The MEWEM Europe project aims to promote FLINTA*’s access to leadership and entrepreneurship positions in the music industry, as well as their development of management skills. Building on the experiences of music organizations from six European countries, a mentoring-based training program adapted to the music sector was created, from which other European organizations can now benefit.

Mentoring was identified as an effective way to reduce the gender inequities that continue to exist in the music industry. A survey of the impact of the program on participants’ careers during the project discovered that 71% of mentees felt that their mentor had helped them to expand their network, while for 86% this helped to improve their professional situation. Other surveys of music entrepreneurs consistently come to the conclusion that mentoring programs are seen as effective for empowering women. Direct findings from research also prove: Mentoring is a powerful lever for empowerment, especially for young women. Mentoring programs make them visible and help them sharpen their own image as leaders. Perceived barriers are broken down and access to previously male-dominated networks is created.

Within the framework of MEWEM Europe, mentoring programs for FLINTA in the music industry have taken place over the past two years in the six participating countries, and the platform has now been developed from their experiences. Within the framework of a mentoring program lasting several months, experienced industry experts from all areas of the music industry (including label, publishing, distribution, booking, promotion, self-marketing artists, etc.) are brought together with young professionals in order to provide them with sustainable support for their professional and personal development.

Upcoming events of the project in Europe incl. presentation of the platform:

MMB – Mastering Music Business, Bucharest Romania Conference “Mentorship for Women in Music Business” – Saturday 07.09, 11am.
More info

Waves Festival Conference in Vienna, Austria
More infos

Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany
Reception & Hub presentation – Friday 22.09, 2pm @ VUT Indie House (Sanktpaulibar)

MEWEM Europe official closure event, Brussel Belgium
“Results and highlights of the European cooperation project MEWEM Europa” : A registration event, open to all – Monday 26.09, 5pm, @WBI, Place Sainctelette 2, 1080 Bruxelles, Belgique

MEWEM Europe (Mentoring Programme for Women Entrepreneurs in the Music Industry) is implemented with the support of the Creative Europe Program of the European Union. Cooperating organizations are National Federation of Independent Labels – FÉLIN (France), Verband unabhängiger Musikunternehmer*innen – VUT (Germany), Wallonie-Bruxelles Musiques – WBM (Belgium), Asociatia Romanian Artists Worldwide – RAW Music (Romania), Mujeres de la Industria de la Música – MIM (Spain), Music Information Center Austria – MICA (Austria) and Le LABA (France).

Jules’ journey starts with an experience at Reeperbahn festival that turned her perspective on music from a personal safe space to an actual workplace: “When I was like 18, I went to Reeperbahn festival. It was my first music festival and I realized that there are actual jobs behind it. I started to understand how the music industry works, went to workshops and was really interested in it. At the end, I knew I wanted to be in the music industry.” During her studies in communication and literature, she started to work at a PR agency in Berlin, went to London for a job at a distribution company, worked for music streaming services like Deezer and also ended up at Universal Music. “I did lots of different things in the music industry and realized I kind of liked everything, but not enough for me to pursue it 9/5 after my studies”, she explains. Artist management then suddenly felt different: She loves the combination of booking, PR, label work and much more, which led her to this exact path and, as a consequence of this, to her own company.

The management company OK CIAO Jules is running together with a former colleague from Universal Music: “We would always make jokes about starting our management, starting to work with newcomer artists and doing projects we found interesting. Then we found our first artist and it was like a perfect match, so we started to work with her together. That’s when we realized it is lots of fun – and after a few drinks we said ‘Ah, we should do this!’. So we just tried it.” Jules describes it as a big step out of her comfort zone. The MEWEM program was a big helping hand in this case, as she states herself: “I got so much encouragement from all the women, not just my mentor but like the whole group. My mentor really helped me with some big things in my career I kind of struggled with and she really gave me a lot of trust in my skills.” Last year, Jules was at a big turning point in her life, as she has finished her bachelor’s degree in Berlin and moved to Mannheim for a master’s in music and creative industries. “Everything was changing in my life and I felt super unsure if I made the right decisions. MEWEM really gave me so much confidence in myself and what I am doing.”

