From pay gaps to the relative dearth of women in senior management roles, there is significant inequality in today’s workforce. The music industry is no different and the stats are even more harrowing: According to the Recording Academy's Women In The Mix study, women represent only 21 percent of artists, 12.6 percent of songwriters, and 2.6 percent of producers.

Despite some of the most impactful music artists and songwriters being women — from Beyoncė (seven No. 1 albums) and Joni Mitchell (notably credited for influencing Prince, Chaka Khan, Taylor Swift, Neil Diamond, Herbie Hancock, Annie Lennox, among others) to Carole King (who wrote 118 Billboard 100 hits) and Taylor Swift (11 No. 1 albums and the only artist to sweep all top ten spots in the Billboard 100)  — 57 percent of women in the industry are forced to work more than one job to make ends meet. Twenty-four percent of Women In The Mix respondents worked over 40 hours a week, and an additional 28 percent log over 50 hours a week.

Music permeates every aspect of our lives. It’s a vital way in how we express ourselves and connect with others. It’s long past time that women got an equal say in that conversation. "Any and everyone can be involved in the movement to support more women in music on various levels" says Girls Makes Beats Founder Tiffany "Delilah" Miranda.

Miranda's organization is one of many dedicated to developing professional opportunities, including mentorship, for women and girls in the music industry. "Providing the tools needed goes a long way towards successful career paths," she says, adding that consumers "can support women in music by listening to, sharing, and supporting female creators."

There are a number of organizations supporting women and girls in audio engineering and production who are working hard to change this narrative. Here are seven such orgs that empower women and gender-expansive people to create the future of music.

Girls Make Beats 

Girls Make Beats is passionate about helping young women have successful, sustained careers in music. Since 2012, Girls Make Beats has been dedicated to increased female representation in music production and empower the next generation of producers, DJs, and audio engineers by "creating real-world opportunities."

Influenced by jazz greats, like Nina Simone and Etta James, with their larger than life voices, Founder Tiffany "Delilah" Miranda had grown tired of being stifled by male producers. "This inspired me to create my own music," says Miranda. "I quickly realized how male-dominated most of the creative control spaces were and wanted to create a safe space for girls to find their own sound without having to face many of the challenges I had to overcome."

Through their various programs and initiatives, Girls Make Beats emphasizes the tenets of sisterhood, empowerment, mentorship, access and opportunity, leadership, and social-emotional learning. They recently opened an official Girls Make Beats Academy in Los Angeles and also have scholarships available, globally, for their year-round programming.

Women’s Audio Mission

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) will soon be celebrating its 20th anniversary. WAM offers training and mentorship for the "advancement of women and gender-expansive people in music/audio production and creative technology, fields in which they are critically underrepresented."

Founded by Terri Winston while she was a Professor and Director of the Sound Recording Arts Program at City College of San Francisco, WAM resides at the intersection of creativity and technology, weaving "art and music with science, technology, and computer programming" in an effort "to close the critical gender gap in creative technology careers."

"Studios have not been historically safe for women because only 2-3 percent of the recording engineers and producers are women/gender-expansive. They are soundproof boxes, often in remote, industrial areas with no HR or other support,” Winston told GRAMMY.com." "WAM has been changing that for the last 20 years training over 4,000 women, girls and gender-expansive youth every year to…radically change the gender gap in recording studios and the music industry."

WAM’s goals are twofold: Increase the number of women and gender-expansive people in the music industry (who make up less than 5 percent of its workforce), and to combat the 70 percent drop in women and gender-expansive people entering college STEM programs since 2000.

Throughout its storied existence, WAM has worked with over 22,000 individuals; been declared the "Best Hope for the Future of Music" by San Francisco Weekly; placed over 1,000 students in jobs throughout the industry (in companies like Dolby Labs, Sony, Pixar, Disney and Google); worked with award-winning artists (such as Sheila E., Kronos Quartet, Neko Case, Angélique Kidjo); and has been recognized by the White House for its innovations in education.

EqualizeHer

Legendary singer, songwriter, and producer Linda Perry of the 4 Non Blondes has teamed with philanthropist and activist Alisha Ballard to create EqualizeHer, a new initiative and organization working to help bring gender equality to the music industry. 

