After eight years documenting gender inequity across music festivals, the organization is expanding its work through research, education, direct support and industry engagement.

October 1, 2026 — Book More Women, the organization known for documenting and visualizing gender disparities across music festival lineups, announced today that it has received official 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and is launching a month-long fundraising and storytelling campaign to support the next stage of its work.

Founded in 2018 as a fan-driven social media project, Book More Women began by editing festival lineup posters to visually demonstrate how few artists would remain if acts consisting entirely of men were removed. What started as a simple way to make gender imbalance visible has grown into eight years of research, public education, and community-building focused on gender equity in music.

Book More Women has since analyzed hundreds of festival lineups and researched thousands of artists, using manually collected data to document and track who receives access to some of the music industry’s most visible stages. Ultimately, though, the organization understands festival lineups not as an isolated issue, but as the result of thousands of decisions made throughout the music ecosystem.

“Festival lineups are the end result of thousands of decisions made across the industry,” Carbonneau said. “Our strategy now is to expand our research and data collection to dig deeper into root causes of gender inequity – to quantify and track where it exists, determine why it persists, and to identify the best levers and strategies for systemic change.”

Book More Women incorporated as a Massachusetts nonprofit in 2025 and operated under fiscal sponsorship while pursuing independent federal tax-exempt status. Receiving 501(c)(3) recognition marks a significant evolution for the organization and creates the foundation for expanding its work beyond documenting inequity to developing practical ways to address it.

“For eight years, we’ve built this work entirely through volunteer effort and a belief that better information can lead to better decisions,” Carbonneau said. “Becoming a nonprofit gives us the structure to grow that work sustainably, allowing us to deepen our research, build programs around what we learn, and create more direct opportunities for the artists and industry professionals most affected by gender inequities.”

BOOKED, the organization’s festival accountability program, is the first program to put their new approach into practice. In its 2026 pilot, eight participating festivals so far have made public commitments to improve representation while Book More Women provided data and tracked progress. The organization will build on these partnerships to document the barriers festivals face and develop case studies that can inform future industry practices.

Fundraising Campaign and Video Series

To support this work, Book More Women today launched a month-long fundraising effort running through October 29.

Alongside fundraising, the organization will publish a social media video series throughout the month, featuring artists and industry professionals sharing their own first-hand experiences navigating the industry as women and nonbinary people.

The series will connect the structural inequities documented through Book More Women’s research with the people who experience them, highlighting why this work is necessary and what greater access and opportunity can make possible.

Funds raised through the campaign will support expanded research, educational resources, artist and industry programming, and the staff, systems, and infrastructure needed to sustain and grow the organization.

ABOUT BOOK MORE WOMEN

Book More Women is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to advance gender equity in the music industry through research, education and industry partnership.

Using data, storytelling, and lived community experience, Book More Women works to understand where inequity exists and what drives it, make that knowledge visible and accessible, and develop practical ways to create greater access and opportunity across the music industry.

Book More Women is led by Carbonneau alongside Director of Community Nico Mazzeo and Director of Industry Relations Jess Bumsted. Its founding Board of Directors is composed of Sabrina Beaudoin, Kaïa Kater, Terra Lopez, Brandi Waller-Pace, and Dr. Jada Watson.

MEDIA CONTACT
Abbey Carbonneau
Executive Director
media@bookmorewomen.com

LINKS
Official website: bookmorewomen.com
Instagram: @bookmorewomen