Her diagnosis with ADHD in April this year has explained struggles regarding self-confidence and work-life-balance a little bit. By working as a freelancer and studying at the same time, it often is difficult for her to take some time off and step back when things get heavy, especially in the music industry, which Jules describes as “really exhausting”. Still, she keeps pursuing her goals and wants to fight the condition: “My goal is to be nicer to myself, to treat myself better, to take the breaks I deserve and to talk to myself the way I deserve it. I feel like MEWEM has made a huge difference already, I now feel capable of what I am doing and I don’t feel like I have to hide behind my colleague because he is a man and he is 10 years older.” At the moment, Jules is looking back at an intense time with lots of hard work, since her artist ANAÏS has released her debut EP a few weeks ago: “Now I am really excited to take a break and look back on how much we have achieved.”

Katharina Reiffenstuhl

Music has always been a big part of Judyth’s life: She used to be a DJ, worked as a production administrator at a jazz club and then accompanied the Edmond Bilal Band on a tour and organized their gigs. Seemed like reason enough to quit her job – she started to manage the band and very soon lots of other bands from the same group of friends.

Right after this tour with the Edmond Bilal Band, she wanted to start her own business to support emerging artists. The focus on jazz, which she was used to, she still wanted to keep when founding the company MANAG’ART: At the beginning, jazz was the only genre represented in her management structure. Today, some of her artists also belong to genres like HipHop or Soul, for example. The biggest part of bands in her management still can be categorized into jazz music because it is where she has the most expertise: “I stayed in the same field because it is so specific that it would be difficult to try a different kind of music in the beginning”.

In 2019, Judyth created GRAIN(S) DE RIZ, her own label, additionally to the management to provide support in every direction. “I realized the artists needed that I create my own label”, she says. The label’s name comes from the phrase “Sé gren di ri ka fè sac” from Martinique and stands metaphorically for filling rice bags with grains of rice. It means that every individual contributes something to the project with their creativity, dedication and values.

Judyth’s plans for the future mainly consist of expanding her artist’s options: By broadening her personal network and meeting a lot of entrepreneurs from all over the world, she wants to find more places for her artists to play gigs at. Especially MEWEM and Footprints Europe, another program that helps musicians and agencies to get along on the European music market, helped her in accomplishing her goals: “It feels like an achievement that is only possible with a lot of help from different people from different countries. I am really happy to do this, but it is even more appreciative that I get to meet so many people and get so much support”. At the moment, China and Germany are her focused destinations, Judyth is currently planning a three-month tour in China in September for one of her artists – and doesn’t need more big projects for now: “I am happy with the way it is. I used to overwork myself a lot. Now it is time to slow down a little bit and focus on the things we know instead of trying to do everything”.

Katharina Reiffenstuhl

For Alexandra, also called Alexa, the way into the music industry was quite surprising and unplanned, since she was doing PR in the fast-moving consumer goods field before and has a degree in journalism. Her brother, Mischa Blanos is an artist and pianist, also active in the clubbing scene – which is mostly the reason why she is working with music today. As a PR expert, she started to do his artist management and helped him a lot with building his artistic image. In 2021, in the midst of a pandemic, they decided to set up a company on their own. The label LONGCUT records covers many different styles of music, which Alexandra herself entitles as “unusual”. The range is wide and goes from techno over dance music to modern composition or classical contemporary. “We want to create a space for new music discovery, experimentation and freedom. Classical music is often viewed as old-fashioned, out of style. And I feel like the younger generation is missing out on this”, she states.

Alexa’s daily routine now consists of listening to a lot of music, writing emails, engaging with artists and taking care of legal and financial aspects. Her experience in PR and corporation she sees as really helpful in this regard, just as her participation in the MEWEM program: “I learned so many things as a mentee at MEWEM. The essentials of contracts, the performance rights organizations. And most important: I needed trust and validation from someone besides my family and friends – MEWEM gave just that”.

