#INTERNATIONALWOMENSDAY2018 we out here, and SMIRNOFF are still out there straight repping at the forefront of equalising music. The 3 year global SMIRNOFF Equalising Music initiative was launched in 2017 with the view to escalate gender parity in the music industry in that 3 year window. It's now 2018, and the second year brings in new partnerships with media giant Global and their events – Snowbombing, Lost Village and Printworks. As part of the journey to removing the gender imbalance in the music industry, there's DJ mentorships up for grabs with The Black Madonna, Honey Dijon, Peggy Gou, Artwork and Nastia, as well as Spotify, Live Nation and Deltic jumping on board to support the movement.
With heavy influence on media and entertainment, SMIRNOFF's partnership with Global has allowed the curation of female focused events and line up. As well as the one day 'Smirnoff Equalising Music Presents' event at hallowed Printworks in London, with a whopping 75% female/female-identifying line up, there will also be dedicated Equalising Music stages at Snowbombing festival and Lost Village festival. They're also backing an eight month advertising campaign across Radio Stations including Capital and Dax. With a little help from Global, SMIRNOFF are offering a once in a lifetime opportunity to the UK's female/identifying talent in the form of mentorship from an electronic icon. Hundreds have applied for the chance to be mentored by The Black Madonna, Artwork, Honey Dijon, Peggy Gou or Nastia, with a performance in sight at the end of the programme at one of the Equalising events.
Amongst the other collaborations with brands (and arguably the coolest), Spotify have jumped on board with SMIRNOFF after shocking data revealed that NONE of the top 10 most-streamed tracks in 2017 were performed by female artists or bands. Essentially an online app, the Smirnoff Equaliser allows consumers to see their male to female ratio in listening habits (I'm ashamed to say I sat at 70%). The Equaliser connects to your personal Spotify and generates a balanced playlist, which you can check out here. One of the artists featured in the Smirnoff Equalizer is Honey Dijon, an African-American transgender woman, all round superhero and a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ and women's rights. If you didn't already know about Honey Dijon, she's also held in the highest regard for her musical background and heritage which puts her in the perfect seat to appear in the platform to share experiences with gender bias in the industry.
If the mentorship programmes and Spotify collabs were not enough, SMIRNOFF and Deltic (the UK's biggest late night bar and club operator) are working together to triple female line ups at Deltic venues. Live Nation are also getting in on the action, with a Smirnoff Spotlight initiative featuring up and coming DJs at Live Nation events with the view of increasing equal gender representation.
