Shesaid.so Community For Women In Music Launches In Iceland

Shesaid.so is an international community for women and gender-based minorities with the goal of connecting and empowering those groups that have not received enough support to level the playing field in the world of music for everyone. Shesaid.co has now launched in Iceland with its opening party to take place during the Iceland Airwaves festival.

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Shesaid’s opening party will take place at Loft Hostel on November 5. The organisers of the opening of Shesaid in Iceland include Anna Jóna Dungal, Hrefna Helgadóttir, Kelechi Amadi and Kim Wagenaar. Both of them spent a significant amount of time abroad where they got to know and appreciate the value of strong communities to share experiences and support.

Their goal is to connect and create a community for women and gender-based minorities in music in Iceland, aimed at strengthening and maintaining existing connections as well as creating new ones. Such communities have enormous value as there has been a lot of exclusion of women and gender-based minorities from various communities and it has had a huge impact on their careers. Iceland has some of the most respected female musicians in the world, but the music scene is far from equal.

The founders agreed that changes needed to be considered and therefore decided to establish the community under the name Shesaid.co in Iceland. The international community has already paved the way for how to build such a society, and therefore the Icelandic society’s strategy is not only to strengthen our relationships here in Iceland, but also to strengthen international relationships with music culture around the world.

“When I moved back to Iceland in the middle of the Covid pandemic, I really missed the community around the work I’m doing. When I was in the Keychange program and met Christine Osazuwa from the international Shesaid community, Kim and I realized that this was what was missing in Icelandic music culture. A safe community for women to connect the work we do in the music world,” says Anna Jóna Dungal.

The women behind Shesaid sent out invitations to several contacts in the Icelandic music industry and were quickly and well received, as many feel this lack of community and therefore did not take long to get on board. The women who are now part of the opening of Shesaid in Iceland are Álfrún Kolbrúnardóttir, founder of Flame Productions, Inga Magnes Weisshappel, who is opening the music publishing house Wise Music Group in Iceland, Ása Dýradóttir from Mammút and musician Unnur Karen Karlsdóttir and Josie Anne Gaitens from The Reykjavík Grapevine.

The community’s goal is to start 2023 with four eventful festivals along with smaller gatherings to create connections. This chapter will be led by 5-8 music industry executives and female artists.

Membership in the community will be open to all women and gender-based minorities who work in the music scene in Iceland. Members will pay a small annual membership fee and thus have access to events, opportunities in the labour market, connection to the international community and much more.