More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A panel discussion on the trials and tribulations of being a woman in the music industry is taking place in Thanet on International Women's Day.
The event at Dreamland Theme Park, Margate, on Sunday, March 8, is bringing together successful women from across the industry to give their thoughts on how to improve equality and champion diversity.
The talk has been organised by Power Of Women Thanet, a charity founded in 2015 to support the work of local female artists.
The charity's performance curator, Amy Redmond, worked as a BBC Radio 1 producer before moving back to Kent and getting involved in the local arts scene.
She hopes the discussion will get a conversation going about the lack of women booked for large UK festivals.
She said: "I see a lot of inequality. If you take this year's Reading and Leeds line up, there are 20 women out of 92 acts.
"That's really an imbalance. If you're a young girl going to a gig or a festival it's just a real shame that the music industry is run by men.
"I think things like Power of Women are brilliant because they're a voice for change, to let young women rise up and show them anything is possible."
Amy also wants to encourage men to be involved in the debate.
She added: "This conversation cant happen without men, they're more than welcome."
Rebecca Lucy Taylor, also known by her artist name Self Esteem, is one of the panellists taking part on Sunday.
When the male-dominated line-ups of the Reading and Leeds festivals were announced last month, she tweeted an image of the poster with the male acts deleted, writing 'Lord give me strength.'
Another panellist for the talk is Bee Adamic, the founder of Liberty Music PR.
She said: "Most of the PR agencies I knew of were all run by men.
"When I launched the business, I actually fell pregnant at the same time, so initially I actually kept it quiet.
"I didn't tell any of my clients, because a lot of them at the time were male, and I was worried about them thinking I couldn't do a good job."
Bee and Self Esteem will be joined on the panel by Lucy Putman, Jo Wallace and Emily Kendrick, with Abbie McCarthy presenting.
The event is offering free entry for under 18s, students and NHS workers.
To find out more about the event and to buy tickets, click here
