According to a USC Annenberg report on inclusion, less than 5% of the music tech industry is comprised of women, non-binary or trans people and less than 1% of these people are people of color. Saffron Music seeks to help change these findings.
Founded in 2015 in Bristol, UK by Laura Lewis-Paul, Saffron works as a non-profit organization that offers training in music production and sound engineering, while aiming to advance gender equality and offer a safe space for women, non-binary and trans people to learn and build confidence. Citing on their website “We want to inhabit traditionally male-dominated music tech spaces and become visible role models for others.”
Another key aspect of Saffron’s work is to strive to reach those without the financial means to still be able to learn from Saffron’s courses by offering select courses free of charge.
While primarily based in Nottingham, London, and Bristol, Saffron hosts thousands of folks all over the world through online courses and workshops that encourage learning from each other through different, yet common, experiences in the music tech industry.
According to their website, “While Saffron is absolutely not ‘anti-men’ we see that a short-term solution is to provide fellowship and learning environments that are not dominated by cisgender men.”
The courses are primarily for their target groups, however, Saffron has a small number of cisgender men involved in various ways saying, “…if we want to see in the industry then we need to have good role models across the gender spectrum.”
In a changing world, the industry must follow or be left behind, Saffron Music helps lead the way to change.
