LOUD! band camp is being held this year for the tenth time. The camp is an important arena for recruiting young girls, transgender people and non-binary people into a male-dominated music industry. – Here we get all the pieces to build something cool, says participant Kajsa Møkster Sjuve.
/ 08/08/2022 / Kristian DugstadWatch the video at the bottom of the article..
At Haugetun Folkehøgskole in Fredrikstad, young girls, transgender people and non-binary people are gathered at LOUD! Band Camp. In 2022, the camp will be held for the tenth time, and over two weeks, a total of 51 11-17 year olds have participated.
The band camp is organized by the organizations JM Norway and AKKS, and one of the main goals is to address the large gender imbalance in the music industry.
Two of the participants are 17-year-old Ane Garvik from Stavanger, and 15-year-old Kajsa Møkster Sjuve from Oslo.
– There are a lot of visible men in the music industry. When you only see men, you might not think that it's just as cool to have someone who doesn't identify as a man on stage. Here it's not like that, so you see that it can be different, says Ane Garvik.
– Here we get all the pieces to build something cool, and realize that music is something we can do, says Kajsa Møkster Sjuve.
Men are overrepresented in the music industry. Among TONO's 38,000 members, a full 80 percent are men, based on their registered social security numbers. The reasons for the bias are undoubtedly complex, but there is broad agreement that a key reason is the lack of role models that underrepresented groups can identify with.
– Our leaders represent those we want to recruit. They are also women, transgender people and non-binary. So you get to see people who are similar to yourself in everything from technical roles, instrument teaching and songwriting. We really believe that the role model effect is a very important part of what we do, says Haley Shea, one of the administrators at LOUD!
TONO wants to raise awareness about this major bias, and is positive about measures that contribute to greater diversity in the music industry and among songwriters.
TONO is a proud partner with LOUD!