Bose works to boost gender parity in music production

• Bose on March 1 launched “Turn the Dial,” an initiative focused on addressing the barriers causing gender disparity in music production, according to a press release. 
• Bose will work with non-profit She Is The Music to create a board comprised of musicians, A&R executives and producers that can construct a pipeline for the subsequent generation of ladies and non-binary producers. The audio company will provide production kits to people in the She Is The Music network.
• The initiative was inspired by research that found only 2.8% of popular songs from the last decade were produced by women. To boost the trouble, Bose will launch a campaign featuring musicians H.E.R., PinkPantheress, BLOND:ISH and WondaGurl that can run across digital and social platforms.

On the primary day of Women’s History Month, Bose took aim at an under-explored gender gap with the launch of its “Turn the Dial” initiative which seeks to raise awareness and increase opportunities for girls and non-binary music producers. Bose’s own research found that only 2.3% of Top 100 hits in 2022 were produced by women — a decrease from an already abysmal 2.8% found in other research.

“Like music producers, Bose has a passionate group of people that, through their craft, seek to create amazing audio experiences for people to enjoy. This is why we’re driven to add our voice to the conversation and convey attention to the problem,” said in the press release.

The initiative takes several forms. In partnership with the non-profit organization She Is The Music, Bose has created the Sound is Power Impact Board, comprised of music industry figures that can look to elevate women and non-binary music producers who can submit their music for quarterly review. As a part of the partnership, Bose will provide a whole lot of production kits, including software and headphones, to musicians in the non-profit’s network.

To promote the trouble, Bose launched a digital and social campaign and content series. A 60-second spot that debuted on the Billboard Women in Music Awards on March 1 features H.E.R., PinkPantheress, BLOND:ISH and WondaGurl, with music written and arranged by H.E.R. and extra production by WondaGurl.

“Turn the Dial” follows other campaigns which have sought to help close gender gaps in quite a lot of settings, like Bacardi’s NFT-based effort that aimed to shine a lightweight on the underrepresentation of ladies in music production. In general, purpose-driven marketing around gender issues has seemingly taken a backseat amid increased consumer polarization and other challenges of the post-COVID landscape.