How Music Education Supports the Creation of Successful Diversified Talent

Written by: Tia Korpe (Founder, Future Female Sounds)

I founded Future Female Sounds (FFS) in 2017, a non-profit organization and international community uniting over 14.000 women and gender diverse DJs, with the mission of making DJ’ing and DJ culture accessible globally to women and gender-diverse emerging talent. In the summer of 2017, when I was working at Northern Europe’s biggest music festival, I observed and documented as an equality consultant, the stats of gender diversity on the music festival’s line-up, and beyond observing how few women and non-binary main acts, musicians or singers there were - it was striking how few women DJs were booked. Not only by the festival itself, but by the acts themselves, including many women performers, who were all backed by male DJs.

It made me realize, that lack of visibility in itself, holds such power over the influence of what we perceive as ‘normal’ or the standard in which we engage with pop culture and fandom, and especially how young girls, women and gender diverse individuals lack public role-models to help shape their understanding and belief that “I can be a successful DJ too”.

As for myself, I returned 2 years later to that very festival, this time on stage as the live backing DJ for the incredible artist Madame Gandhi. Simultaneously FFS had started internationalizing our work, opening the first ever MENA (Middle East and North Africa) DJ Academy for women in Tunis, with workshops in Paris, Berlin, Groningen and Cairo, and publicly advocating for the importance of music education for women and gender-diverse underrepresented talent across festivals and conferences across EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and in Asia.

We had received international media coverage including a viral video produced by NowThis! and started to be the leading expert in the field of diversity and DJing, and we received funding from the European Union to produce the first ever European DJ Summit which included a widespread survey on the challenges women and gender-diverse DJs face across Europe, and a report and roadmap with industry recommendations to improve the sector.

We received funding from a wide range of donors, and were backed by relevant venues and industry companies, and that particular combination of funding bodies that support inclusive education initiatives and allocates funding specifically for gender equity programmes, workshops, and initiatives at music schools, festivals, and music organisations is crucial for real change. When we were backed by Beatport, the leading music store for DJs, we were able to scale, renew, and perfect our curriculum for an online audience, which further amplified our mission to make DJing accessible to as many people as possible. Finally, we partnered directly with Pioneer (Alpha Theta) in 2025 to implement their own educational programme, Start From Scratch, in Copenhagen, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Marrakech and Istanbul. 

Since then, much has happened - but not by chance, it has come about by pressure, strategy, advocacy and hard work, to create sustainable long-term change. Future Female Sounds are not alone in this work being done thankfully, and many initiatives have sprung since 2017, that create both safer spaces, and educational opportunities for women and gender diverse aspiring talent. But when it comes to supporting initiatives that prove the fruit of their labour, we are still lacking ongoing funding and prioritization when it comes to both institutional support, and support from the music industry at large.

This is particularly noticeable when scaling work internationally, as often national or local programmes have to be tailored to the context in which they exist - requiring more research, resources, and a country-specific strategy of how goals are implemented. 

On the up-side, collaboration across national and international contexts help to shape best practices in music industry education through a number of factors such as; 

• A sharing curricula & pedagogy: Organizations can borrow/adapt modules that combine technical + business + safety/consent training (FFS curriculum), shortening development time.

• Teacher exchange & capacity building: Short residencies, visiting instructors and train-the-trainer programmes spread locally-adapted expertise.

• Policy & advocacy alignment:
  One issue that Future Female Sounds has been raising since 2021 when we hosted the first European Summit for Female and non-binary DJs, is that of the lack of unions for DJs. Collective rights and working conditions vary from country to country, but by sharing common goals, organizations, artists and collectives can align.

• Networks like Keychange, SheSaidSo or Future Female Sounds create standards and pressure that shift festival programming, funding priorities and institutional hiring — turning projects into system change.

• Cultural translation & contextualisation: Cross-border partners test what must be adapted (language, gender norms, economic realities) so programmes are inclusive everywhere. 

When you work in a clear purpose-driven way with certain mission or goals, the methodology shapes the work in such a way that music education becomes more than just acquiring or developing skills, but additionally has the secondary benefit of creating greater gender equality and equity in the music sector. As an organization, Future Female Sounds has educated around 2.800 new DJs across 3 continents and 12 countries, including an online curriculum reaching over 40 countries.