But in her opinion, space for improvement is still there. Especially an export office is something she is dreaming of: “The colleagues from MEWEM told me about the export offices in their countries. I was like ‘Wow, you really have this?’. I want something like that here in Romania too. Someone who helps you with all the strategies and export of music into the European market”. Nevertheless, Alexa is proud of where she has come so far, especially because her home country often is not that recognized: “I think I can do my work by putting Romania on the map”. Yes, definitely!

Katharina Reiffenstuhl

Although she has always been involved into music privately, Maureen’s career has started in cinemas. As a former postproduction manager she was responsible for planning, organization, logistics and staying within the budget. The reason for changing workplaces Maureen sees in the lack of creative self-fulfillment: “Creativity was all around me, but not exactly in what I was doing”. Working with bands was not completely new to her since a lot of people around her had their own music projects and tours where she often helped out. After her time at cinemas, she dedicated herself to that job again, at first as a volunteer. “At some point, I realized that this is a real job and I really liked it, so I wanted to turn it into a proper job”, she says.

The support from her personal environment was big and the MEWEM program encouraged her as well, which finally led her to her own, Brussels-based agency JULIA CAMINO in 2021, together with Damien Aresta. Maureen describes their work relationship as a “perfect match”, since he was part of the Belgian music industry for about 20 years, therefore has a lot of experience and connections and also worked as a graphic designer, while she brings organizational and technical knowledge from her previous job and her media-oriented journalism studies to the table: “We are both creative minds that complete very well”.

Besides being a manager, Maureen has another small, music-related project on the side: Last summer she also started a podcast called “At this moment”. The episodes consist of talks with different guests, some of them also artists from their management agency: “The guests choose a song that makes their brain explode for whatever reason and talk about how they discovered it, how they feel when listening to it and then we try to see how we can connect that with their own way of approaching music.” This summer, the second season of “At this moment” will be on-air – and will also include two episodes in English for the first time, since the rest of the podcast is in French. 

Quality over quantity

For the future, Maureen has a clear vision regarding her work: She wants to broaden her artist’s territory of interest. An expansion of the agency itself is – despite high demands – not in planning: “I think we want to keep it small somehow, so we can still be this friendly, trustworthy toolbox for our artists”, she states. And the most beautiful part about a job like this? “I love being involved in a project. I am at the studio with my artists all the time and with a view from different perspectives we can make the outcome as great as possible. That feels very rewarding”.

Katharina Reiffenstuhl

Therry wasn’t always a typical label employee. Her insight into the music business starts in 2013 at the private radio station Kronehit, where she is a host and slides step by step toward music editorial. Then suddenly, the first contact with labels is made, and her interest in the music industry and its background is awakened: She begins to study music management in Krems – and if you look at her current activities, it probably wasn’t a bad idea. Numerous internships follow, in London at Music Ally, and later at Tileyard. The next step already leads her to a big music publisher: Therry starts working at BMG in Berlin. In addition, she is part of the team of the German TV show “Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten” (GZSZ) and is in charge of the live performances there. 

But “Berlin is a tough music place”, as she states herself, and finally decides to return to Austria in 2019. She starts looking for more creative jobs, something where you can really express yourself and contribute ideas – and ends up at the label Seayou Entertainment. Still, that was not the job for eternity, but it is where she meets Ilias Dahiméne as well as the musicians Valentin Eder and Mario Fartacek, with whom she soon founds a record label – ASSIM Records. At the moment, 14 artists and bands are under contract there, and Therry mainly takes care of PR and promotion. She thinks about social media concepts, advertising cooperations, and entertaining merch ideas and tries to get the maximum out of it with a lot of effort and creativity. “With our very first band released on ASSIM Records, NEON NEET, I went into every single clothing store on Mariahilfer Straße in Vienna and asked who was responsible for the in-store playlists and if they could listen to NEON NEET’s songs,” she says.

