News • 18.12.2025
Read about the 70/30 principle in a new guide to gender balance
Real change in the music industry requires courageous shifts from within; we must challenge organizational structures to increase diversity.
How do we create real change in the music industry—particularly within the structures that have maintained a gender imbalance for decades? Jazz Danmark addresses this question in the collaborative “Inspirational guide towards gender equality in music” created in partnership with TEMPI, Art Music Denmark, and ROSA. The catalog presents five case studies, each focusing on representation and demonstrating concrete results.
A simple tool to increase diversity
Among the case studies in the catalog is Jazz Danmark’s multi-year work with the 70/30 principle.
Jazz Danmark utilizes this tool to ensure broad representation in committees, programming, and recruitment. The principle is enshrined in the organization’s 2026–2029 strategy and is a permanent methodological component of Jazz Danmark’s project activities.
The core of the method is the 70/30 principle: No single group may constitute more than 70% of a collective unit, whether in terms of gender, age, geographic affiliation, or musical background. The remaining 30% is reserved for “something else” to avoid homogeneity.
After years of effort, experience shows that change does not arise through isolated initiatives alone, but when the principle is integrated directly into the structure.
To prevent everything from becoming uniform—or homogeneous—we work with a maximum limit for exactly that. So, instead of highlighting minorities by saying ‘now we must also remember women, the elderly, the youth, etc’ you address the most represented group—the most homogeneous group—and look at how to break that pattern.”
– Eva Frost, director of Jazz Danmark
A common starting point
With the new inspiration catalog, the four genre organizations—Jazz Danmark, TEMPI, ROSA, and Art Music Denmark—aim to support a broader movement within Danish musical life. By sharing methods, data, and experiences, we hope to provide other stakeholders with a practical, tangible toolkit and the courage to take the next step in dismantling outdated structures.
