Festival promoters and organizers around the world, take note: Equality is the new normal.
Primavera Sound is leading by example with its 2019 lineup, which it released on Dec. 5 along with a statement declaring the 50/50 gender split "The New Normal": of the 226 artists over half are women.
The entire list includes both big names and hidden gems across genres, yet the headliners alone show that they are walking their talk. Erykah Badu, Future, Interpol, Tame Impala, Cardi B, Janelle Monáe, Solange, J Balvin, Rosalía, Nas, James Blake and Robyn all take the top spots for the festival's 19th edition in Barcelona, to take place from May 30 to June 1.
#TheNewNormal #PS19
+INFO: https://t.co/FDNfseYa2F pic.twitter.com/xDkess0zh0— Primavera Sound (@Primavera_Sound) December 5, 2018
While much of the music world and its festivals continue to grapple with how best to answer the call for lineup equality, Primavera notes that they are the first larger music festival to offer a completely equal list. In the statement on their website, Primavera highlighted the importance of taking action now: "Because we should have done it ages ago. Because, looking back over our previous line ups and despite the progress in the last few editions, we needed to go further."
Earlier in 2018, more than 100 festivals and conferences, led by U.K. advocacy group Keychange, made a commitment to establish a 50/50 gender split by 2022, while Beyoncé made history as the first black female to headline Coachella during its 19 years.
The entire lineup is filled with gems, with some additional standouts being: Kali Uchis, Liz Phair, Carly Rae Jepsen, Clairo, Cuco, Mura Masa, Empress Of, FKA Twigs, Pusha T, Kurt Vile & the Violators and Big Red Machine (the National's Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon collab project).
The festival also pointed to their commitment to urban music, with their focus on reggaeton and hip-hop. For the Latin side, in addition to unofficial second-wave reggaeton leader J Balvin, old-school genre legends Ivy Queen (one of the first and few women on the emerging scene in the '90s) and DJ Playero will be throwing down. From the U.S. side, in addition to quintessential rap icons Nas and Pusha T, trap king Future and the ever-record-breaking Cardi B, Primavera has booked an exciting selection of rising female rappers, including Tierra Whack, Princess Nokia, CupcakKe and Rico Nasty.
Primavera 2019 also has a solid electronic music offering, with the upcoming year featuring an impressive selection of talented female electronic DJ/producers, including Yaeji, Nina Kraviz, Peggy Gou and Helena Hauff.
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As reported by Remezcla, this has all been a concerted work in progress for the festival, which not only grew its female bookings from 12.56 percent in 2017 to 20.64 percent in 2018 (a notably big jump to this year), but also "became the first festival in Spain to establish a protocol to protect attendees against harassment and sexual abuse" at their 2018 event.
The complete lineup for Primavera Sound, along with ticket info, is available on their website.