Saffron, a leading non-profit working to advance gender equality in the music tech sector, has launched a fundraising campaign.
The organisation is currently struggling to secure its future due to the departure of a primary donor and a number of other crucial arts grants and income sources. Saffron founder Laura Lewis-Paul says that "the cost of living, government arts cuts and lack of sustained funding post-BLM is leaving non-profit organisations like us without the crucial core investment we need to stay afloat".
By providing essential access to resources and a supportive community, Saffron has been creating space, visibility and representation in music technology for women, female-identifying and non-binary people since 2016.
The organisation runs accessible courses both online and in-person across the UK, helping marginalised people build skills and develop knowledge in music production, audio engineering and DJing. They also run 7 Days of Sound (opens in new tab), a week-long digital event that invites notable women within electronic music and music technology to share their expertise.
The latest report (opens in new tab) from USC Annenberg shows that less than 5% of the music tech industry is comprised of women, non-binary or trans people, and less than 1% of these are people of colour, while credits database Jaxsta's recent survey of the top 100 most successful producers (opens in new tab) in music featured only six non-male entries.
Saffron is helping to address this imbalance and build a more equitable music industry. In 2022, they provided music tech training and community infrastructure for over 1000 people around the world.
Support Saffron by contributing to their GoFundMe campaign. (opens in new tab)
Find out more about Saffron's work on their website. (opens in new tab)
