When country singer-songwriter Brett Young celebrated his first RIAA Diamond-certified single for his 2017 hit “In Case You Didn't Know,” the Nashville party, held earlier this year, it seemed a little different from the typical music line shindig. The father of two welcomed not only his wife and daughters, but music executives were encouraged to bring their children as well — with more than 30 children attending the event.
The celebration was also a launch party for the Family Alliance in Music (FAM), a Nashville-based non-profit organization that advocates and supports professionals in all aspects of the music industry, including executives and creatives, who achieve the their career aspirations while caring for members of their family units.
FAM was co-founded by a collective of Nashville music executives – Jackie Jones (senior vice president of artist and industry relations for the RIAA), Haley Montgomery (senior director of awards and membership for the Academy of Country Music), and Margaret Hart (Head of Nashville Industry YouTube and tag relationships).
The organization offers a place of community, education and support for all families, helping members of the music industry who are also parents, carers of elderly or ill family members and those looking to start families. FAM's multifaceted approach encourages employers to provide clearly defined, comprehensive family benefits and flexible working practices, as well as to offer information to employers that explains why these benefits are vital.
“We all have a family,” says Montgomery Advertising sign.
The idea for FAM was sparked in 2021 after Montgomery invited Jones to a breakfast meeting in Nashville.
“She thought I wanted to do the typical networking meeting, but I said, 'I'd love to talk about your kid,'” Montgomery recalled. “You are actually posting about her [on social media] and you are successful. How does that work?” At the time, Montgomery was researching the music industry around her as she hoped to start a family.
“I had looked at this industry that I had put so much of my heart into, and I couldn't help but feel that it wasn't going to fully support myself, which included raising a family,” Montgomery says. “I showed her a survey I had done across the industry — 25% of companies in the music industry don't even support the minimum time it takes for your body to heal after giving birth. So, to me, that said, “It's not welcome here.”
Meanwhile, Jones, who has an eight-year-old daughter, had been in talks with Hart because they had heard from others in the music industry that they were questioning how to balance family and career.
“Seeing how this is an industry that goes far beyond the '9-to-5' and asks so much of those who work in it — if the industry really wants to be inclusive, it needs to look at these issues,” says Jones.
“Part of what we do is cut eyes,” adds Hart, a mother of two. “Is this who we are? this is our whole self.”
According to an employer survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in March 2022, 24% of private sector workers had access to paid family leave (parental and family care leave) through their employers.
There is currently no federal law requiring paid family and medical leave for the private sector, although some states have laws that create paid family and medical leave programs for eligible employees. In Tennessee, the Tennessee Paid Family Leave Insurance Act went into effect on January 1, 2024, allowing insurance companies to offer paid family leave coverage that employers can voluntarily choose to purchase for their employees. Insurance will cover the employee's birth or adoption of a child, placement of a child with the employee in foster care, care of a family member with a serious health condition, or assistance to families of active duty or impending call/order to active duty.
In a survey of 20 music companies, FAM found that more than half offered at least 12 weeks of fully paid leave for maternity carers, while 25% supported only four weeks or less of fully paid leave for a maternity carer. Some of the company's top policies included assistance with IVF, adoption and fertility testing.
FAM is advocating for music industry companies to offer more comprehensive family benefits, including, at a minimum, 12 weeks of fully paid leave for maternity carers, six weeks of fully paid leave for family carers (those caring for ill or elderly family members) and carers who are not giving birth, as well as offering travel to the nearest compliant state/care for assistance with termination assistance.
In 2023, the organization formed a task force that included top executives from across the spectrum of the industry, including Shannon Casey (Wasserman Music), Halie Hampton-Mosley (Why & How Management), Morgan Mills (CmdShft), Tiffany Provenzano (mtheory ), Rachael Terrell (Paramount), Rachel Wein (Prescription Songs), Dan Wise (maddjett) and Mackenzie Cooper (Triple Tigers).
The task force's work is centered around four main pillars: education and resources, community, benefits and grants. Helping to increase the visibility of parents and caregivers in the music industry, just a few weeks ago they held a music industry family meeting in Nashville. The task force is also working to host a fertility-focused workshop and expand the agency's current benefits resource to include recommendations for employers on fertility benefits and sick leave. FAM is under financial sponsorship with the Players Philanthropy Fund (PPF), allowing the organization to receive charitable donations while working to eventually obtain its own 501c-3.
“I've been so fortunate to work for companies that have provided incredible benefits and understanding,” says Jones. “I have taken care of a child, I was on maternity leave. Now I've lost a parent – these aren't things you get over in a week – these are things you have to take your time and have grace for.”
“It's important to have diversity in our workforce,” says Montgomery. “Having people with different lifestyles and backgrounds at the table will allow you to reach more people. And it's a good job. it's such a recruiting and retention tool.”
Hart says their discussions with various music industry companies have been open, and she advises senior executives to advocate for others in their company by encouraging these policies.
“When you can be a senior executive and get into those conversations, make sure that as you're protecting yourself, you're protecting the people who are coming up behind you, that maybe they don't have the influence that you have in the room. It's not just about getting you the time off you need — it's about getting the new employee the time off they'll need if they decide to have a family or need to be a caretaker. We've had conversations where someone will say, “Oh, my boss told me I can get whatever I need.” That's a great feeling, but ultimately what happens when a coordinator or an assistant might have to go on leave, they're not protected by the handshake agreement you just made.”
Jones notes that some of the industry members who have faced the biggest issues with family and carer benefits are creatives, musicians and artists, and says they hope to provide grants to help this part of the industry: “They it is the people themselves who will drive the industry at large. How will we help the musicians, the touring bands? These issues are more difficult than “Hey, can you change your policies? There is no safety net for a 1099 employee who travels.”
Jones adds that making meaningful changes in this part of the industry doesn't always require a complete policy overhaul.
“I don't want people to think, 'They want me to give my whole crew, my band, maternity leave.' It's about the other things you can do to make things easier—can you help by sending breast milk from the street? Or, if someone needs to spend several weeks caring for a sick or elderly family member, can you promise that their job will still be there? It's not about the cost; it's about culture.
“In the case of women touring, whether in a band or on the road, they're usually in the minority,” Jones continues. “If you're the only woman in the band, how do you talk? Or you look around and there are fears, “If I express this concern, what if I don't get to be on this tour anymore?” Or it could be a woman who is a tour manager or a dad who wants to spend time with the newborn or someone who needs to take care of a parent.”
“We have to be proactive in creating a safe space for people to have benefits and resources that will keep them in this industry,” Hart says. “It's a very complex issue, and I don't want to say, 'We're going to fix it,' but I think we can help improve it.”
