A Statement From The Music Business Association
As a trade organization formed to serve the needs of the entire global music industry, the Music Business Association (Music Biz) is committed to building community, driving innovation and removing roadblocks. To accomplish this, it is necessary to have open dialogue and unfettered collaboration among music business professionals regardless of their race, their gender, their sexual orientation, any disabilities they may have, their creed, their economic background, or their area of music industry expertise. Our commitment to increasing representation and thereby leveling the playing field for all music industry workers is driven by our global membership, along with the strength of our programming at the Annual Music Biz Conference, and our year-round event & content offerings.
This commitment is grounded in leading by example:
- Since 2019, Music Biz has striven to achieve as much parity as possible in the makeup of our staff and Board of Directors. The Music Biz staff comprises eight women and two men; nearly half of the team are women of color, and the staff proudly includes representation from the LGBTQ+ community. As of March 2025, Music Biz’s Board of Directors is made up nearly half by women and almost half by BIPOC individuals, with representation across a wide variety of music industry subsets including major & indie labels, streaming & subscription radio services, publishers, distributors, music tech firms, independent music retailers, music finance companies and beyond.
- In recognition of this push for inclusivity, Women in Music recently named Music Biz to the following categories in its inaugural Best Places to Work Initiative: Best Tiny Companies (2-15 employees), Top Companies for Equal Opportunities for Women & Men, Top Companies for Women in Leadership, Top Companies for Maternity & Adoptive Leave, Top Companies for Employer Responsiveness, and Top Companies for Sense of Belonging, among others.
- Music Biz has also worked hard to achieve parity in the speaker slate of our Annual Conference — compared to our 2019 speaker slate, which comprised 41% women and 18% BIPOC individuals, the speaker lineups for Music Biz 2023 and 2024 were both 50% women and 30% BIPOC.
Increasing representation also requires the democratization of information, opportunities to network, and access to resources:
- In response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Music Biz organized more than 70 virtual events, many of which were free to attend, bringing together more than 40,000 attendees from over 50 countries in just under two years. We worked tirelessly to foster community and keep the spread of information alive among all kinds of music professionals at a time when the future of our industry was so uncertain and in-person connection was impossible due to global conditions.
- The COVID-19 pandemic also led Music Biz to establish the Music Biz Mental Health Fund, in partnership with Music Health Alliance and The Scars Foundation. This program helps to give music industry workers access to low- or no-cost mental health services, and as of October 2024, has provided 515 clients with 5,500 counseling sessions via $355,000 in grant funding.
Our Association, and by extension the entire global music business, only stands to benefit through the building of bridges instead of fences. And while there is more work to be done in this area, Music Biz is proud to continue our efforts to establish equal footing, representation and opportunities for all music industry professionals.
