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MU Deputy General Secretary Selected for Women in Music Roll of Honour

Our Deputy General Secretary, Naomi Pohl, has been selected for Music Week’s Women in Music Roll of Honour – which was published on Monday 19 October.

Published: 20 October 2020 | 12:00 AM Updated: 28 April 2021 | 4:31 PM
Photograph of MU Deputy General Secretary Naomi Pohl sat at a desk, she's holding a magazine but looking into the camera.
Naomi was nominated for all her work at the MU, but the main one covered in her nomination is the Safe Space scheme. Photo credit: Shutterstock

Music Week’s Women in Music Roll of Honour celebrates the achievements of female executives across every sector of the industry. There are 24 names on this year’s list, drawn from all sectors of the music industry, which they published on Monday 19 Octoberwww.musicweek.com/media/read/meet-the-2020-music-week-women-in-music-roll-of-honour/081573.

Naomi was nominated for all her work at the MU – including the Fix Streaming campaign – but the main one covered in her nomination is the Safe Space scheme.

Safe Space exists to provide a safe space for all musicians to share instances of sexism, sexual harassment and sexual abuse in the music industry. Naomi speaks about it in her interview with Music Week, which will be in their print edition this week or next week. She explained how:

“My biggest sense of achievement has to be from leading the MU’s Safe Space service. The service was set up in the early days of the #metoo movement to get a sense of the prevalence of sexual harassment in the industry. I have personally handled hundreds of reports, mostly from women, and have tried to offer support, validation and advice wherever possible.”

She also spoke about the impact of Covid-19 on mental health, discussing how, “we’ve really only scratched the surface of the mental health and well-being crisis in music,” and her top advice for successes, including tips on how “the best negotiations conclude with both parties feeling they got something they wanted and this applies to many situations in life and work.”

Read all about it

Keep an eye out for the print edition of Music Week to read the full interview. You can also listen to Naomi discussing Safe Space on a podcast released this week with Polyphony Arts – which will be available on podbean soon.

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