Grace Goodwin (University of Liverpool)
„GENiE: Spreadsheets as Activism“

The European music industry exhibits profound structural gender inequalities, evidenced by the marginal representation of women and gender-expansive individuals in key creative, executive, and public-facing roles. In response, a vast but fragmented ecosystem of grassroots initiatives has emerged to provide support and professional development. This paper presents a critical case study of GENiE (Gender Equality Networks in Europe), a digital database developed to map over 500 such initiatives. This study details the methodological challenges of constructing a pan-European database, including overcoming Anglo-Eurocentric bias through community consultation and developing a multi-faceted taxonomic system to categorise initiatives. It argues that while such archiving is a vital tool for visibility and network-building, it is an inherently non-neutral, political act. The paper rigorously examines the significant ethical dilemmas encountered, from the gatekeeping power of categorisation and the lack of initial consent from archived projects to the risk of weaponisation in hostile regulatory environments. Ultimately, this paper contends that projects like GENiE are essential for challenging industry inequities but must continually navigate the paradox of replicating the very structural burdens they seek to dismantle, where the labor of repair falls disproportionately on those already marginalised.

Grace Goodwin is a PhD researcher at the University of Liverpool where her work focuses on inequalities in the creative industries, particularly gender inequalities in the music industry. She is a consultant who delivers projects, research and talks and launched GENIE (Gender Equality Networks in Europe), a database of over 500 projects supporting gender equity in the music industry. She is a session musician, artist mentor and sits on the board of the PRS Foundation, one of the largest funders of new music in the UK.