Music Is For Everyone: Let's Have A Hard Conversation About How To Make Music & Touring More Just For Women & Disabled People

Based on my lived experience, as well as in-depth research, I think it's important to have a hard conversation about how to make music and touring more just for women and disabled people.

I'm a lifelong concert enjoyer and am grateful to have been able to play my music live. I think there's nothing in the world like going to an electrifying concert, and if I could bottle that euphoria, I'd hold onto it forever.

Here's some background on me: I was prematurely born. One of the consequences is that I have mild cerebral palsy, manifesting in my legs. While I don't need a wheelchair, having CP leads to constant muscle fatigue and body tension, even moreso if I don't stay reasonably active. I stopped gigging years ago, but rough periods of being on the road and the strain of performing on a merciless schedule was twice as hard to bear on my particular body. Besides my physical disability, I'm a woman with PCOS. I grapple with anxiety every day, too. 

In every way, music has shaped me by being my lifelong tool for mental and physical healing. 

In 2017, while honing my songwriting and music production skills, I was fortunate to perform on the main stage of an internationally renowned music festival. It was amazing to have this opportunity, even moreso because of the care went into keeping tickets affordable and ensuring accessibility for everyone. Both backstage and on stage, there were people ready to help performers with mobility issues (like me) actually get on stage, as well as others who needed wheelchairs. Each  performance had an ASL interpreter.  The festival print materials, such as the poster, magazine, and signage around the grounds, were offered in braille. Performers were also offered music stands, chairs, and a support person to ensure their performances were successful. 

I have also gigged locally and regionally. Even that was a challenge for my well being and finances. I'm not ashamed to share that my safety concerns, and my mental and physical health conditions, are the reasons I don't perform live or tour anymore.

All of this to say, I've had these thoughts for a very long time but wasn't sure how I could best express them until I recently read the book Improvising Across Abilities: Pauline Oliveros and the Adaptive Use Musical Instrument (Music and Social Justice). 

This book explores how the AUMI came to be and how it transformed the lives of performers with disabilities. AUMI was first developed as a drum instrument by Pauline as a tool for disabled school children, co-designed with the most physically challenged children to be comfortable and adapted to their specific needs. Students lived with a wide variety of disabilities, including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism, aggressive/oppositional behaviors, and sensory processing difficulties. AUMI empowered all students, regardless of acuity of need, to make music and perform on stage.

Even more then being an adaptive instrument, AUMI also embodies community, agency, resistance, and "learning new ways to be" in the world. AUMI encompasses occupational and musical therapy, advocating for the idea that "everybody plays their own way."

In particular, Chapter 2: From Punk Philosophy to Musical Accessibility was a real eye opener. This chapter highlights the experience of Gregory, who had limited mobility due to cerebral palsy. He could only move his head a little bit. By this time, AUMI was developed into a tablet that responded to the user. So the AUMI tracked Gregory's movements by following his nose–every time he moved his head, a note was generated. He created and performed music at the same time, with an instrument that met him where he was at. 

This chapter conceptualizes punk and accessibility as inherently including improvisation, performance art, unusual sounds, and "weirdos all lumped together under the punk moniker." This definition resonated with me:

When I think of “punk,” it’s not a band that plays three-chord progressions fast and loose, it’s a person who doesn’t care about other people’s definition of music and confidently gets on stage with some scrap metal and contact mics and makes a racket for fifteen minutes.

Notably, AUMI was developed as part of a broader computer science project–not in any way, shape, or form being tied to or endorsing AI. In fact, I'd say AI would be antithetical to the performer's agency by reducing them to a passive role in the very creative process meant to empower them to express themselves. 

Drawing from Improvising Across Abilities, I believe the concept of justice in music for women and disabled people encompasses a lot of things, including accessibility, intersectional feminism, and worker's rights. 

In my opinion, the music industry predominantly pushes able bodied, conventionally attractive men and women as the picture perfect image of success.

This industry loves to sell the idea that by being "good enough" and working "hard enough" you can succeed through merit alone. So what does it mean when women and disabled people aren't seen as successful in the eyes of peers and the industry? Does it somehow mean we aren't good enough, not capable enough? Of course not, but this kind of message is dehumanizing and prevents discussions like this from happening.

Furthermore, it seems to me that this industry doesn't want different women and disabled people to have the spotlight. It doesn't want us to connect around the world. It doesn't want challenging perspectives. And above all, it doesn't want us to be healthy. 

I think the music industry is inherently predatory: the more broke we are, the more young and uninformed and vulnerable, the sicker and more addicted and struggling and suffering we are—then the more ripe we are for exploitation.

What it boils down to is that we are still fundamentally fighting to be seen as human. 

I see huge gaps in people's understanding and empathy. I love being part of several music communities, including the ones over on Reddit. But every time the topics of touring or "making it" come up, I inevitably notice repeated themes in discussions:

1. Touring is male dominated and people posting/commenting/touring are assumed to be men. In fact, even among established acts, women artists are largely underrepresented:

   Women and bands that included women members (such as contemporary worship music collective Maverick City Music and Italian rock band Måneskin) represented only 32 spots on the Top 200 Worldwide Tours, or 16%.

