Attorney Claudia Barcellona will be a guest speaker on Sunday, Sept. 29, to talk about gender equity, while on Friday, Sept. 27, she will discuss copyright
Cremona, Sept. 19, 2024 – The difficulties a musician faces these days are numerous, ranging from copyright and complicated permit management to obstacles for young up-and-comers. But more than anything else, an issue felt in the music industry, and one that Cremona Musica also advocates for, is gender equality. Where do we stand in Italy? What else can our country do to make the sector more equitable?
These questions will be tried to be answered by the conference “Gender gap in the Italian music industry and national strategy for gender equality,” which will be held in the events area of the Acustic guitar village on Sunday, Sept. 29, in the last of three days of the Cremona Musica International Exhibitions and Festival, the world’s most prestigious fair dedicated to musical instruments. Speaking from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m.will be Claudia Barcellona, a lawyer who is an expert in entertainment law and measures to ensure gender equality.
The gender gap manifests itself in every area of human life and especially in the work sector, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and in fact if women’s labor participation in Italy is significantly below the European average, the situation becomes even more serious when assessing the working positions occupied.
“In the music supply chain, discrimination is further exacerbated and affects almost all the figures involved ,” Barcelona points out, ” from artistic to technical and entrepreneurial figures, counting an almost non-existence of the female component in top positions, and moreover, where there is such a presence, it is often accompanied by economic discrimination compared to male colleagues.
In recent years, there has been international awareness of these issues and a consequent improvement in women’s work in music. A study conducted by theUSC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California on gender inequality in the music industry attested, for example, at about 3 percent women in production and 13 percent female songwriters, but gender inequality is rampant throughout the industry, starting with presence in the charts, awards and festivals. These numbers have also been confirmed by surveys in Italy, and although, recently, there has been an increase in percentages, equality is still a mirage.
The conference will take a snapshot of the state of the Italian music industry and focus on the strategy adopted at the national level, also in compliance with the goals of the NRP, to reduce discrimination.
Barcelona will also be present on Friday, Sept. 27, the first day of the event, from 3 to 4 p.m. to discuss, together with Giuliano Biasin of the “Esibirsi” cooperative, “Copyright: the complicated management of LEA permits-Soundreef and SIAE.” This will be followed on Saturday 28, from 5 to 6 p.m., by the conference “Market, Rights and Digital Platforms: the difficulties to emerge for musicians today” with Giordanno Sangiorgi, patron of M.E.I. as speaker.
The panels are produced in collaboration with M.E.I., Cooperative Perform and StaGe Coordination.
More than 400 exhibitors from 35 countries, including Europe, the U.S., Canada, Asia and Australia, will be on hand in Cremona Sept. 27-29. Including a rich schedule of events, award ceremonies, cultural meetings and presentations of important new music releases. Including events and live music.
