Episode 112 - Accessibility and Disability in the Music Industry with Holly Tuke

Accessibility and disability in the music industry is a topic close to my heart, so I’m delighted to welcome my friend and fellow pop music fan, Holly Tuke, onto the show for an open and honest chat. I truly hope you walk away from this conversation with a greater understanding of why accessibility is important and a fresh perspective on disability in the music industry. The quote for this episode is by Stevie Wonder: “We need to make every single thing accessible to every single person with a disability.” During our honest conversation, Holly and I talk about the importance of accessibility for everyone, the hard reality that accessibility isn’t the norm, feelings of exclusion, the perception that the entertainment industries should appear picture perfect, creating a space in entertainment for talented individuals with disabilities, the media’s tendency to make a big deal out of someone who’s disabled, the music industry not embracing disability, the lack of disability representation, seeing ability not just disability, refraining from viewing a disabled musician as an inspiration, the absence of songs and stories that’d mean a lot to the disabled community, accessibility in the music industry from the fan standpoint, ways of making music experiences more accessible, artists and their teams taking accessibility into account, the importance of listening to those who are disabled instead of making assumptions or uninformed decisions, accessibility being everyone’s responsibility, and so much more. My conversation with Holly is a vulnerable one, so I hope it gives you a glimpse into accessibility and disability in the music industry and encourages you to play your role in making this wonderful industry inclusive for everyone. Are you enjoying Write on Track? Do you have a topic suggestion for an episode? Would you like to be a guest? Email me at [email protected]. Also, I’d love to connect with you. My official website is http://demimschwartz.com, and you can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/demimschwartz, Instagram at http://instagram.com/demimschwartz, and Facebook at http://facebook.com/demimschwartz. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time, stay “write on track!”