Amplify: Ty Stiklorius once worked with a young artist who was so traumatized by sexual harassment from music industry executives that she gave up a chance to write a hit pop song and instead walked away from the business.
“It’s a pervasive issue,” Stiklorius said at the Billboard Annual Touring Conference and Awards this week. “She reported it. Nothing was done.”
2 comments:
The quote form this article that resonated the most with me was, it’s sad that it’s (come out) because some very famous actresses have spoken up. What about the woman on the tour bus…or the young intern?”. I feel like this widespread issue in our industry and other parts of the entertainment industry is only being talked about now because it was someone famous who brought it up. We are all talking about the actresses and actors, the ones in the public eye getting effected by this, and yes it is so important that we address this issue and talk about it, but, what about the people who aren’t being talked about that are still experiencing this issue of sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. The designers and the technicians in this industry face this issue as well, yet our struggles coping with this are never talked about or addressed. Partly because it is our job to be behind the scenes and not seen. Some say, you know you have a good designer when you don’t even realize it is there, meaning that it looks/sounds so real that it doesn’t even feel designed. But our issues should not be looked at like that are not there. We as technicians and designers rising in this industry need to start a dialogue within our own circle and address this issue.
It is sickening to keep hearing about the ways women have been taken advantage of by men in power who use their careers as a motive to get what they want. What Rachel pointed out in her comment, which was also discussed in the article, is that most of the people who have been coming out about their assaults have been the people who are in front of the camera or on the stage or behind the microphone, not the women who set it up or organized the event to begin with. It is hard to vocalize these instances regardless of your position, and even more so for women who rely on those who have assaulted them for their jobs and their careers, rather than the appeal of the public. Going unseen is our nature as creators, designers, technicians, managers, but this is one place where we cannot. The most important thing we can do in this moment is speak out- even the people who are not necessarily in the lime light or always seen, “Our voice is our greatest power. In the music business, for me, it means calling it out, telling the truth…and more importantly creating pathways toward supporting each other”.
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