Features
2024 Women of Live: Maggie Arthur
Director Of Here For The Music | Calling All Crows
Maggie Arthur has spent more than half her life working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence including time at nonprofits, shelters and hotlines. In March 2023 she joined the nonprofit Calling All Crows as the director of the Here For The Music campaign, which was launched to combat sexual violence through its anti-harassment trainings, policy guides and tabling at live events.
The past year was a banner year for Here For The Music, thanks to a partnership with Spotify that resulted in training nearly 1,000 music industry professionals and fans – a 60% increase since 2022.
“And still, Here For The Music’s most impactful success over the last year was our partnership with boygenius,” Arthur says. “We facilitated a training for their full band and crew ahead of their summer 2023 tour and tabled at a handful of shows thanks to support from The Ally Coalition. Educating bands and touring crews on the risk factors for sexual violence and how easy it is to create safer music spaces is integral to crafting the music industry we all want to see as artists set the tone for their live shows.” She adds, “The boys not only sing our praises publicly but more importantly they advocate for our shared values of creating a music community that is more inclusive, aware of social justice issues and rooted in change.”
The organization has also worked with The 1975, Clairo and Courtney Barnett’s “Here and There” traveling festival, as well as Bonnaroo.
Here For The Music is focusing on offering staff training and policy consultation to more than 30 independent venues and festivals, along with partnering with artists to reach fans on the road.
“At the same time, a big initiative this year is to get in front of brand new audiences – especially metal, hip hop and country music communities – who have historically been less exposed to conversations about consent in a mosh pit or de-escalating violence from the stage without killing the vibe,” Arthur says.
Calling All Crows is also launching AMPlifying Democracy to “leverage the power of music to inspire, activate, and boost civic engagement during this critical election year.”