2. Touring is still the glorified go-to recommendation to make money and prove artistic legitimacy, despite increased safety risks, socioeconomic pressures, geopolitics, and venue closures. In this way, those who cannot, or refuse to, tour are put into a position of power imbalance.
   
   
3. Most musicians don't consider accessibility as part of their creative process or touring itinerary. Being able-bodied and neurotypical is taken for granted as the default. For instance, a few ways I do my part to make my music accessible is by incorporating Alt text for screen readers in all my website images, translating my favourite lyrics into other languages (French and Spanish, because I have basic familiarity with both), picking easily readable fonts and colours for all graphic design and lyric videos, and self-hosting my releases free on my Google Drive. 
   
   I do this because I care about bringing listeners along my music journey as equals. No paywalls, no middle man, no corporate interests. Instead of money, I am asking for people to spend their time with my songs and feel them deeply.

To make music and touring more just for women and disabled people, please consider the following as a musician and/or organization:

• More attention, awareness, education, and investment is needed to create, and continue to support existing, equitable opportunities. There's the Entertainment Equity Alliance, which directly supports Diversify The Stage. This initiative is about "working to create greater access to equitable opportunities in live music, events and touring industries for historically marginalized and underrepresented communities." The Entertainment Equity Alliance is also a resource hub and does policy and research at a governmental level to make equitable changes throughout the American entertainment industry.
  
  Other opportunities that should be expanded and seriously considered long term are online concerts and festivals. During the pandemic, Stay At Home and Save Our Stages were imperative. Now they've tapered off in favour of "real" concerts and festivals.
  
  However, online concerts and festivals can offer breakthrough opportunities and are inherently far more accessible  than traditional touring, which has high overhead and significantly higher financial (and geographical) barriers to entry for women and disabled people. 
  
  One amazing example of an online festival for unsigned and indie artists is Unheard The Festival, which aims to give overlooked and underrepresented artists a platform to be heard. Unheard emphasizes that "talent shouldn’t depend on location, label or luck. We’re here to amplify the ones who never got heard."
   
  Unheard aims to "create a stage where raw, undiscovered voices from every corner of the world can finally take the mic. This isn’t just a festival. It’s a movement — one that lives online, crossing borders and time zones to bring together artists, listeners, and dreamers who believe in the power of authentic music." As far as I know, Unheard is currently the only festival of its kind.
   
  Then there's not-for-profit organizations like Help Musicians and Pathways Into Music in the UK. Some of the supports they provide include grant writing, industry explainers, industry contacts, networking and touring resources, and advocacy work on behalf of musicians.  
   
  Crucially, also in the UK, the Musician's Union is an official trade union that protects members' rights and campaigns for a fairer music industry. This union gets involved in all things related to working and performing, health and well-being, legal matters (including compensation), and career development. 

• Alternatively and adjacently to touring, women and disabled people should additionally be supported in creative and music industry paths that are just as valuable as touring. These can include: sync licensing, teaching, instrument and gear sales/repair, touring management, booking agents, A & R, and artist management, just to name some examples. 
  
  Touring and performing live is not the standard for being a "real artist." In other words, it would be great to have a paradigm shift from touring being put on a pedestal, to recognizing it is simply one branch of the industry and one expression of creativity along someone's musical journey. 

• For those pursuing music and touring professionally, wages for labour such as stage crews and studio crews should be fair so that we can afford to live with dignity. Even more bluntly, there should be a universal basic income model like the one in Ireland that has been nothing short of life changing for musicians. 
  
  Along these lines, Lewis Capaldi is one high profile example of someone speaking out about the pressures of touring while having chronic health conditions, especially struggles with mental health. I think this should openly and frankly be discussed more often in order to advocate for systemic change over time. However, aside of taking extended touring breaks or shortening setlists, where is the real support when we need it? How can industry professionals and live event organizers better design the process of touring, performing, and stages themselves to be welcoming rather than intimidating? 

• This brings me to accessibility as the cornerstone of justice for women and disabled people. Accessibility and justice must also recognize geography. 
  
  There are vast discrepancies in opportunities and affordability challenges simply depending on where you live–this creates injustice because those not living and working in music cities are not extended the same opportunities as those who do. Sure, Nashville and Los Angeles are rightfully music epicentres, but there's an entire world out here! For example, I live in a mostly rural area, with no healthy live scene to speak of. It's a blessing to have the opportunity to connect with people and share my music around the world thanks to the internet.
  
  
  I really do think there should be places both online and offline where women and disabled people feel safe to be ourselves and share our art. Something like the Women In Music Canada summit: "Through programming, community building, and online resources our goal is to strengthen the social-economic balance of the music industry."
  
  
  As well, women's songwriting circles and retreats, such as Women's Music Weekend, are places exactly like this, but they're too few and far in between. Women of all ages and skill levels deserve to have these opportunities. I would certainly like to see more respectful discussions about this, to break down stigma and shame. 

Music is for everyone, and I think we should all do our best to make sure it stays that way.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post! What do you think? Are there any considerations I missed? And if you disagree with my perspective, what should be done instead? 

I really want to hear from you!