Carolin Kebekus organizes female protest festival
Criticism of festivals: “Horrible overweight of men”
In the announcement of the voluntary project, there is talk of a “hair-raising overweight of men” at many festivals. “Guys, dudes, guys as far as the eye can see! On average, the proportion of women appearing at “Rock am Ring” is in the solid single-digit percentage range.” Why? “Men book men,” it continues. It’s easier for them to join bands they already know, and those are male groups.
There is no case too few rock musicians of format. Or, as KMA and Ladies & Ladies ask ironically, is the lack of money the only problem? All proceeds from their samplers would therefore be donated to the organizers at the Nürburgring. “With the money they can hopefully afford a little more diverse participation for “Rock am Ring” 2023,” it continues.
Kebekus: Signal for more visibility of women on stages
At the end of April, Kebekus said in the podcast “Talk mit K” of the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”: “I’ve been to “Rock am Ring” a lot and have experienced incredibly great bands. But when you see that this year the The percentage of women on stage is going towards zero, that simply cannot be the case. That will no longer be possible in 2022.” She can no longer hear the argument that there are too few female bands. “They have to be encouraged, just like male musicians.” At their Cologne festival on Whit Monday, only female artists such as Lea, the No Angels and Mine are on stage. According to the Kebekus spokesman, around 5,000 visitors are expected. Men are invited too. It is about a signal for more visibility of women on stages.
“Rock am Ring” organizer: Many women far away from the stage
The boss of the “Rock am Ring” organizer company Dreamhaus, Matt Schwarz, explains: “Carolin Kebekus addressed an important topic that we also dealt with.” He refers to the producers and other women who make the festival possible as a whole First: “We have women in central and management positions at “Rock am Ring”, from event and festival management, ticketing, marketing and PR management to the entire festival production office, the accreditation team and various production managers of the individual stages.”
Schwarz emphasizes: “We will also prioritize this topic in the future and have already started to do so in the ongoing program planning for the coming year.” However, it is also clear “that a festival cannot implement diversity on its own”. This requires the consistent action of all players, such as record companies, band management and the media.
Roth: Give female artists “necessary space in the program”.
Minister of State for Culture Roth believes that organizers have a responsibility to “meet the changed expectations in our society by specifically promoting many exciting and successful female artists and giving them the space they need in the programme. In any case, it’s not the fault of the fans.” In order to change something, “every initiative that focuses on music by and with women is important”.
There will probably not be a lightning change here. Music sociologists and music pedagogues refer to very traditional structures. For example, little girls would be encouraged to learn the flute, violin or piano rather than drums, electric guitar or electric bass. Bands are formed exclusively by boys. And the rock music industry is characterized by male producers.