Beyond the Poster: Steven Braines and the Decade-Long Fight for Inclusive Electronic Music Lineups

Conversations surrounding representation, diversity, and structural equity in the electronic music industry have long been characterized by swift polarization. Whether the discourse focuses on festival lineup imbalances, access to studio production equipment, mentorship programs, or safety on the dance floor, digital comment sections and rapid-fire panel soundbites routinely reduce deeply complex sociological and economic issues to superficial talking points. To combat this reductionist cycle, music publication Attack launched an in-depth, multi-part interview series designed to give industry stakeholders the necessary space to unpack these systemic challenges thoroughly. At the center of this ambitious editorial initiative is a fundamental, probing question: Can the global electronic music community finally close its persistent gender gap?

This multi-part feature deliberately avoids demanding a single consensus—an impossibility given the disparate viewpoints across the global nightlife sector. Instead, by opening the floor to prolonged dialogue, the series seeks to construct a more nuanced, multi-faceted understanding through the direct perspectives and lived experiences of individuals actively navigating these spaces. The second installment of this series turns its attention to Steven Braines, co-founder of HE.SHE.THEY., a globally recognized club night, festival brand, and cultural platform. For nearly a decade, HE.SHE.THEY. has operated as a vanguard for genuinely diverse, LGBTQIA+-inclusive lineups spanning across thirty countries. As one of the electronic music community’s most outspoken advocates for equitable representation, Braines has consistently challenged promoters to abandon lazy operational excuses, steering the industry conversation well past standard corporate talking points.

Deconstructing the Talent Pool Myth

For years, a standard defense offered by festival bookers and club promoters struggling to assemble diverse bills has relied on the notion of a restricted talent pool. The argument suggests that because significantly fewer women and gender-diverse artists choose to pursue professional DJing, expecting mathematically balanced lineups is unrealistic. Braines, however, rejects this premise outright, framing it as a symptom of poor research rather than a genuine demographic deficit.

According to global industry data, women currently account for approximately 15 percent of professional DJs worldwide. While this figure highlights a stark disparity, Braines emphasizes that this still equates to thousands of qualified, active women working in the space. Furthermore, the visibility of prominent female stars serves as a powerful catalyst for the next generation. As more women establish long-term careers and build dedicated fanbases, the pipeline naturally expands. Drawing from HE.SHE.THEY.’s extensive international operations across three decades and dozens of territories, Braines maintains that assembling high-quality, gender-balanced lineups has never been an insurmountable obstacle. For promoters equipped with a functional ear, standard industry resources, and digital discovery tools like YouTube, discovering exceptional, diverse talent is not a logistical impossibility—it is simply a matter of intentional curation.

Balancing Profitability and Social Responsibility

A recurring friction point in modern nightlife economics is the tension between commercial viability and ethical programming. Many commercial promoters frequently argue that their primary, if not sole, mandate is to sell tickets and maintain operational solvency, absolving themselves of any responsibility to rectify broader societal inequities. Braines challenges this dichotomy, arguing that commercial success and ethical standards are not mutually exclusive pursuits.

He points to massive, arena-selling figures such as Amelie Lens, Honey Dijon, Peggy Gou, and Sara Landry as empirical proof that women and minority artists can command major ticket sales and headline premier events. Rather than viewing diversity initiatives as a commercial risk, Braines posits that inclusive programming actively expands the market. Cultivating a diverse roster naturally attracts a broader, more representative audience—including more women and minority clubbers—who want to see themselves reflected on stage. In this view, representation is not a charitable endeavor or a box-checking exercise; it is a powerful commercial asset that strengthens the ecosystem for promoters and artists alike.

The Psychological Toll and Systemic Class Ceilings

The lack of systemic inclusion carries heavy psychological and professional costs for marginalized artists. Braines notes that imposter syndrome remains profoundly high among women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and people of color. The supreme irony of this dynamic, he points out, is that electronic music and club culture were originally pioneered and built by queer Black and brown communities in cities like Chicago and Detroit.

