International Women’s Day: Music Industry Celebrations From Spotify, Apple Music & More
A rundown of music industry initiatives, special programming and more in observance of International Women's Day and Women's History Month.
In honor of International Women’s Day on Tuesday (March 8) and Women’s History Month in March, several music companies have announced initiatives to uplift, support and spotlight women in the music industry. The range of initiatives includes new tools designed to help musicians link up with female and non-binary recording industry professionals; special programming; women-oriented playlists; tastemaker series and more.
You can find a brief rundown of initiatives below.
Amazon Music
Amazon Music is celebrating Women’s History Month throughout March with a lineup of content highlighting women who are breaking down barriers in music. Highlights include new Amazon Original Music, including a brand-new bilingual cover of Kali Uchis’ “telepatía” by Remi Wolf and Laya’s cover of Missy Elliott’s “Sock It 2 Me” and a new personalized station, R&B Rotation Radio in DJ Mode, hosted by creator Gia Peppers.
In partnership with Femme It Forward, Amazon Music will also host an exclusive livestream concert titled “Big Femme Energy Live,” taking place live from L.A. on March 24 with Ambré, Baby Rose, SAYGRACE and Mapy (headliner to be announced). A behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of the concert will be released on March 29.
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On the Latin music front, Amazon Music LAT!N will highlight female artists including Colombia singer Mabiland, who will be featured in an exclusive editorial video; Mexican singers Melissa Robles (from the pop band Matisse) and Salma, who share their thoughts on the “female footprint” in the Mexican music industry in an interview; and Brazilian singers and songwriters Marina Lima, Vanessa da Mata, Sandra de Sá, Fernanda Abreu, Anastácia, Joyce Moreno, Fernanda Takai and Monique Kessous, who will be featured in a short film premiering on Amazon Music on March 22. All of these artists will participate in a roundtable livestream on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, which will be released on March 22.
Apple Music
Starting on International Women’s Day on Tuesday (March 8), the streaming platform will feature exclusive interviews with Maria Becerra, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Tiera Kennedy, Tate McRae, DJ Minx, chloe moriondo, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Caitlyn Smith, Brittney Spencer, TINI, Alison Wonderland and more “as they speak to lessons learned, advice they’d pass along and how they’ve fostered a sisterhood within the industry.”
Apple Music will also be showcasing artists “paving their own paths” in countries and regions across the world — including Africa, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the U.K. — through a series of “global features.” Artists to be spotlighted include Wolf Alice, bebadoobee, Camp Cope, Dami Im, Elisapie, DBN Gogo, Franzi Harmsen, iskwē, Jaguar Jonze, Lil Kim, Sho Madjozi, Thandi Ntuli, Kenia Os, Arlo Parks, VICKY R, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tems, Waa Wei, Lee Young Ji and more.
Throughout the month, International Women’s Day campaign moments on the platform will include featured albums, radio specials and music videos across Apple Music radio and Apple Music TV “that lean into the inspired communities featured across the platform.” On March 8, a full 24 hours of original programming will run on Apple Music 1, Hits and Country, with special episodes featuring Dolly Parton, Maren Morris, Michaela Jae Rodriguez and more.
Deezer
Deezer is on a mission to give more visibility to female artists through several initiatives. Throughout March, Deezer will highlight in its homepage a series of playlists and channels dedicated to women. Deezer is also putting women at the forefront by providing a megaphone icon for “100% Women” on the Flow Moods wheel.
When users click the icon they will access a non-stop stream of music by women tailored to their taste. The streamer will also launch “Women Voices,” an exclusive channel with Original Sessions and curated playlists in support of female content creators.
Jaxsta/We Are Moving the Needle
Nonprofit We Are Moving the Needle and music credits database Jaxsta have teamed up to launch Fix the Mix, an initiative that seeks to streamline the process of finding and connecting with recording industry professionals who identify as she/her and they/them. Jaxsta’s database will feature gender identifiers through which the industry will be able to search and connect with engineers, producers, mixers and songwriters who are women or non-binary.
Fix The Mix hopes to provide a database for musicians to find professionals who identify as she/her and they/them. Women in Music, SoundGirls, shesaid.so, Change the Conversation, Gender Amplified and Femme House have also signed on to work with the organization.
Meta Quest
A series of experiences are available for Women’s History Month in Oculus TV and Horizon Venues for anyone using their Meta Quest 2 VR headsets, including Saweetie interviewing Chloe Bailey for her Icy University series, highlights from Charli XCX’s Venues performance, and Billie Eilish’s headlining set at Governors Ball.
Also coming up on Venues: On Wednesday (March 16), Molly Burch will perform songs inspired by Everly Brothers and Sam Cooke, while on March 23, Lera Lynn performs live from the Station Inn in Nashville.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud will feature exclusive curated content and homepage playlists spotlighting a range of artists in line with SoundCloud’s theme of the month, “Breaking the Bias: Elevating and Celebrating Women in Music.” The platform has also begun releasing a Women’s History Month edition of SELECTED BY, a series of exclusive artist-curated playlists from female artists including Charli XCX, Lilianna Wilde, DAISY WORLD, mxmtoon and Ilham. Many of the playlists include audio commentary about the artists’ passions and inspirations.
Additionally, Lilianna Wilde, DAISY WORLD, mxmtoon and Ilham will take part in a tastemaker series that will live across SoundCloud’s social channels and feature interview audio clips, animations and quotes about their experiences in the music industry. Users can follow along on Instagram and Twitter for the full series, which kicks off on Tuesday (March 8) with Wilde.
Lastly, SoundCloud listeners can visit the “Women’s History Month: Providing Healing, Promoting Hope” section on the platform to find new and popular playlists showcasing women musicians from different genres. Playlists featured in the section include GIRL CODE: Best Female Rappers Now, EQUALIZERS: Female Electronic Producers, DAMAS: Women of Urbano and FIERCE: Female EDM Stars.
Spotify
The streaming giant has created a series of Spotify Singles for its EQUAL women’s equity program in honor of International Women’s Day as a means of spotlighting emerging artists from around the world, including Ethel Cain (U.S.), Sunmi (Korea) and Bruses (Mexico).
The singles released under the initiative include Cain’s cover of Britney Spears’ “Everytime,” Bruses’ cover of The Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” and Sunmi’s original song “Oh Sorry Ya.” All three songs were recorded, produced and engineered solely by teams of women.
Other International Women’s Day initiatives by Spotify include the “With Love” podcast playlist, which will feature personal recordings from 25 women from different backgrounds sharing love letters to their past selves “during a pivotal moment in time, or to someone who changed their life in a moment”; the EQUAL Non-Profit Playlist Shelf, featuring bespoke and curated playlists created by five global non-profits focused on gender equity; and a brand refresh for Spotify’s EQUAL hub, which will also become available in new markets including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
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