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"Genius is gender blind, and so should we be." I propose a solution for the commercial music industry: a library of composers in which their music is featured but they are not. Using technology to keep the selection process blind, we allow companies to hire musicians based on quality alone.

Technology plays a crucial part in widening access to the music industry. But, as the playing field grows, competition increases exacerbating existing gender gaps in employment.

This solution focuses on bridging the gender gap in the film music industry. According to a recent USC study, 1.5% of the last 867 American films released were scored by women. However, esteemed scoring programs at NYU, USC, and Berklee boast 50% female enrollment. In schools the gender gap is closing. The internet provides technology training like never before. Women are better equipped, but their presence in the professional space does not reflect this. 

I surveyed 50 female composers with two questions: 1. what's the primary obstacle in your career? 2. has technology helped to overcome this? The unanimous answers:

1. Outside of education, women lack comparable resumes to men-- they are battling later entry to the profession.  

2. No, because technology hasn't "hidden that they are women". 

Creating good music isn't correlated to or caused by connections and prior accolades.

Let's use technology to eliminate bias in the hiring process: a double blind experiment. If we consider the music first, the numbers of working women composers will rise in an authentic way. 

Women who have invested in skill training without being awarded employment due to bias will benefit. Both male and female composers can submit their music online, and they will be assigned a numerical ID. A panel will blindly assess the music and decide if it will be featured. The library will be available to production companies to source for composers. As incentive for the production companies, we will also serve as a film investor, offering to subsidize the music if they use this service. Once a composer is chosen for a project, his/her identity will be revealed.

Track how many females are hired through this double blind experiment and measure against a sample pool of films of the same size that hired composers with their identities known during the hiring process. - Proof that eliminating gender, identity, prior accolades and focusing on musical content will increase the numbers of female composers hired for commercial projects

No two films require the same music and hiring the perfect composer for the job should predominantly rely on the music he/she produces. Quota systems are discussed to raise numbers of women in music, but hiring companies fear that this will be at the expense of quality. I was once asked "are male composers working more than females because they are simply better?" This solution addresses that deep rooted assumption and brings other factors to light. The technology being used is not new, but it has never been used in this capacity to eliminate bias in this field. 

This solution starts with its intended benefactors, because I am a working female composer. Having experienced first hand at the highest level the blocks in the hiring process that have nothing to do with the music -- I believe that this change in process will have results. We rarely talk about the gender gap in creative professions, because they are still seen as "luxury professions". However, producing music requires long hours and technical training yielding the same gender biases as many other fields. I hope this solution might eventually serve as a model for other creative professions as well. 

The solution will be deployed on the internet. It will be free for the communities I am targeting. Production companies will partner with us because we will act as investors in their project-- therefore, they will gain access to the online platform and its library that way. 

We have 2 investors on board to carry us through the first year of our pilot. This should cover 5-10 indie to mid-level indie films depending on scale of production, and therefore 5-10 composers.

As investors in the films we require to use our blind service, we retain the publishing and rights to the music composed for said films. This way, we can re-purpose the music commercially, with the help of members of our team who work in licensing and advertising, to generate further revenue and royalties from the music we provide outside of the film itself. This extra revenue should grow and help us scale. If production companies want exclusivity re: the score, they will have to pay a fee for that depending on a time constituent. If this is the case, we will still receive royalties on the film. 

The main factor that will limit us is initial bias, though we aim to eliminate it. We will provide financial incentives for companies to use us for hiring composers until we have proven quality and results -- but ultimately we are relying on a base-level macro desire for change in the system, and companies who want to prove this result with us. 

I am applying to Solve, because within the music community I have heard lots of discussion about gender disparities but seen little action outside of awareness initiatives. This is largely because it's difficult to change the hierarchy and process without help from other industries -- technology, finance, etc. Musicians alone can't combat this problem in a way that achieves measurable results.

Similarly, I want to be a solver because just as we need others, I'd love to contribute and show the power of change that the arts have to offer to many of the world's issues. 

working composers and music produces, executives in music licensing and advertising at Zync music and Third Side music, agents at CAA, WME, and Kraft-Engel, ASCAP, an angel investor. 

Cutting Edge Music Group