Music Publishers Canada is a non-profit, membership-based trade organization dedicated to creating business opportunities for Canadian music publishers and advocating for the rights and recognition of their songwriter partners through education and communication. We spoke with Margaret McGuffin, CEO of Music Publishers Canada, to learn how the organization is driving change in the studio and championing equity through initiatives like the Women in the Studio National Accelerator.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
Music Publishers Canada is a non-profit membership-based trade organization, It is our mission to create business opportunities for our members and to promote their interests and those of their songwriting partners through advocacy, communication, and education.
Seven years ago, we launched the Women in the Studio National Accelerator to provide producer-songwriters with skills development and networking opportunities that may otherwise be inaccessible to them.
What problem does it aim to solve?
Only six percent of the songs you hear are produced by women. Music Publishers Canada is committed to driving meaningful change in the studio and fostering greater equity within the music industry.
When did you start/join it?
We started the program in 2019. The first year, we recruited our first group of producers who worked with world-renowned producer/songwriter Linda Perry during Canadian Music Week.
What made you want to get involved?
Have you ever asked yourself how the top hits of the summer would sound if the studio was more diverse? The music industry has worked hard over the last decade to sign more women artists and even make sure that executive positions at music companies are filled by women. However, when we looked around our studios, we saw that women were not finding their seats in the studio.
What was the situation like when you started?
In 2019, the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative released a study that looked at the Hot 100 year-end Billboard Charts from 2012 to 2018. Only 2.1% of the songs were produced by women.
How has it changed since?
Now more than 6% of the songs you hear are produced by women, but we still have a lot of work to do to make the studio more inclusive.
What more needs to be done?
We have trained more than 40 producers over the last seven year,s and those graduates have moved on to open studios, score the music for your favourite films and write and produce the songs you are hearing on streaming services. The number of women in production is still absurdly low, though, and we are challenging artists to look at their team and make new choices about who they are working with.
How can our readers help?
Your readers should take the time to look at the credits and discover who is writing and producing their favourite songs. They should stream those artists who work with a diverse team of songwriters and producers. For the parents of young girls, encourage them to look at a career in production and songwriting.
Please contact us at info@musicpublishing.ca if you would like to discuss becoming a sponsor.
Where can we follow you?
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Linkedin | YouTube
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity that you love?
I have volunteered for many years with MusiCounts, and I just joined the board of Canada’s Theatre Museum.
