BIGSOUND Speakers On Why We Need Affirmative Action Not Tokenism

When looking broadly at the music industry, there are various avenues rife with unequal representation. This extends from festival line-ups coming under fire for their lack of women and gender-diverse people to the unbalanced power structures and unchecked toxic behaviour within the industry, behavioural issues in music festival environments and the high rates of mental health issues linked to the precariousness of a musician’s lifestyle.

So how does change actually happen in a time where being woke is in, outrage is currency and the traditional power structures of the music industry are all but dissolved?

Breanna Wright is a Research Fellow at BehaviourWorks, Monash University. Wright has focused on understanding behavioural drivers in a range of contexts, and for BIGSOUND she has been exploring the science of change in relation to the music industry.

"One of the things that really differentiates the music industry from other sectors is that [music is] one of the ways that people understand themselves and see themselves reflected back," says Wright.

"People are much more emotionally engaged with music than a lot of other things and so seeing yourself reflected back in that is a really important process, which is why it’s actually really important to understand who is making the decisions about what perspectives, identities and ideas are getting represented in music."

Rachel Maria Cox is a singer-songwriter and the founder and manager of Sad Grrrls Club, which focuses on amplifying the voices of women, transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people in the music industry. Cox is a big advocate for music that showcases diverse perspectives.

"The big thing is that if you don’t see it, especially as a young person, it’s hard to know it exists," they explained. "Plus, I think having a lot of different people sharing their experiences makes our music scene more interesting, there’s more room for it to grow and thrive here and outside of Australia, you can include more people and that makes it potentially a much bigger industry. It can really only be a good thing."

Wright also explains that the structures that exist within the music industry are fairly reflective of those that exist within many other industries.

"[The music industry] certainly has its own unique challenges, but in terms of the actual structures you see the same kind of hierarchies across the board in society," she says. "There’s the same problem that the actual power seems to be clustered at the top — in the hands of what are predominantly white men — who set the agenda for how things are run, what they think is important and how decisions are made."

Many of the industry’s diversity issues stem from this structural power imbalance. When the streaming era gained momentum in the mid-'00s, it not only changed the way we as consumers engage with music — it heralded the upheaval of the archaic structure of music as a business. Structures which have taken advantage of artists.

Jalen James Acosta from World Artists United believes that as the music industry adapts, there is a potential to foster a positive new culture of leadership.

"Being in music for so long has been such an ugly thing," says Acosta, referencing a foundational belief that people must screw others over to get ahead. "That narrative is no longer applicable to the society that we’re in."

"This new generation [of musicians]…we no longer want to work with a-holes. We no longer want to be involved with people that think they’re better than other people. That’s been the norm…The bottom line is that this is a new way of doing the business…Speaking with and treating the artist more like a partner,” says Acosta.

In the current landscape, musicians stand to take more agency over the content they’re releasing, with self-publishing platforms at their fingertips, however, the old guard still has a role to play. Audiences are more vocal than ever about their expectations of inclusivity, and stakeholders old and new have an obligation to facilitate genuine diversity.

"I’d say that I am definitely a product of the environment of the music industry," Acosta says about himself. A philanthropist and musician proudly of Dominican/American descent, Acosta harnessed online self-publishing to rise through the ranks of Latin music and share the stage and studio with "some of the greats". He now empowers artists to have a better understanding of the business side through his joint venture with Rachel Kerry.

He wants to see artists from more diverse cultural backgrounds fearlessly share their stories and represent their cultures, especially those that are underrepresented or dominated by false narratives.

This is a sentiment that singer-songwriter Alice Skye shares 

"I am lucky to exist in this time as a young Indigenous woman," Skye reflects. "I recognise the privileges I have that people before me wouldn’t have been given. I think there are some amazing things happening here at the moment. However, I still feel we have a long way to go in terms of gender and LGBTQI+ equality and representation."

"Representation was everything when I was a kid. I became obsessed with Cathy Freeman mostly because she was another Indigenous woman on the telly, not because sports was my passion. If I had seen another fair-skinned blackfulla on TV as a young person it would have changed a lot of things for me. Especially growing up in a smaller town where it felt like a lot of people didn’t accept me as a 'real aboriginal'." 

"So seeing all the different people and communities that exist within the music industry is so important to me."

As Wright explains, facilitating contact between the power holders and members of underrepresented groups helps to reduce bias and prejudice, whether conscious or not. Where simple exposure doesn’t help to effect to change, policy interventions can be more appropriate. Regulating things like diversity, inclusion and zero tolerance policies in areas such as music festivals can "help set the tone for social expectations and even social norms about what’s acceptable and appropriate".

However, an issue that many take with setting quotas for diversity is the idea that this can lead to ‘tokenism’, the superficial cousin of real affirmative action. While Cox is an avid advocate for inclusivity, they are not necessarily a fan of quotas.

As a gigging musician and an active spokesperson for gender non-binary people in the music industry, Cox says there is a clear difference between the experience of being booked for a gig where the organisers have a genuine interest in them as an artist and where the organisers are trying to "tick a box". At the latter events, there are rarely efforts made to make the space accessible to people who don’t fit into the Aussie muso "boys club".

Cox has even been booked for an event where there wasn’t a bathroom for them to use.

Skye is similarly not a fan of 'tokenism' however struggles when asked what changes she wants to see. "I’m never too sure about how to answer this sort of question as I can only speak from my experience," she starts.

"I just want to see more representation, less tokenistic representation too."

While it is important to target the behaviour of specific groups, broad-spectrum awareness campaigns and movements can be the biggest drivers of instating cultural change. Wright believes that the emotional hook of movements like #MeNoMore and #MeToo do have the power to influence real change, and set a precedent.

So when it comes to creating a more positive future for the music industry with more inclusive representation, where does the responsibility lie? Suffice to say, it lies with all of us. From the managers, booking agents and decision makers to the artists, and to the consumers — fans have a responsibility to support the artists whose voices need to be heard.