[Commlist] Open Access Report: Challenges for women musicians in jazz and ways forward for equal gender representation at jazz festivals

*Keychanges at Cheltenham Jazz Festival*

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*Challenges for women musicians in jazz and ways forward for equal 
gender representation at jazz festivals*

*Findings, recommendations and ways forward*

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/Summary/

This open access report documents the activities, findings and 
recommendations of a research project undertaken by Dr Sarah Raine in 
partnership with Cheltenham Jazz Festival on their /Keychange/ pledge to 
programme a 50/50 gender balanced schedule by 2022. It offers a critique 
of the /Keychange/ quota element as it relates to jazz festivals, 
provides insight into the experiences of women musicians active on the 
UK jazz scene, and (based upon the model provided by Cheltenham) offers 
a range of recommendations for other music festivals who are interested 
in becoming a /Keychange/ pledgee.

It draws upon interviews with festival staff – most notably with Emily 
Jones, Head of Programming (2018-2019, and Festival Manager 2013-2018) – 
and ten women musicians who performed at the 2019 festival. It provides 
an overview of the gender data from throughout the Festival’s 
twenty-three-year history, demonstrating the continued 
underrepresentation of women jazz musicians and a comparative lack of 
instrumentalists. Data from three other jazz festivals involved in this 
research project (Glasgow, Hull and Manchester) also highlight similar 
issues with both the /Keychange/ interpretation of 50/50 (one woman on 
stage) and the jazz scene more generally.

This report was drafted before the COVID-19 pandemic, however a 
reflection upon gender inequality at jazz festivals going forward will 
be published later this year.

This report is a culmination of collaborative work and testimony to 
partnerships between academia and industry. It was funded and supported 
by Midlands3Cities (M3C, Arts and Humanities Research Council) as part 
of their Creative Economy Engagement Fellowship scheme.

The issues explored in this research project and resulting report will 
be the focus of a forthcoming special issue for Jazz Research Journal, 
expected in Summer 2021.

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*A full PDF copy of the report can be downloaded here 
<https://bit.ly/keychangesreport>. *


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