B:Music (TDN 2024)

B:Music has a mission to inspire a love of music through performance, participation and learning. Named the Most Inspirational Music Charity in the West Midlands 2023, we believe that music is essential to all and has the power to transform lives, to entertain and uplift, to create shared experiences and to educate. Our iconic venues, Town Hall and Symphony Hall are places where communities come together. Our talent development work provides a pathway for young people to progress their education and careers as musicians and our community projects support local people who experience barriers to engaging with live music performances.

It is generally acknowledged that women face significant and specific obstacles to finding success in the music industry. This was recently confirmed in the House of Commons, Women and Equalities Committee report “Misogyny in Music”, which stated that women in the music industry face limited opportunities and support, discrimination, sexual harassment and unequal pay. Despite increases in representation, these issues are endemic and are intensified for women faced with intersectional barriers, particularly racial discrimination. Women in Music will provide performance platforms and skills development opportunities for emerging female artists and women aspiring to work in the music industry, particularly in the fields of Heavy Rock, Jazz and Sound Engineering, where the under representation is most acute. This initiative will address the challenges facing emerging artists and industry professionals, while providing wrap around support. Participants will be invited to collaborate with other female Birmingham musicians to compose and produce new material, while benefiting from B:Music’s performance platforms. We will then support the recording of the new material and assist with its promotion. Participating artists will then be signposted and supported to engage with appropriate record labels and artist management to establish themselves as viable artists and to develop their careers further.