(left to right) Gaby Cartwright, Head of Partnerships at LIVE & Nadia Khan, Founder of Women in CTRL
For the first time, gender representation across leadership in the UK’s live music sector has been benchmarked with an intersectional lens in ‘Seat at the Table: LIVE Edition,’ a new report from Women in CTRL, commissioned by LIVE (Live Music Industry Venues & Entertainment), which represents 15 live music industry organisations.
This landmark report establishes a crucial starting point for measuring progress and driving meaningful change, following LIVE’s recent statement of commitment to eradicating misogyny in the live music industry. While the findings highlight positive progress, they also reveal persistent disparities in leadership representation, with key findings including:
- 41% of board members across LIVE and its 15 member organisations are women and/or non-binary people.
- Only 8% of board members are women from a global majority* background.
- Just 27% of CEOs across LIVE’s member organisations are women.
- 0% of CEOs or Chairs come from a global majority background.
- 30% of Chairs across LIVE’s member organisations are women.
- 4 out of 16 organisations have 50% or more women and/or non-binary board members.
- Music Venue Trust (MVT) leads with 61% of its board identifying as women and/or non-binary.
- The report also highlights positive work in this space such as the LIVE Statement of Commitment and AIP diversity database
Benchmarking has long been proven to be an important catalyst for change. Women in CTRL’s ‘Seat at the Table’ reports have demonstrated that tracking and publishing diversity data directly drives progress. To evidence this, women’s representation on UK Music trade association boards rose from 32% in 2020 to 52% in 2024.
The Seat at the Table: LIVE Edition benchmarking report is the first of its kind for the UK live music industry organisations, setting an important precedent for transparency and accountability. The findings make it clear that urgent steps are still needed to improve representation at senior levels and to implement succession planning, which will ensure long-term diversity.
To drive action around this report, LIVE and Women in CTRL will host a virtual roundtable on 23rd April, bringing together organisations from across the sector to discuss its findings and develop tangible commitments for change. The aim is to establish an industry-wide pledge, with organisations setting clear targets for gender and ethnic representation in leadership while publicly sharing their progress.
Gaby Cartwright, Head of Partnerships at LIVE said, “As an industry, it’s clear that we must do more to improve gender representation at the highest levels. That’s why we are committed to achieving at least 50% gender equality and 16% global majority representation of women in senior leadership positions across LIVE and its 15 member organisations by 2030, in line with the 2021 national census data. Reaching this goal will require collective effort, accountability, and meaningful action—but momentum is building. This report provides crucial insight into the challenges we face, and the concrete steps needed to drive lasting change.”
Nadia Khan, Founder of Women in CTRL added, “We know from experience that what gets measured gets done. This report is an essential first step; by setting a clear benchmark, we are providing the industry with a roadmap for action, not simply reflection. I commend the organisations that have stepped forward to share their data – this level of transparency is a vital step towards real change and sets a precedent for accountability across the sector. Our roundtable taking place on April 23rd will be a pivotal moment, bringing together key players in the live sector to commit to real, tangible change. We want to leave that room with an industry-wide pledge that sets clear targets for representation and accountability. This is about long-term change, and we invite the entire live sector to step up and be part of the solution.”
A link to the full report and press pack can be found here.
