Pernille-Leeloo and Rikke Østergaard have taken on the role of chairperson based on their own work as performing artists.
Photo and graphics: Alberte Silberbrandt

FMB2019, the new name of the Music Movement of 2019, is an organisation that grew out of a Facebook group where you can share experiences of being and working in the music industry and feel connected to like-minded people.
Through a Facebook group with around three thousand followers, the Music Movement has become a safe forum for conversation about transgressive behaviour, sexism and discrimination through sharing experiences, testimonies and events.

"It has proven to be extremely important that we can meet and share specific experiences in an industry where musicians and artists often stand alone," says Pernille-Leeloo, chairperson of the Music Movement, who is also a songwriter and artist.

The Music Movement is an interest organisation with a separatist community and is aimed at women, non-binary and transgender people in the music industry. The organisation's overall vision is to create equal access and opportunities for all genders in the music industry and to facilitate and develop networks and collaboration for members across the industry.

"The organisation emerged as a separatist community, there was a need for that, and to some extent there still is," say Pernille-Leeloo and Rikke Østergaard, who share the chairperson position in FMB2019.

"If we are to create cultural change, we need to collaborate widely"
- Pernille-Leelou, co-chair of the Music Movement

Cultural change requires confidence and knowledge

Over time, the association has seen greater recognition from the surrounding industry to engage in dialogue about what their members experience around sexism and discrimination, but it wasn't always that way. The organisation has no doubt that being united around an important message has helped:

"It's still important to maintain the very special space we have created with and for our members. At the same time, we are very conscious of not closing in on ourselves. If we want to create cultural change, we need to collaborate widely. We make a big virtue of that, because it's crucial, and we're delighted that more and more men are turning up at our open events," says Pernille.

Even though a professional organisation like the Danish Artists' Union can advocate for artists, even in very specific working conditions, not all work environment problems or cases of discrimination reach the union's advisors. This may be due in part to a lack of awareness of the possibility," says Rikke Østergaard.

"I think colleagues lack knowledge about exactly what services and support options are available for the various gender-based harassment cases, especially those that lie in the grey areas outside the legal framework," says Rikke Østergaard, chairperson of the Music Movement, producer, songwriter and artist.

Not everyone has the finances to join a trade union

Rikke and Pernille find that the members of Foreningen Musikbevægelsen want help to improve their working conditions in the music industry, which for many are unmanageable. Many of them are on a tight budget and therefore do not prioritise membership of a trade union. According to Rikke, this is also due to the fact that the political and trade union work does not have the same visibility as the political activism many associate with political action today.

"I think the relatively high level of political awareness that comes with the younger generations is focused on more activist and value-based political agendas, such as climate and human rights. There's a lot of important political work going on in the unions, it's just not as visible as other things in the public debate," she says.

Rikke Østergaard is in no doubt that artists' unions are creating important change. As an example, she highlights the complex maternity leave legislation, which is not well suited to the freelance music labour market.

Help with harassment or negative work environment

Have you experienced inappropriate behaviour or sexism in the music and performing arts industry? Or do you need more general counselling in a work environment situation? Get 1:1 professional counselling at Dansk Artist Forbund, even if you are not a member of the union. Contact us on 33 34 60 20. Here you can also get help to find out what your experience can actually be characterised as.

The economic

Being a member of a trade union is tax deductible. You get access to an unemployment fund with specialised caseworkers and help if you go on maternity leave or fall ill. There's also a range of insurance for both yourself and your equipment, and you can get help setting up contracts.

Anonymous counselling via the Safe Room phone

The Danish Artist Association and FMB2019 collaborate in the Safe Space network. Here, a large number of other organisations in the cultural industry have joined forces to create Safe Space - a counselling forum for enquiries about inappropriate behaviour. Here you can get telephone counselling on 70 20 99 99 99 or SMS counselling on 22 77 01 01 01.

Text, photo and graphics by trade journalist Alberte Silberbrandt