EqualizeHer is focused on four actionable goals: Release and distribute music produced, written, and performed by women; host live music events produced entirely by women; provide opportunities for young female artists to perform in front of live audiences to gain experience and be heard; and work with existing organizations to fill the gaps and join forces.

Through their combined efforts, they’re rallying artists like Paris Jackson (who played a live benefit for EqualizeHer at the renowned LA venue the Troubadour on Oct. 9 with Aimee Mann, Tinashe, Tish Melton, and more). Billie Eilish and Christina Aguilera have also expressed interest in being ambassadors for this organization.

She Is The Music 

From industry professionals to songwriters, She is the Music, is devoted to increasing the number of women working in music across. They’ve created an international database of women to help the industry discover, connect, and create with women, all of whom have been vetted and verified. 

Spearheaded by the inimitable Alicia Keys, along with a cadre of influential and talented women in the industry, "We want to create a model for change that affects women across all industries," Keys told Essence. "We deserve the utmost respect, and so many of these women across industries are telling our culture that time is up on double standards, and it’s over for pay inequity and colleagues who are at best disrespectful and at the worst unsafe — so it’s over for that." 

The organization also hosts songwriting sessions and mentorship programs to develop and empower the next generation of women in music. Participants work with artists and receive pertinent, experiential insight into all areas of production, business, touring, and songwriting.

"We are an independent, global network that operates as a unifying organization for women from across the industry,"  their website states, "creating strength and impact on a global scale. As an umbrella nonprofit, we also provide resources and support for female-focused initiatives that are working to create meaningful change — both through our own programs, as well as external efforts around the world."

She Knows Tech

As its name indicates, She Knows Tech, concentrates on bringing talented female-identifying producers and engineers and tech performers to the forefront of the industry. The organization provides a safe space and platform for women to give and receive training in music technology.

"Upon learning of the striking gender imbalance and lack of female role models within the industry, we started She Knows Tech to support each other and find mentors to connect, within and outside the educational space," say Founders Jasmine Kok and Meghan Smyth.

The two have amplified their mission through a series of events, culminating with the  She Knows Tech Summit.

Established in 2021, the multi-day event  includes workshops, masterclasses, a job fair, showcases, camps, and conversations moderated by GRAMMY-winning engineers, and is presented by 30+ gender expansive audio professionals. The hybrid event "created an empowering experience for our community to learn from role models that represent them in the space."

She Knows Tech has chapters in Valencia and Boston, and recently came under the ownership of We Are Moving the Needle. Its partners include industry heavy hitters around the world, from the Audio Engineering Society to Spitfire Audio.

We Are Moving The Needle

Founded by GRAMMY winner Emily Lazar, Chief Mastering Engineer for The Lodge, We Are Moving The Needle is an "inclusive organization working to create measurable change by empowering women in the recording and professional audio industry with the education, equipment and the mentorship needed to succeed at the highest levels."

Only 2.6 percent of producers and audio engineers on the Billboard Hot 100 are women, according to  the USC Annenberg Inclusion in the Recording Studio study. "I​t was a sobering reality, and I knew then that I had to do something to change that," Lazar noted. "It was hard for me to understand how the music industry at large was failing so miserably at something that, in actuality, isn’t very difficult to address."

"In addition to donating scholarships, equipment, and funds to We Are Moving The Needle," says Lazar, "those in positions of power can simply hire more women. They can make a conscious effort to consider women for producing and engineering roles on every record."

We Are Moving the Needle's  advisory board includes an embarrassment of riches in terms of experience, success, knowledge, and accolades. Their members include Alanis Morissette, Brandi Carlile, Brittany Howard, Liz Phair, Imogen Heap, Linda Perry, and HAIM.

"I always say," reminds Lazar, "‘if you can see it, you can be it. Representation matters."

Beat By Girlz

Beats By Girlz provides tools, education and resources within the community to drive growth and learning for younger generations of women and gender-expansive people. Their decentralized team works with members and partners all around the world — including a board of music industry veterans — and has five chapters across the world representing 15 different countries.

Beats By Girlz was founded in 2013 by Erin Barra, Director of Popular Music at Arizona State University and former Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music. Barr is the chief author of the Recording Academy’s Women in the Mix, and her organization is changing the industry from the ground up.

Women And Gender-Expansive Jazz Musicians Face Constant Indignities. This Mentorship Organization Is Tackling The Problem From All Angles.