By Dana Sedgwick

The lack of female visibility in the music industry is an old and enduring issue. Despite the fact that there are many innovative and creative women hard at work, the truth is that many don’t wind up in the spotlight they deserve.

SkyLight is working to change that. Founded in 2013 by artist manager Stephanie LaFera and media professional Kerri Mason, SkyLight’s mission aims to “light a path to success for aspiring female entrepreneurs in electronic dance music, through mentorship, networking, and funding opportunities.”

The organization just concluded its first round of grants – recipients of which were invited to attend and shadow industry mentors at the 2013 EDMBiz Conference (June 18-20) in Las Vegas.

SoundCtrl caught up with one of these female entrepreneurs, Kara Dake (Founder, Signalfy) post-conference to talk about her experience within the EDM community and the challenges/opportunities associated with being a female entrepreneur in this quickly expanding market.

“Your source for Electronic Music Events & Festivals,” Signalfy aims at providing an in-depth and diverse guide of up-to-date EDM shows, events and festivals. The idea was born in NYC, when Dake was frustrated at the lack of online event curation and suggestion for visitors:

Dake: “I realized that there needed to be a go-to place for the kind of events I went to… for the most part, the events I attended were part of an underground Brooklyn scene, generally promoted by word of mouth. How could you find that if you were an Airbnb-er for the weekend?”

Through an accelerator program, Dake eventually narrowed the scope of her site just to electronic music events. In her early 20’s, she had lived in London where electronic music was the soundtrack to life. Now living in Portland, she is surprised by the rich electronic culture bubbling right under the surface of the quiet Pacific Northwest city:

Dake: “EDM is a very exciting market to be in right now. Portland has been an interesting place for Signalfy to start because the scene is very diverse… techno, trance, dubstep, moombahton, drum and bass… the West Coast has many multi-genre EDM festivals that add to the experience with activities like yoga and really being a part of nature.”

Signalfy will be coming to Seattle (Wed July 10th), San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vegas soon as well and recently expanded into national festivals. The company is launching their iOS and Android apps in late July coinciding with the Northwest House Music Conference in Portland. With a growing community flocking to Signalfy, Dake saw SkyLight as an important opportunity to connect with the industry on a whole new level.

Dake: “There were 50 applicants, which was exciting. You have to prove yourself and keep proving yourself… EDMBiz gave me some amazing insight. One of my mentors was Tony Faure, who made Yahoo a household name in Australia… his advice on the event space was honest and at times difficult to hear, but that’s how you evolve. It was amazing networking – an impromptu pitch to Shelly Finkel (President of SFX Entertainment) was definitely a highlight. I can’t talk about it quite yet, but we’re preparing for a pivot that involves a bigger stake in Vegas. ”

In an industry that is still dominated by male executives and plagued by stereotypes, it’s encouraging to see professionals like Mason and LaFera reach back and give a hand to other passionate and driven women. And when I asked Dake about the challenges she’s met as a female entrepreneur, she didn’t deny that at times it’s been difficult:

Dake: “I remember this one investor pitch I gave in Portland… I’d thought I was supposed to meet with just a couple of people but when I presented it was a to a full boardroom of 12 suits – men of course, I’ve never met with a female investor. And then everything went wrong… the EDM video didn’t play, the slides got messed up. It was awful. But I did it, I didn’t walk out of the room. I didn’t give up because it wasn’t what I expected. I’ve learned you always have to roll with it. You put yourself out there and people will respect you for it.”

Dake expressed gratitude for the program and the experience she’s had, but she also outlined a silent concern that I’m sure plagues many people in this position…

Dake: “It’s needed what [Mason and LaFera] are doing. At first, you worry that people will think – “well, you’re just getting recognized because you’re a female” – and obviously, no one wants to be singled out that way. But very quickly, you realize that’s unimportant. Mason and LaFera could have done a panel on women in electronic music… but they realized that wasn’t going to change anything nor help balance the scales. Instead, they did this. It’s helped me and hopefully, will continue to help others.”

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