PRS for Music is partnering with Classic Album Sundays for a specially curated Instagram Live to celebrate International Women’s Day 2022 that tells the stories of women in the audio and production world, to encourage the next generation of female talent to enter this space.

Hosted by Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy, broadcaster/DJ/producer and founder of Classic Album Sundays, the event will take place on Instagram Live on Tuesday 8 March at 3pm, and is aimed at women and underrepresented genders, and open to all allies.

Hear from producer, Sophie Ackroyd, former resident of Spotify’s Secret Genius Studio, where she engineered for Future Cut, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Nina Nesbitt, Plested and Trakgirl. Sophie will share her take on working with artists from around the globe across many genres and how, as a versatile and inventive songwriter-producer, you can adapt to any style.

Internationally renowned for her live finger drumming performances, Gnarly, is not only a multi-faceted talent in music tech but also a multi-instrumentalist. Gnarly will share her experiences on her recent collaboration with poet and writer Nikita Gill and her role as the lead mix and mastering engineer for the UK Beatbox Championships.

Michelle Escoffery, Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriter and President of PRS Members’ Council, will also join the panel to share her experiences on coming up in a studio environment and studio life today.

New figures released today (Friday 4 March 2022), show that despite increases in women entering the profession, gender balance within the professional songwriter and composer community remains heavily skewed towards men. Men make up 81.2% of PRS for Music’s songwriter and composer/producer membership.

In 2021, PRS for Music, the organisation which represents the rights of over 160,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers worldwide, recorded 2,090 women registering as professional songwriters and composers. This is the first time this figure has exceeded more than 2,000, and represents a 6% year-on-year increase compared to 2020. Of those women who joined PRS for Music in 2021, 54% (1,132) were under the age of 30.

The Music Producers Guild (MPG), which represents professional record producers, recording engineers, mixers and mastering engineers, has also reported a steady increase in female members joining the organisation within the last three years, accelerating from just 6% in 2018, to 13% in 2021. In 2020, MPG also announced a majority-female board of directors.

The PRS for Music Team will be actively encouraging members to challenge gender bias and inequity, singing to the tune of this year’s International Women’s Day 2022 theme, #BreakTheBias.

Michelle Escoffery, President of the PRS Members’ Council, said: “International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the achievements of women. It also highlights the need for gender parity and equity. PRS for Music is proud to partner with Classic Album Sundays for a discussion that we hope will help prompt conversation and elevate songwriters, composers and producers within our industry.”

Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy, said: “Recently a spotlight has shone on women in under-represented areas of music such as DJ-ing, but there is still much more work to be done, especially in the area of audio production. It is estimated that only 5% of the producers in the UK are women. This series aims to rectify that through celebrating our existing female producers and inspiring the next generation.”