WHO HOLDS POWER IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?
Women in CTRL is an independent research and leadership organisation examining power, representation, and decision-making across the music industry.
What We Do
Women in CTRL is an independent research and leadership organisation producing evidence and frameworks that examine how power operates across the music industry, with a focus on governance, representation, and decision-making at senior and board level.
Seat at the Table
Seat at the Table is Women in CTRL’s flagship research programme. It provides evidence-based analysis of representation and governance across the UK music industry, with a focus on leadership, boards, and decision-making structures.
The research has informed board-level conversations, contributed to organisational change, and supported the development of more accountable leadership practices across the sector.
From Research to Practice
Research and data
Women in CTRL produces independent research examining power, representation, and decision-making across the music industry.
Leadership Pathways
Board readiness, succession planning, and inclusive leadership development designed to strengthen decision-making at senior levels.
Talent development
Mentoring and apprenticeship models that support progression, retention, and access to leadership pathways.
Sector collaboration
Partnerships with industry bodies, funders, and cultural organisations to embed evidence-led change into existing structures.
Why this work matters
Leadership structures shape whose voices are heard, which careers progress, and how resources are distributed. Without transparency and accountability at decision-making level, inequality is reproduced regardless of stated commitments to change.
Women in CTRL exists to address this gap through evidence, analysis, and practical frameworks that support more accountable leadership practice across the music industry.
Seat at the table
Seat at the Table is a widely referenced research framework for examining gender and ethnic representation in UK music leadership. Since 2020, the research has informed board-level discussions, organisational practice, and sector-wide conversations on governance and accountability.
Seat at the Table data shows that, between 2020 and 2024, the proportion of women on boards of UK music trade bodies rose from 32% to 52%. Representation of women from global majority backgrounds increased from 3% to 16% over the same period.
Working across
the sector
Women in CTRL works with industry bodies, cultural organisations, funders, and policymakers
to support research-informed change across the music ecosystem.