So, what does that mean concretely for influencing the eco-system? We believe that by actively training and facilitating new talent (and thereby adding more non-male DJs to stages around the world), we’re essentially creating a short-cut into the industry by facilitating learning, but also concrete possibilities, like booking paid gigs, content features or radio shows for the DJs.

The Future Female Sounds methodology is built around a curriculum that combines technical skills (mixing & sound curation) with business/branding and mentorship — this combination produces people who can sustain careers, not just hobbyists, developing both skills and industry readiness. Music education also fosters creativity and self-expression, allowing individuals to explore their artistic abilities and develop their unique musical style.

Further, facilitating safer spaces is crucial. By creating intentionally safer, gender-aware learning environments it is our experience that it increases retention and confidence — FFS emphasizes safer-space pedagogy. This matters especially for fields (DJing, production) where culture can be exclusionary.

One could argue that music education perhaps is underprioritized due to the general belief that talent is something you have, not something you build. But talent development is a crucial part of any successful artist, and deep-diving into a craft will only support talent, and thereby, in industry standards ‘success’. Yet, most music education - especially contemporary electronic or music production education or courses are 100% self-financed and privatized. 

My practical advice for developing education in the music industry with actionable steps, whether you’re starting up or scaling would thus be to: 

1. Define outcomes up front — creating technical competence, industry readiness (contracts/rights), mental-health/safety, and community leadership. Use these to design modules and KPIs.
   

2. Combine technical skills + business + wellbeing — one-day mixing sessions are useful, but including modules on contracts, pitching, personal branding and more can create industry retention.
   

3. Establish a and safer-space practice — Creating a space where students feel free to express themselves, not just artistically, but personally is crucial for any confidence-building which is one of the most underlooked qualities an artist must have in the music industry
   

4. Build blended delivery — local hands-on practice + online theory/mentorship to scale and reach remote learners (FFS digital academy is a reference). ffsdjacademy.com

5. Set up mentorship & alumni pathways — track alumni into gigs, internships, bookings and paid work; offer follow-on support (events, radio slots).

6. Create a tool-kit of music education curriculum which can be adapted locally, but also inspire other communities to start their own teaching initiatives.

Some initiatives that have implemented education in the music industries include Music Moves Europe, a Creative Europe initiative that has helped fund hundreds of initiatives. The music industry itself, such as Pioneer, Beatport and Yamaha, have also directly funded, created and collaborated with initiatives, highlighting the importance of the industry needing to hold themselves accountable and make a commitment to change and equity. 

In conclusion, to prioritize music education practitioners who work specifically with female and gender-diverse talent, is to prioritize the safe, inclusive and sustainable incubator into the industry, and to set up that artist for longevity due to a framework of network and community-based spaces that take well-being into account. All of these factors help to support artist development and successful diversified talent.

About Tia Korpe:

Tia Korpe is an award winning founder, cultural entrepreneur and brand/creative consultant specializing in music, brand building and community experience. As a multifaceted creative, she is driven by ideas and projects that change the world for the better - focusing on ideation, creative direction, branding, cultural strategy and experiential marketing through insight & cultural relevance. She believes that music and culture are fundamental for social and personal change, as well as peace-building and dialogue-enhancing. Having worked with governmental, non-governmental, global brands, and cultural institutions as well as in the music industry for over 15 years across EMEA, Tia has deep insight into various levels of community building, creativity and building brands in subculture(s). Tia is the founder of Future Female Sounds, FFS Booking Agency and Ladies Love Vinyl.

About Future Female Sounds

Future Female Sounds is a multi-award winning non-profit organization, and a global community unting 14.000 female and gender diverse DJs. We’re on a mission to make DJ culture accessible to girls, women and gender expansive people globally, and we work to make that possible by facilitating DJ Workshops, master classes, events and facilitating opportunities. By partnering with industry brands such as Pioneer (Alpha Theta) and Beatport, FFS highlights underrepresented talent and unlocks doors to the music industry through collaboration and community building. Future Female Sounds has trained over 2000 new DJs across Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Asia and run an online dj academy.