The fact that she has recently started her own music agency, MORINOKO, where she manages and advises artists, is a result of her previous experience at ASSIM: “With newcomers, you often have to do the management too, because otherwise there won’t be progress. Also, I am a perfectionist. My goal is to accompany each band as well as possible and to build it up sustainably. If there is no management behind, someone has to take care of it – and in this case, it was me. In the end, bands kept approaching me and asking if I would like to manage them as well.” At first, Therry wasn’t sure whether she was capable of this task. A decisive turning point was her participation as a mentor at MEWEM Europe, as she explains: “Especially the meeting with the other mentors in Berlin has strengthened me a lot and eliminated my self-doubt. That’s when I came home and was sure that I would now additionally start something of my own. But without the MEWEM program, I would never have had the confidence to do that.”

With her two projects ASSIM Records and MORINOKO, Therry is now moving forward with high ambitions: Soon she would like to raise the popularity of the bands outside Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The next target countries are France and Great Britain, eventually also the USA and Canada. Especially the agency MORINOKO is currently in focus with its development phase, a lot of things are coming, she says. Will we hear about other projects in the future? In any case, Therry knows no limits when it comes to her work and goals.

Katharina Reiffenstuhl

Thu, 21 April
18:00-19:30
Herbrand’s Club
DJ: Mari van DUS

(Access only for c/o pop Convention ticket holders)

MEWEM Europa says hello! Come and network with mentors, mentees and the makers of MEWEM Europa! 

MEWEM Europa is a project that promotes women’s access to to management positions and entrepreneurship as well as the development of management skills among young women in the music business. In the framework of MEWEM Europa, mentoring programmes for women in the music industry have taken place in the six participating countries Belgium, Austria, France, Spain, Romania and Germany in the last months. Mentors and mentees as well as representatives of some of the MEWEM partner organisations will be present and are looking forward to networking with you! 

MEWEM Europa is a project carried out with the support of the Creative Europe Programme. MEWEM Germany is additionally funded by the Initiative Musik. 

Role Models are key – Mentoring by MEWEM Europa (Panel)

Fr., 22. April
13:00–14:00 Uhr
Cinenova – Cine 3

Current studies underline the striking importance of role models for the personal development of women in particular. That is where mentoring programmes come in, bringing together newcomers with specialists from the music business whose expertise, visibility and networking affinity clearly turns them into the role models that are so necessary in our sector.

MEWEM Europa is a project to implement and manage mentoring programmes for women in the music business on a European scale. The project’s goal is that in the future, more women will also shape the sector in leadership positions and as founders. Therefore, the project promotes access to management positions and entrepreneurship as well as the development of management skills among young women in the music business.

For this purpose, a mentoring-based training programme, adapted to the music sector and with a European dimension, is being created. In cooperation with seven partner organisations in six countries, who themselves conduct national mentoring programmes during the project, a model mentoring programme for women in the music industry has been developed from which other European organisations can also benefit.

Mentors, mentees as well as project managers from different MEWEM partner countries report on their experiences in the current programmes and reflect on future developments. 

Speakers:

• Ariane Tamalet (Head of Publishing, Filature Unity, FR)
• Beate Dietrich (VUT / Coordinator MEWEM Germany, GER)
• Julien Fournier (Director Wallonie-Bruxelles Musiques, BE)
• Tatjana Domany (Öst.Musikfonds / Austrian Music Export, AT)
• Moderation: Milena Fessmann (Music Supervisor, Journalistin, Filmproduzentin, GER)

More Information

Christina Bauer is one of them. She works as a sound engineer and sound designer.

What is feminism to you?

For me, feminism means striving for equal opportunities regardless of gender. 

Where does the (Austrian and international) music scene need to start? What is needed? 

