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Without music tech, there would be no music industry. Unless they’ve developed these skills themselves, your favourite artist needs an engineer, a mixer and a producer to record their songs and make them sound as polished as possible. These roles are rarely public-facing, but they are multi-faceted and foundational: if you work in music tech, you help to build each track from scratch, from the beat to the instrumentation to the vocal part.
For this reason, it’s both troubling and unacceptable that less than 5 per cent of the music tech industry is comprised of women, non-binary and trans people, and fewer than one per cent of these roles are occupied by women, non-binary and trans people of colour. If recording studios remain overwhelmingly white, male-dominated spaces, how can the rest of the music industry become more inclusive too?
This is where Bristol-based nonprofit Saffron comes in. Ten years ago, Laura Lewis-Paul launched this intersectional music tech network to improve representation in the sector while also nurturing women, non-binary and trans DJs. Saffron’s success over the last decade is reflected in the way its remit has evolved to serve its growing community.
“At the beginning, it was very much about helping women, non-binary and trans people who wanted to learn how to produce or DJ. We were really focused on those beginner-level interactions,” Lewis-Paul says. “But over the last 10 years, we’ve kind of grown up with our community, so we’re also working with people at an intermediate to advanced level.” One of Saffron’s main objectives now is helping their mentees to “break into the industry and build viable long-term careers”.
The organisation’s work has three main strands: educating the next generation of music tech professionals, creating pathways for them to enter the industry, and building a close-knit network of women, non-binary and trans creatives. With robust support from companies like viagogo – who have contributed to Saffron for the past two years – Saffron ensures that at least 25 per cent of places on every music production, sound engineering, radio broadcasting and DJ mixing course they run are completely free, helping to reshape the music industry into a more inclusive and equitable space for all talent.
Many of Saffron’s courses run once a week in the evening, while others are entirely online, so people can fit them around paid work and other commitments. Most students hear about Saffron through word-of-mouth: a testament to the strong sense of community that it fosters.
Lewis-Paul and her team also strive to build partnerships with record labels and other industry gatekeepers who can help to level the playing field. She readily admits this is an ongoing process that has involved several “ups and downs” over the last decade. “During the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter moment really captured the moment, and that definitely got people listening,” Lewis-Paul says. “But since then there have been setbacks because of wider societal trends like D&I [diversity and inclusion] budgets being cut.”
Above all, it takes time to change industry practices that may have remained largely the same for decades. “The key is building real trust with people at each company on a personal level,” Lewis-Paul says. “It’s a big industry but I do feel as though we’re really gaining momentum in this area.”
Encouragingly, Saffron has recently benefited from a high-profile shot in the arm courtesy of FKA Twigs, a world-class artist who grew up in the West Country. The visionary avant-pop artist is teaming with the non-profit to launch an educational grant programme supporting women, non-binary and trans people working at what Twigs calls “the backbone of the industry”. During her speech at this month’s Music Week Women In Music Awards, she highlighted the scope of the problem and its potentially toxic side effects.
“In the two decades I’ve been in the studio, aside from the sessions where it’s been at my request, I’ve only worked with one female engineer,” she said. “I wish when I started out, I could have had more women around me – engineers, techs, managers, executives – more support, more advice, more people to hold those accountable who made me feel uncomfortable. Then maybe I wouldn’t have had to navigate so much unnecessary noise.”
For Lewis-Paul, Twigs’ speech wasn’t just a source of pride, but also of excitement for the future. “It was hearing our vision in a way I’ve never heard it before, because Twigs was able to relate it directly to her experience as an artist,” she says. “And it was even more amazing because the entire music industry was in that room. We’ve been working for 10 years, but it felt like a moment when all these different people could really hear the why of what we do.”
Generally, though, it’s grassroots moments with the Saffron community that make Lewis-Paul proud of what she and her team have achieved. “At the end of every DJ course, we have a mix night that’s basically a beautiful showcase for people to come out and do their first live set,” she says. “In that moment, you can really see what an inclusive dance floor looks like and the incredible support that our community offers to people. If something goes wrong, no one boos or judges – they cheer! That’s a really special energy to be around.”