Diversity

With so many nations, communities and diasporas on the continent, European culture indeed represents diversity itself. Music is a powerful expression of these cultural identities, and helps to celebrate and uphold them. But the notion of diversity in music encompasses much more. It means that there is a variety in who creates, who gets to be heard and where, and who is the audience. It calls for a variety of ways to learn, to experience and to access music. It also implies a range of funding and support options. Diversity is both an outcome and a need of the music sector. Diversity not only cultivates tolerance, curiosity and respect; it allows music to sustain itself creatively and financially, and ensures that it reaches and resonates with everyone.

Priorities

• Strengthen European identity while embracing its strong diversity of local, regional, national and diasporic musical traditions and practices
• Foster diversity in audiences
• Foster diversity in creators
• Foster diversity in musical genres, both for audiences (a variety of musical genres on offer) and creators (opportunities for learning different musical genres, and for the dissemination of their works)
• Nurture a diversity of organisations (from small and medium-size independent companies to non-profit organisations)
• Promote diversity in dissemination and programming in broadcasting, festivals, concert halls, etc.
• Promote diversity in music education, in terms of the content presented to students, as well as in the student body itself
• Maintain diversity in opportunities for participation (such as volunteering) and musical expression for non-professionals
• Increase diversity in venues and live music events, allowing them to range from small to arena-sized and be able to trade successfully across all genres
• Provide diversity in funding opportunities

Suggested Measures

• Increase the mobility of artists, professionals and non-professionals both across Europe, and between Europe and the rest of the world
• Improve the dissemination of musical practices and works across Europe, and between Europe and the rest of the world
• Promote music created by women (female composers as well as female performers are currently under-represented in many musical genres)
• Ensure a variety of ways to access music regardless of physical or intellectual ability, gender, age, social, cultural or geographical origin, with a focus on under-represented groups (i.e. women, minorities)
• Ensure transparency as a safeguard for diversity in programme selection processes, for example through committee-based selection
• Ensure that pedagogical content encompasses a variety of genres and styles, genders and musical traditions
• Ensure a variety of open and transparent funding sources corresponding to the diversity of the music sector (i.e., public funding, foundations, public-private sponsorships, philanthropic giving, cooperation with businesses and sponsoring, private funding, combined public-private partnership)