I think that in my field, sound engineering and sound design, there is a problem that needs to be tackled much earlier and more fundamentally. It’s about the question of why so few women choose technical professions. I often have to deal with women who are too quick to say, “Oh, I’m completely untalented in technical matters!” Whereas men tend to be completely convinced that they have everything technical under control, although this is often not the case. Male beings – often starting in the immediate family – are attributed from the outset with understanding and mastering technology – basically by nature. Of course, one must have a certain talent for this area. I don’t think this is a gender-specific matter, but rather that an understanding of technical processes can and must be acquired and learned first and foremost. So it’s about encouraging women in terms of education and training toward technology.

How did you get to where you are now? 

For the first two or three years, I mainly did sound engineering for a wide variety of bands and plays. A good spirit in the form of the former director of the Institute for Electroacoustics and Experimental Music pointed me in the direction of contemporary music as a field of activity. This – but not only – is my musical home until today.

How much support did you get from your personal environment? 

Especially at the beginning of my career (end of the 80s, beginning of the 90s), when I came to a location with bands, for example, the sound engineers on site were quite perplexed because I was the sound engineer and not the singer or keyboard player. To be fair, though, it has to be said that women were really still rare in event technology back then. But then I also met people again and again (especially men) who showed me new ways and thus supported me a lot.

Itta Francesca Ivellio-Vellin

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Translated from the German original by Katharina Reiffenstuhl

The MEWEM Golden Ticket will give the selected applicant free access to international professional festivals where they can pitch their own projects, expand new ideas, develop their business and meet future partners with a high-level network.

WHAT DOES GOLDEN TICKET INCLUDE?

• Each applicant will get 4 tickets for the festivals they choose, including accommodation, transport and per diems.
• To make sure these festivals are a success, they will receive a training at the first event (Primavera Pro) to provide them with tips, tricks and ideas to approach professionals and companies in these conventions.
• On site ambassadors, mentors and partners from MEWEM Europa, will meet with mentees to facilitate the connections and build confidence.
• This ticket will allow them to join a very powerful community of women working in the music industry: they’ll get the support from their local and international MEWEM network, connecting them with former mentees and mentors as well as other organizations involved in Spotify EQUAL
• Projects developed during this program will be presented at professional events and panels (by MEWEM partners).
• They’ll get the possibility of travelling outside of Europe in case their project is aimed to a more global audience. 

WHO CAN APPLY?

We aim to represent the different professions in the music sector to be as representative as possible to the value chain, while also representing the new trends. Recorded music, digital distribution, management, tech, live music, branding, marketing, etc. 

Profile and criteria: 

• Identify as a woman or non-binary 
• Have an entrepreneurial project in the music sector.
• Be available during the project period to travel throughout Europe
• Be bilingual (English + other first language at least).
• Have a precise and realistic business plan.
• The originality and relevance of the project will also be highly valued.
• Availability at the Kick-Off Event at Primavera Pro on the 8^th of June in Barcelona (June 6 – 9 Primavera Pro – Barcelona, Spain. First meeting and networking + elevator pitch workshop + photo shooting.)

RELEVANT EVENTS

Applicants are free to propose new festivals not included in the list (in and outside of Europe). Even though the Golden Ticket is thought to provide 4 passes, it can be possible to exchange 2 passes in Europe for 1 outside of Europe in case it’s interesting for their project.

In every partner festival there will be a MEWEM Networking meeting called “Cheers”, where they can use the already built community to exchange ideas, get feedback and feel supported by other professional women. Every organization within Spotify EQUAL interested can also be involved in these networking meetings. 

