Canadian music festivals among 45 pledging gender equality in lineups by 2022

TORONTO — Four Canadian music events are joining an international pledge to fight inequality in the industry by vowing to have gender parity across their lineups by 2022.

Montreal’s electronic music festival Mutek, western Canadian-based conference BreakOut West, and both North By Northeast and Canadian Music Week in Toronto are among 45 global events agreeing to take part in the initiative.

The move is being led by U.K. talent firm PRS Foundation, which founded a program called Keychange in the hopes of “empowering women to transform the future of the music industry.”

Gender imbalance has long been a conversation in the music industry, though pressure has ramped up in recent years, with both the Grammy Awards and Junos facing criticism over a lack of female representation among their nominees.