Abbey Road Studios has today announced details of its third annual Equalise Festival, in celebration of International Women’s Day. Taking place on Saturday 5 March at the newly reopened Angel Studios in Islington, this year’s Equalise Festival will feature a range of masterclasses and panel discussions designed to inspire and empower young women aspiring to a career in music and production. Participants will be able to attend for free by entering a ballot and the festival will also be livestreamed on the Abbey Road Studios website.

Less than 5% of music producers and engineers are women and the team at Abbey Road Studios is determined to play its part in addressing this imbalance. In 2020, Abbey Road Studios launched the Equalise programme, born out of the Studios’ commitment to driving awareness and understanding of music production as a credible and accessible career path for under-represented groups. The programme aims to provide basic tools, knowledge and support to encourage more women to enter the industry, creating opportunities for young people across the UK and internationally.

This year’s programme will shine a light on the artist and production career paths available in the music industry, with some of the UK’s most exciting rising female talent. Also included is a session exploring the journeys of three of the most successful British female composers, while a panel of top female A&R executives will share their advice for artists on how to get spotted. Back by popular demand, the Abbey Road team will be offering free one-to-one mentoring sessions throughout March, covering a broad range of music careers beyond the recording studio and stage.

Isabel Garvey, Managing Director, Abbey Road Studios says: ‘I’m delighted to be expanding our Abbey Road Equalise event in its third year, with a full day of programming and some brilliant guests sharing their insights and advice. We are already seeing Equalise deliver real impact in the music community and inspiring young women as they begin their careers. Getting more women into a wide variety of roles within the music industry remains vitally important and Equalise has become one of the highlights of our year.’

Mark Robertson, Head of Brand & Communications, Abbey Road Studios adds: ‘With a live audience of 2,000 and over 10,000 joining the live stream, our Amplify festival last November highlighted how young people are looking for advice on how to navigate the music industry. As a result, we’re taking the same approach to this year’s Equalise event for International Women’s Day. I’m particularly thrilled that we’re extending the themes to cover A&R and film scoring, with some of the most successful female execs and composers in the UK.’

View the full line-up, enter the ballot to be in the room or sign-up to the live stream here: https://www.abbeyroad.com/equalise

Alongside its 2022 Equalise event, Abbey Road has also recently announced that applications for its second year of the Abbey Road Scholarship Programme for young Black British producers and engineers are now open. Both Equalise and the Abbey Road Scholarship programme are part of a developing series of initiatives from Abbey Road, which enable more young people from diverse backgrounds from across the UK to enter and navigate the music industry in the field of production and engineering, for which the studio is world-renowned.

This Abbey Road Scholarship programme, launched in 2021, provides two fully-funded places on Abbey Road Institute’s Advanced Diploma in Music Production and Sound Engineering as well as a contribution towards living costs. The additional financial support ensures that students who may need to relocate to London from another part of the UK are able to do so. On completion of the course, the successful students progress onto a one-year work placement at Abbey Road Studios. 2021 to support up and coming Black music production students to study at the Abbey Road Institute on its specialist audio course and encourage greater diversity in the field of music production and sound engineering.

For full details on the Scholarship programme, eligibility criteria and the application process:

https://abbeyroadinstitute.co.uk/abbey-road-scholarship-programme-for-black-students/

Abbey Road Equalise Schedule:

10:00am - 11:00am - Abbey Road Institute Panel Discussion: Getting Started in the Music Industry - A panel of Abbey Road Institute graduates, who are now carving out their careers within different areas of the music industry discuss these different roles, what they entail and how they got them.

11:15am - 12:15pm - Songwriting Masterclass with Eyelar, Kay Young & Baby Queen - Dutch born, London based singer songwriter Eyelar, producer, singer and rapper Kay Young and Polydor signee Baby Queen discuss their craft and tips and dissect their own tracks.

12:30pm - 1.30pm - How to Get Heard and Signed with Universal Music’s Char Grant, Rachel Holmberg & Muna Ruumi - Universal Music Group A&Rs Char Grant, Rachel Holmberg and Muna Ruumi share advice and guidance on what they look for when signing an artist.

2.30pm - 3.30pm - Music Production 101 Masterclass with Abbey Road’s Marta Di Nozzi and Sarah Meyz - Abbey Road’s Marta Di Nozzi gives a detailed account of her path to becoming a senior runner at Abbey Road, the fundamentals of how a studio operates and the key skills and requirements you need to excel in the role before her and fellow runner, Sarah Meyz share a Pro Tools session, designed to give an understanding of how recording and mixing works.

3.45 - 4.45PM - Recording and Mixing Essentials with Fiona Cruickshank & Hannah V - Recording engineer, producer and film music editor Fiona Cruickshank and producer and songwriter Hannah V give an overview of their careers to date and how they got to where they are today, including tips for other young female producers and engineers, before the session is opened up for a Q&A.

5.00PM - 6.00PM - Music for Film Masterclass with Anne Nikitin, Nanita Desai and Anne Dudley - Canadian composer Anne Nikitin, Ivor Novello nominated composer Nanita Desai and composer and pop musician Anne Dudley explore their journeys, leading an overview on composition, and discussing how they would score a cue from a film.