AIR (Australian Independent Record labels Association) have recently announced that it will place 100 mentees for the first round of the 4-year women in music mentor program funded by the Australian Government, and two Gold Coast residents have made the list.
This diverse group of mentees come from all sectors of the industry nationally, and are musicians, producers, managers, publicists, booking agents, events managers and more. Two of these mentees include Gold Coasters Emily Hopley (pictured) and young local artist Izellah Connelly, who was stoked to be chosen.
"It’s so great that a young artist like me can get help from people that are very experienced in this crazy industry!" she said.
AIR General Manager Maria Amato said they received an impressive number of applications for the initial round.
"We are delighted with the response we have received for the very first round of this program. A total of 342 applications from around the country were received and our assessment committee had the difficult task of reviewing and assessing them to determine the candidates for this round – our huge thanks to them all.
Over the coming weeks, we will place each mentee with a qualified mentor and then begin induction training, mentoring and professional development sessions in late October. It is an honour to be delivering a program that aims to empower, educate and aid the progression of career development," Maria said.
After mentees are matched, they will commence a professional development program that will cover a 5 month period, with a focus on contract negotiation, financial literacy, marketing and leadership, with each program tailored to a mentees unique and diverse skillset and needs.
Gold Coast Emily Hopley can't wait to get started.
“It is such an honour to be selected for the first round of Women in Music Mentorship Program," she said. "I am excited to learn off my mentor and to incorporate my learnings into my own business. I find myself extremely grateful that I am able to build myself up in an era where womxn are championed the way they should be.”
The second round of this program will be announced in early 2021, with information on this to be released later this year. The Women in Music Mentor program is a four-year nation-wide mentoring and training program funded by the Australian Government. It is aimed at empowering women in the Australian music industry and is open to all female, female-identifying and non-binary participants working in or aspiring to work in creative (solo artists, band members, songwriters), technical (engineers, producers, etc.) and/or business roles (managers, promoters, record labels, etc.) within the Australian music industry.
For more info and to see the full mentee list, visit here.
