% of female fans reported having experienced harassment at music venues or festivals.
We believe that music is for everyone, and the spaces where music is performed are for everyone, too. To ensure safety and enjoyment for all, music fans of every artist and genre, and concertgoers everywhere, must band together. And to help spread the word, Spotify is partnering with Calling All Crows’ Here for the Music campaign to raise awareness and provide resources to combat sexual violence at gigs. Since 2021, we have been working with Calling All Crows to scale their important work, through funding a partnership with the National Independent Venue Association to train their members in key cities and giving the organization a grant to greatly increase their capacity.
“Two major misconceptions about sexual harassment in live music are: One, it’s inevitable, and two, it’s an isolated issue. Instead, when we recognize violence as a community issue, we can work together to prevent it,” says Maggie Arthur, Director of Here for the Music, Calling All Crows. “Calling All Crows is partnering with Spotify so our Here for the Music campaign can reach new and wider audiences across the entire industry, all music genres, and on a global scale in order to end harassment in live music spaces.”
This global program educates and supports fans in doing their part to recognize and prevent harassment at shows they attend and empowers artists and audiences to speak out on the topic. It is designed to give fans real tools to help prevent sexual violence at shows, and it helps those who are impacted access resources for healing.
“Live events are powerful opportunities for fan communities to let go and become safely immersed in an artist’s world,” says René Volker, Senior Director, Live Events at Spotify. “But we know that isn’t always the case, and that issues like sexual harassment persist at concerts. Spotify is committed to cultivating environments that bring artists, audiences, and communities closer together, which means partnering with pioneering organizations like Calling All Crows that are doing incredible work to raise awareness and combat harassment and sexual violence at shows. We’re thrilled for Spotify to be launching a campaign that’s putting these principles into practice.”
There’s always more work to do to combat harassment. So, in addition to partnering with leading nonprofits like Calling All Crows, we’re launching multiple avenues to help fans get informed, enable artists to use their power to drive change, and educate our own team on this issue.
- Expert partnerships: We’re working closely with partners in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Spain, Australia, and Argentina to drive action and build custom resource hubs with culturally relevant materials. (Find the U.S. hub here.)
- Consumer marketing: We’re changing the narrative around what’s acceptable at shows through on-platform marketing, social, and marketing displays near iconic music venues in New York City, Los Angeles, and Toronto.
- Artist trainings: We’re offering artist partners the chance to join the movement through trainings, policy consultations, and fan-facing assets, in partnership with Calling All Crows.
- Engagement at live events: We’re bringing our key expert partners in to work closely with the live events team at Spotify to provide trainings on sexual violence and explore ways to improve our policies. We’re also getting the word out on this important topic at Spotify events, as well as partner events in markets from the U.S. and Japan to Australia.
For more information on how to take action against harassment at live events, visit our new resource hub, Spotify.com/Real Fans.
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