Throughout his career managing talent, Braines has witnessed artists continually forced to batter down entrenched class ceilings. While trailblazers like Maya Jane Coles, SYREETA, and Bradley Skeng have carved out undeniable legacies, the path for those who follow remains unnecessarily arduous. This historical erasure extends to foundational Black female pioneers such as Paulette, Hot Waxxx Hale, Smoking Jo, and DJ Minx, all of whom have had to fight persistently just to be accurately written back into the very history they helped create.

The Creative Cost of a Homogeneous Industry

Beyond the social and economic dimensions, Braines highlights the severe artistic cost of maintaining a narrow, homogeneous talent pipeline. When the same demographic profiles receive continuous, uninterrupted opportunities, the sonic evolution of the genre stagnates. Diverse backgrounds inherently introduce distinct sonic textures, cultural influences, and structural innovations to the scene.

For Braines, the physical dance floor has historically functioned as a vital social melting pot. A space dominated exclusively by a single demographic fails to capture the radical ethos that gave birth to dance music culture. Whether participants are consciously aware of it or not, the composition of a dance floor and the curation of its soundtrack carry an inherent sociopolitical weight.

The Realities of Accountability and Industry Pressure

Holding the electronic music ecosystem accountable requires looking far beyond superficial public relations statements and virtual signaling. Braines argues that accountability must be measured over extended periods, assessing whether venues, promoters, and media platforms display consistent positive or negative patterns in their operational habits. Crucially, he advocates for extending a degree of grace, acknowledging that the industry lacks a standardized manual for achieving perfection and that operators must be allowed to learn from missteps.

This pragmatic view is anchored in the grueling economic realities currently facing the nightlife sector. Rising operational overhead, escalating production costs, and a shrinking pool of disposable income among standard clubgoers—outside of massive, arena-scale super-shows—have left independent promoters in a precarious financial position. Braines notes that even HE.SHE.THEY. faced booking frustrations during peak Ibiza seasons, where well-intentioned offers extended to diverse artists frequently collided with scheduling conflicts and market realities, demonstrating that public lineups do not always tell the complete behind-the-scenes story.

Fostering Collective Responsibility

A central theme in Braines’ analysis is the diffusion of responsibility across the entire nightlife value chain. Too often, blame is assigned selectively, whereas sustainable change requires coordinated action from every sector of the industry—including promoters, booking agents, artist managers, venue owners, and the audience itself.

Braines directs a pointed critique toward consumer culture, expressing frustration with patrons who lament the closure of independent venues and underground nights while historically opting for guest lists rather than purchasing tickets, or engaging in the widespread piracy of recorded music. Clubbers, he argues, cannot treat local scenes as disposable entertainment commodities.

Furthermore, the economic disparity within the artist tier demands internal reckoning. When top-tier DJs command six-figure fees per performance, they cannot easily deflect blame onto "nasty promoters" for soaring ticket prices, even as artists rightfully deserve compensation for the economic value they generate. Braines laments a broader cultural shift where everyday clubbers are increasingly treated as transactional ATMs rather than human participants in a shared cultural ritual—a commercialization that risks pricing out working-class and low-income demographics and ultimately diluting the authentic energy of the dance floor.

Lineups as the Tip of the Iceberg

Ultimately, Braines agrees that event posters and festival lineups are merely the visible end point of a much deeper, systemic funnel. Before an artist is ever considered for a prime booking slot, access to professional gear, formal mentorship, affordable studio spaces, confidence-building networks, and physical safety must first be established.

Addressing these foundational bottlenecks requires comprehensive structural support. Braines suggests that governmental bodies—such as the UK government, given the billion-dollar economic footprint of the live music and tourism sector—must invest more heavily in safeguarding nightlife infrastructure. Until systemic access is democratized from the ground up, lineup quotas will remain a temporary remedy for a chronic structural ailment. Real progress demands that every tier of the electronic music ecosystem moves in synchronization, recognizing that the health of the dance floor depends entirely on the collective wellbeing of the community that builds it.