Book More Women Announces Relaunch and Fiscal Sponsorship Status

After eight years of serving as the music festival industry’s watchdog for gender parity, Book More Women announced today its official relaunch as a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas and active pursuit of their own 501(c)(3) status. The move marks a strategic shift from “awareness to action,” triggered by new 2025 data revealing the first decline in festival lineup gender diversity in nearly ten years and is accompanied by the organization’s first crowdfunding campaign.

Since its inception in 2018, Book More Women has analyzed over 500 festival lineups, documenting an increase in female and nonbinary representation from 28 percent to a peak of 40 percent in 2024 (acts featuring at least one woman or nonbinary musician). However, 2025 year-end data exposed a reversal, indicating that awareness campaigns alone are no longer sufficient

Initially founded by Executive Director Abbey Carbonneau as a solo fan-driven project, Book More Women is now run by a small team with a variety of industry experiences, including Director of Community Nico Mazzeo and Director of Operations Jess Bumsted. The founding Board of Directors consists of Sabrina Beaudoin, Kaïa Kater, Terra Lopez, Brandi Waller-Pace, and Dr. Jada Watson.

Carbonneau states:

“We’ve measured the problem and carried the conversation, but it’s clear that the pressure is no longer enough. And we are ready to do more. The inequality we’re seeing doesn’t start or end with festivals. The festival posters make it visible, but gender inequity is an industry-wide systemic issue. So we are designing programs to work simultaneously from within the industry and outside of it to both uplift artists now, and redesign the systems in the long-run.”

Book More Women Measured podcast logo

As part of the relaunch, Book More Women is introducing two major programs for their first phase:

• BOOKED: An industry partnership program that provides talent buyers and promoters with the data and platform required to set and commit to measurable goals for improvement, while highlighting underrepresented artists on festival stages. The program has announced its first partner, the independent festival Lightning in a Bottle, which will participate in the initiative as a 2026 partner for change.
• MEASURED: An investigative podcast series hosted by Carmel Holt, exploring how power, access, and decision-making work in the music industry. Combining data and statistics with human stories to expose the systemic barriers that keep marginalized voices off festival posters.

The organization has started a crowdfunding campaign to support the launch of these programs, and development and implementation of further planned activities. Support for the relaunch will fund the production of Season 1 of MEASURED, direct artist opportunities through BOOKED, as well as the personnel, legal, and digital infrastructure required to transition into a full-scale advocacy and accountability resource for the music community.