• Waves – Vienna (Austria)
• BIME Bogotá – Bogotá (Colombia)
• Fluvial – Santiago de Chile (Chile)
• We Love Green Festival – Paris (France)
• MaMA Festival – Paris (France)
• Reeperbahn – Hamburg (Germany)
• Linecheck – Milan (Italy)
• MIL – Lisbon (Portugal)
• WOMEX Festival – Lisbon (Portugal)
• MMB – Bucharest (Romania)
• Sweden Rock – Norje (Sweden)
• Future Echoes – Norrköping (Sweden)
• BIME – Bilbao (Spain)
• Primavera Pro – Barcelona (Spain)
• Monkey Pro – Seville (Spain)
• Eurosonic – Groningen (The Netherlands)
• The Great Escape – Brighton (UK)
• Liverpool Sound City – Liverpool (UK)
• SIM São Paulo
• Bangkok Music City 
• Visa for Music (Africa, tbh) 

*in bold festivals that are already MEWEM partners

DEADLINE for Application: 17 APRIL 2022

Go to the partner organization of your respective country to find their application criteria! 

Spain – MIM

France – FÉLIN / LABA

Romania – RAW Music 

Germany – VUT 

Belgium – WMB

Austria – mica – music Austria 

We are looking forward to your applications! 

Instagram: @mewemeuropa

Facebook: @mewemeuropa 

Karin Tonsern is one of them. She has a master in event technology, works as a production, stage and tour manager and founded her own network for women in the music industry, Sisters of Music.

What is feminism to you? 

Feminism to me means balance and a fair worldview.  The world population turns out to be very fair with pretty much 50% women and 50% men.

However, what is unfair is that one of these halves does not have the same rights & opportunities. Not getting the same respect, the same appreciation, the same attention. There are differences in the same education or the same pay. That women do not have the same freedoms and get the same support as the other half of the world population and that because of their gender. 

Where does the (Austrian and international) music scene need to start? What is needed?

There needs to be a structural change on all levels, in all areas, institutions, genres, etc. The music scene is too multifaceted to make one or more measures valid for everyone. By this I mean that the focus must be on the individual imbalances that exist and specific measures should be taken for each. 

I am deliberately not talking about quota here, because quota is only about a balanced number of genders, but rather about balance, because this does not only include the woman/man ratio, but also fair payment, gender fair language, etc. 

A measure that seems obvious to me would be, for example, that public subsidies or the awarding of contracts/tenders are tied to a balance. 

Likewise, guidelines for fairer distribution / handling must be anchored in law. I do not want to wait for political change and guidelines, nor do I want to rely on them. In this respect, my personal approach is to draw attention to the imbalance, question it and offer solutions. Always with the hope that the discourse or any change, even a small one, will bring improvement in the future. 

I would also like to note here that when we talk about the music scene, we should not only think about people “on and behind” the stages, but also talk about visitors who are also “forgotten” or treated unequally in very many areas (safety, gendered language, needs,…) at events. 

How did you get to where you are now?

My professional career has included several stations, e.g. in the field of film or gastronomy – none of which I would like to miss in retrospect. I can still draw a lot of experience and knowledge from my previous jobs. A turning point in my professional career was the qualification as a master craftswoman in event technology and the subsequent jobs as a production manager. I was very quickly and forcefully made aware of the difficulties that can arise in pursuing a profession in a field in which hardly any women work.  

It was not an easy path, as I was not always measured only by my qualifications or my abilities, but the competence of a woman in a technical and/or managerial position was often questioned. Over the years, this circumstance has always improved. The reason for this is certainly that more and more women are working in the music industry and there is more public discourse. 

How much support have you received from your personal environment?

I am lucky that both my family and my circle of friends have always supported me unconditionally. In the working environment, unfortunately, competitive thinking and jealousy often dominate – both do not correspond to my ideology. Just as in a family or circle of friends, you also need people in your professional life with whom you can exchange ideas, ask for help, and who will support you in word and deed. That was my basic idea when I founded Sisters of Music. I wanted to create a network for women in the industry, where they can exchange ideas and support each other, where their own strengths but also weaknesses find room. Because every success of a colleague is a success for all of us! The network now includes over 160 women who work in technical or organizational areas or as service providers in the event industry. 

Itta Francesca Ivellio-Vellin

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Translated from the German original by Katharina Reiffenstuhl

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Links:
Sisters of Music
Sisters of Music (Facebook)
Sisters of Music (Instagram)