Forty-five music events and festivals have teamed up for a pledge for gender equality. The BBC Proms and Liverpool Sound City, among many others, will strive for line-ups with 50% men and 50% women by 2022. The initiative is being led by Keychange and the PRS Foundation, which told the BBC that they are striving for a “better, more inclusive music industry for present and future generations”. Vanessa Reed, CEO of the PRS Foundation, explained the inspiration behind the pledge. “Last year, on average, women made up 26% of the festival line-ups in the UK,” she told the BBC. The goal then, is to double that representation within five years. The CEO acknowledged “that’s quite ambitious but it’s achievable” in a statement to the BBC.  

The initiative follows outcry surrounding festivals like Wireless, which had only booked three female artists over its three-day schedule in July. Lily Allen went viral when she posted the festival poster with the female names highlighted, writing “the struggle is real” on Twitter.