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Live Nation launches Women Nation fund

Live Nation has announced an investment fund specifically for women, in order to level the playing field between men and women in the industry

By Jamie Raybould on 16 May 2018

Anna Sjölund, SVP touring international for Live Nation Sweden

Live Nation Sweden MD Anna Sjolund is part of the Women Nation evaluating team


Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino has announced that the company is establishing the Women Nation fund, an early-stage investment fund to focus on female-led live music businesses, including festivals, events, and promotion companies. The fund will provide capital and use of Live Nation’s resources in order to encourage more women to pursue a career in the industry.

According to Live Nation, the Women Nation fund will “identify, fund and grow the pool of female-led festivals, events and promotion companies available on a worldwide basis”, with successful entrants chosen by a Women Nation evaluating team comprising senior female LN execs.

Rapino says about the fund: “As the leader in live entertainment, we want to meaningfully address this issue, change the dynamic and widen the playing field. The Women fation Fund is a first step towards empowering new entrepreneurs and creating more opportunity for women in this sector of the live music business.”

“As the leader in live entertainment, we want to meaningfully address this issue, change the dynamic and widen the playing field”

Dr Stacy Smith, the founder and director of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California, adds: “Women are underrepresented across the entertainment ecosystem, but we see this particularly in the music industry, one crucial way to kick-start the effort towards gender parity is to fund female entrepreneurs. I applaud Live Nation for their leadership and for committing its resources in a way that can affect real change.”

Members of the evaluating team include Anna Sjolund (co-managing director, Live Nation Sweden), Amy Corbin (promoter, C3), Virginia Davis (founder, G Major Management), Amy Howe (COO, Ticketmaster), Lesley Olenik (VP, touring), Maura Gibson (president, Frontgate Ticketing), Kelly Chappel (VP, touring) and Carrie Davis (chief communications officer).

The announcement comes on the back of the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns, as well as the outcry over the ‘gender gap’ of some of the biggest concert businesses in the UK.

 


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