“The 23% Mentorship addresses the troubling statistic of participation in music and is an investment in talent, career guidance and network building..."
— Karen Don, Head of Membership, APRA AMCOS
Now in its 6th year, APRA AMCOS’ mentoring program aims to address gender disparity in the music industry by providing professional guidance and funding directly to successful applicants. To date, 68 participants have passed through the program (not including 2024 batch).
The mentorship program launched after an APRA AMCOS-commissioned report recommended mentorship as a practical way to address gender disparity in the music industry. The report, published in 2017 and conducted by RMIT University's Dr Catherine Strong, focused on screen composers and unpacked the limiting or enabling factors in the development of women’s careers in music. Screen composers were chosen as their membership was even more polarised in terms of gender representation than the wider membership - only 13% of registered screen composers at the time were female.
The research showed that women and gender-diverse music creators faced substantial career barriers including being: less likely to make a sustainable career from their craft, less likely to be given fair opportunities, despite being more educated and less likely to win professional accolades