There is an air of vacation in the Parc de la Villette, in Paris: the colorful pennants have been deployed all around a red pavilion in the park, and we drink lemonade in the sun while listening to music. A few days before the start of the school year, the collective Radio Storm celebrates the start of the school year. The associative web radio, launched in November 2020, between confinements and various curfews, is based on a simple principle: a program 100% composed of female, trans and non-binary artists. A way to make visible the artistic work of those too often set aside by the music industry.
And to share their musical discoveries, the four members of Radio Tempête have chosen the intermediary of web radio, a format somewhat forgotten since the success of podcasts. “It’s a super free format! We need a computer with an Internet connection, and we can do whatever we want. We don’t owe accounts to anyone, we can whoever we want, program what we want… ”says Emeline, in her thirties, who from Brest, has been working at Radio Tempête since 2021. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week , the web radio alternates between innovative programming and carte blanche to guests (like the singer Apple or November Ultra), who concoct their playlists. “What we also like is not necessarily having to take the microphone, and to leave the way to the songs we are going to share” adds Emeline. And it works.
Music industry: where are the women?
When we look at the rankings of major radio stations, we can widely wonder about the absence of women and gender minorities. In a 2021 study conducted by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative in the United States, it was noted that in 2020, only 20% of the most popular songs were carried by women. “The observation is distressing: in festival programming, we rarely find women or exclusively female groups. The careers of women and gender minorities are an obstacle course. And more generally, there are few technicians, programmers… It’s the snake biting its tail” develops Emeline.
At the origin of these inequalities in the musical environment, a shift that operates towards college: in a few years, little girls disappear from music lessons. Among the obstacles to the musical career of women and minorities are self-censorship and the fear of an unstable career; the sexist, racist and LGBTphobic reflections present on stage, in the dressing rooms or in the studio; brought to light a few years ago by the #MusicToo movement. Moreover, the absence of festival programmers or technicians does not encourage more diversity in the milieu. With Radio Tempête, the collective can “defend and promote artists”.
An IRL fair after months online
After two years of pandemic, the web radio team also wanted to create a “real” link, bringing together their loyal community and curious visitors. “It was the idea of getting together in a festive way,” explains the team. On the program for the afternoon, playful workshops for creating fanzines with Hello Ziketsintroduction to DJ-style mixing with All Fire All Women and creation of mini-radios; but also stands to discuss and gather. In the evening, female DJs were honoured, from DJ Pastis and Emmaï Dee to Psükha via Roxx or Kahi Baby.
“We would like to continue on this momentum, by testing things: for example, offering teenage girls to make playlists, improving the website… Finding our rhythm, in fact” develops Emeline. With a hundred listeners a day, Radio Tempête works by word of mouth: a community aware of equality issues gravitates around the web radio, creating jingles for example. “We would like to reach a larger audience, here we are clearly on a curious and somewhat initiated public, but we are trying to ensure that we can also broadcast big pop, commercial”, laughs Emeline. Freedom, equality, Beyoncé.