TikTok has launched a pan-European marketing campaign to mark International Women’s Day and put a spotlight on the underrepresentation of women in music.

The #WeAreHere campaign is centred around an ad featuring a soundtrack from Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt, which shares statistics such as only 22 per cent of chart music singers being women and that women represent just two per cent of music producers. The campaign, which will be supported by hashtag challenges and TopView ad takeovers, will appear across TikTok, Spotify, Vevo, YouTube, and Facebook throughout this week.

TikTok will also be celebrating the women on its platform over the course of this week. Anne-Marie, Cat Burns, and Girl in Red will be performing live on the platform, while Ashnikko, Christine and the Queens, Little Mix, Ms Banks, Nina Nesbitt, and Shania Twain all introduce curated #WeAreHere playlists to highlight women artists.

For the campaign, TikTok has partnered with shesaid.so, an independent community of women and gender minorities in the music industry, and it’s kicking off the partnership with Live Q&As and mentoring panels across Europe.

Starting at 5:30pm GMT today (8 March), singer-songwriter Grace Carter will be part of TikTok Live Q&A with DJ, presenter, and podcaster Jyoty on the @tiktok_uk and @shesaid.so TikTok channels. And Grace Ladoja MBE, Skepta’s manager, and Kanya King CBE, Founder of the MOBO Awards, will be posting quickfire video ‘mentor moments’, providing tips and support for women in the music industry on the shesaid.so TikTok channel.

“Our community is full of incredible women who have made TikTok what it is today. Music is integral to the TikTok experience and we see every day women using the platform to make music, entertain, inspire and motivate,” said Jana Ulaite, Head of Brand & Partnerships Marketing for Europe at TikTok. “While there are so many things to love about the music industry, its well-known that women are underrepresented. From performance roles through to technical roles, from the business of music through to production, there is not equal opportunity or representation. 

“As a partner to the industry, we want to help create a more inclusive future for music – it’s why we’ve made it our focus this International Women’s Day and why we’re raising the voice of women in music through our partnership with she said.so; special performances and our #WeAreHere campaign.”