Magazine cover photo credits: Krijn van Noordwijk :: Background photo credits: Koen Peters
Amsterdam becomes the center of the global dance music for 5 days
(This is the English summary of the original Italian article)
Amsterdam | October 2014 – Angela Maria Carlucci :: The global electronic dance music (EDM) in all its genres has reached a huge number of fans and a remarkable annual turnover of $6.2 billion (IMS report 2014). Behind the decks, the EDM industry is unfortunately still a big boys’ club, but it is not the case behind the scenes. The biggest talent scouts and managers of the industry are women – there is no lack of women running the business. On the occasion of the ADE, the most important global event of the EDM industry that puts the international spotlight on the city of Amsterdam for full five days and nights – featuring all major players in the industry – we’ll put the focus on the women in the electronic music industry, the female DJs.
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Photo courtesy of ADE
Stats ADE 2014
Gender and the missing female voices in EDM
Gender policies, or gender mainstreaming, and official reports such as the Global Gender Gap Report, focus on politics, employment, and business economics. The dialogue rarely targets the EDM industry, or then, the figure of the female DJ. That’s what we’d like to focus upon, for the current picture of the EDM universe shows many men behind the DJ decks, but only very few women. The best male DJs of the world are found in many publications and rankings. There are hardly any women on those lists, and often they are overshadowed by their male colleagues. The DJ women of the world are still fighting to attain the heights of success only due to their musical talent. It’s high time for a new conception of women as the leading character behind the decks, putting aside the image girl who’s only able to attract attention, and to make room for the real artist who entertains the audience solely with her music and her talent.
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Photo courtesy of ADE
Investing on women as innovative trendsetter
Even if behind the decks it’s a male-dominated territory, behind the scenes there is an increasing number of women managing the business. If the industry was directed exclusively by men, we might think to be dealing with gender discrimination or equal opportunities yet to be met. Women hold positions of power in the EDM industry, even on the radio: BBC Radio 1 DJs such as Annie Mac, Cassy and Heidi are some of the most influential personalities. They are trendsetters who bring music to new states of auditory awareness. It is a very good team, a good roster.
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Photo courtesy of ADE
The festivals of electronic music are still festivals with mostly all-male line-ups. Organizing an all-female festival would, however, place the emphasis on a problem which should not even be there. Male or female – we are all equal. A world that renounces on the energies of half the world’s population is a poorer world. On its 19th edition, the ADE Festival shows a strong presence of women among the audience and the industry professionals: music lovers, musicians, artists, managers, journalists and lawyers – all united by music, and by their commitment for a culturally, socially and economically richer world. It’s a business, in which everyone has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Photo Sintagma – ADE Batch
Angela Maria Carlucci
Managing Director Sintagma – www.sintagma.com
President Adispo – www.adispo.ch
Angela is a Multilingual Communications Professional | Writer & Speaker | Managing Director | Entrepreneur
“Inspiring and empowering people is what I love doing, for I firmly believe everyone deserves to feel great at any time. Communication is my passion.” You can find her on Twitter @angelacarlucci