Introducing ‘One Of One’: A New Online Community To Support Women In The Music Industry
Some advice from its creators: "No one likes jerks".
Music is a notoriously tough gig to crack. Whether you wanna be an artist, a publicist, a booking agent, a label manager or one of those miscellaneous people who always seem to have free tickets to shit, there are always going to be a number of barriers in your way.
Now, just a few days out from International Women’s Day, a group of three ladies from the top of their field have come together to create something to help.
Launching on Wednesday, One of One features interviews with women from all realms of the Australian music scene, aiming to offer a stronger sense of community and support, and to encourage more to get on board. The women behind it have already published the stories of nine young women from an array of impressive organisations across the country, including triple j publicist Gerry Bull and ethereal electro specialist Airling.
“We think it’s time we built an online community with the aim of inspiring and empowering others, whether they be people who have worked in the industry for decades, those paving their way into the industry or currently studying the business,” the website reads.
So, to hear more about the idea — and turn their own form back on them — we posed some questions to creators Sarah Hamilton (Ditto Music) and Joanna Cameron (Australian Independent Record Labels Association).
Most importantly: who even are you, and how do we join your cool club?
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Junkee: First of all, the name: does ‘One of One’ have some specific meaning?
One of One: Yes! Coming up with a name was actually one of the hardest parts (no joke!); we wanted something that everyone could connect with, and that women from all different factions of the music industry would feel comfortable being a part of.
Originally we wanted an empowering Beyoncé lyric like “We Run This”, but decided not to go with that (and looking back we are pretty glad we didn’t). We wanted to keep the conversation open to men also; this was a big thing for us. In the last day alone we’ve had a huge response from men getting in touch and nominating women in their workplace — it’s so great to see the support from both sexes.
Ironically, we went with a Jay Z lyric from ‘Show You How’. The line is “One of one… that means none before it, none to come“. [We’re applying that] to women who are individuals, originals and with their own experiences to share.
Tell me a little about why you started the site. What you hope to achieve with it?
We wanted to create a positive platform, where we can share the stories of and views from women in the Australian music industry. A place to become inspired, learn about what it’s like to be a music publicist, a tour manager or a venue booker — any aspect of the industry — and also just highlight how many great women there are working in this field. We also hope to create a supportive community of people.
Do you think there’s a lack of other spaces which celebrate women like this?
Speaking to plenty of women prior to our launch, we were told about other sites like Listen and Broadside, which we were really excited to find out about — they’re both doing such incredible jobs. We wouldn’t say there’s a lack of other spaces, but it doesn’t hurt to have another does it?
[For One of One], we wanted to dig a little deeper and get an understanding of what someone’s role was like on a day-to-day basis; the things they’ve learned along the way, advice, ideas for the future — that sort of thing… We just wanted to get it all together in a communal place.
What do you think of Caitlin Stasey’s Herself? One of One feels similar… like, if Stasey’s site was like Tumblr, yours would be the LinkedIn alternative.
We saw the launch of Herself and think it’s pretty amazing, kudos to Caitlin. She has such strong values and it’s always interesting to read about her. That said, we feel the only similarity would be that both sites have Q&A interviews, and are exclusively about women.
The conversation about One of One started about five or six months ago, and we always wanted it to be about the work that women do, their roles, their perspectives of the industry and their daily lives in those positions. One of One has a professional focus. Like Linked In, we do see One of One becoming a community of people, but we definitely won’t be sending out as many emails as they do!
Do you have plans to expand One of One, to focus on other industries?
This may be something we look into in the future, but as we both work in the music industry … this is the field we know and understand. I wouldn’t know the ins and outs of the visual art industry for example; I think if we do expand to include this in the future, it would be best to get people who work in that field involved.
You ask many of your subjects about their views on the future of music. How do you personally see the industry changing in the next few years?
Sarah: I think music will always be an industry with a huge amount of passion, discussion, hard work and a sense of community. That won’t ever change. The things that do change revolve around how people listen to and purchase music, if they purchase music, how they discover music, and how generational attitudes can shift. As I work in the digital space, my interests lie a lot in musical discovery and social sharing online – I think this will continue to evolve. But the love and passion for music will never waver.
Jo: I agree with Sarah on this, but I’d also like to point out what I’d like to see changed in the next few years. Working at AIR, my background is supporting independent artists first and foremost. We have such a strong, vibrant scene of independent artists that need to be heard, but there is little to no commercial radio support for them. It’s frustrating. A NOVA or Fox FM, for instance, could play up to 5-10 rotations of the same Taylor Swift song within the same hour. If they swapped at least one of those 5-10 rotations — just one! — to an artist like Courtney Barnett or Saskwatch or the Smith Street Band, that would be HUGE. That’s a change I would love to see made.
What’s your advice for people wanting to start a career in the music industry?
Sarah: I remember reading that the “sweet spot” [in a career] is when skill, passion and purpose combine. Work out what you’re good at, what you love and care about, and why you want to do it. Then just go for it and don’t give up.
Jo: A big one for me is experience. Volunteer, intern, build on your work experience in any way possible. If no one is taking on interns, put on your own shows, manage your friend’s band — be active if this is what you really want. If you get an internship, work your butt off. Yes you might not get paid, but the industry is pretty small and people talk. You want them talking about how amazing you are. Also, be nice. No one likes jerks.
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Head over to One of One to learn more about these kind of experiences in the music industry. Or, if you’d like to get involved or nominate someone to be interviewed drop them a line.