A sweet note for women in the music business

Brisbane based QMusic is one of the 15 small businesses run by women that are benefitting from the Palaszczuk Government’s Advancing Women in Business fund.

Minister for Employment and Small Business Shannon Fentiman today launched the inaugural QMusic’s Women in Music Mentoring Program at the X Cargo Social Hub.

“With the support of a $40,000 Advancing Women in Business grant, the new mentoring program will help to address the underrepresentation of women in the music industry,” Ms Fentiman said.

“A recent study found that 50 per cent of women felt their gender had had a detrimental impact on their music careers.

“This program will provide an opportunity for women to access professional development that might help overcome the impacts of gender inequality,” the Minister said.

QMusic General Manager Kim Pengelly said the Australian music industry suffers from a significant gender gap with only 28 per cent of senior positions held by women.

“QMusic will be encouraging successful female mentors from the general business community to participate in a paid skill-sharing program so they can assist women within the music industry,” Ms Pengelly said.

“By identifying gaps in the mentees’ current skill-set we can provide an additional professional development opportunity which would be funded by our Women in Music Mentoring Program.

“The mentees get the resources they need to advance their skills, as well as be inspired through exposure to women in leadership roles who are achieving success in their own careers.”

The Minister congratulated QMusic for providing this unique mentoring resource for local female musicians and industry participants to grow and be nurtured by committed and supportive women.

“It is tremendous to see such a unique use of these funds and I look forward to the music success stories over the next 12 months,” Ms Fentiman said.

“The number of Australian women in business has increased over the past 20 years, however, in line with other OECD countries, women remain substantially underrepresented as entrepreneurs.

"You can’t be what you can’t see, so having more women supporting each other through participation in a focused mentoring program for the music business will encourage more women to give it a go.”

“Apply for a mentorship or a scholarship to enhance their business capability and look at how we can get more women stepping up into the world of owning and running their own business.”

The Advancing Queensland Strategy commits to encouraging and supporting women to start and grow businesses and to employ more Queenslanders. The Advancing Women in Business Industry Partnerships Program started in 2016-17 to support these aims.

Applications for the Women in Music Mentoring Program open today (Tuesday, 27 November 2018) and close on Sunday, 13 January 2019.

The 15 Advancing Women in Business recipients in the third funding round are:

• QMusic
• Wandering Cooks
• National Retail Association
• University of Southern Queensland
• Master Plumbers Association
• Acceler8
• Powerhouse Collective
• Murawin
• Tourism Gems
• Utano Consulting
• Advisory Board Centre
• Queensland Resources Council
• Of One Mind
• The Pharmacy Guild
• Complete Business Solutions.

More information can be found at https://www.ditid.qld.gov.au/small-business/advancing-women-in-business and https://www.qmusic.com.au/

ENDS

Media Contact:                      Inga Williams              0439 949 719