The social networking app is launching a multi-year program to address gender inequality in the music industry.

The women-first social networking app Bumble is launching a multi-year program to address gender disparity in the music industry, the company announced on Tuesday (June 4).

Titled “Empowered by Bumble Bizz," the program will offer up-and-coming female musicians the chance to be mentored by successful artists including Bebe Rexha, Kacey Musgraves and Hayley Kiyoko at one of five music festivals in 2019: Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, Music Midtown, Austin City Limits or Voodoo Music + Arts Experience. The campaign will culminate with select women artists winning on-stage performance slots at “top music festivals” in 2020.

“Creating more opportunities for women in music has been a big initiative for me the last few years and I’m excited to be partnering with Bumble for this campaign," said Rexha in a statement. "It’s important that we continue to champion women in the business to help create and push for equal representation within the industry."

“The goal of Bumble Bizz is to provide our users access to professional opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise,” added Bumble’s vp marketing Chelsea Maclin. “We want to shed light on industries where women still need support, including the music industry which is ripe for more equal gender representation. At Bumble, we truly believe that one connection can change the course of your life professionally, and we hope to change the lives of these Bumble Bizz users who will perform on stage as part of our program, and to build a community of artists that can help each other through Bumble Bizz.”

Starting Tuesday, women musicians can submit their music in Bumble’s in-app professional-networking mode Bumble Bizz for both the mentoring and performance initiatives. Applications for those opportunities will close on June 30, though the company notes they will be rolling out additional initiatives over the next year. More information on the program can be found here.

The "Empowered" program was inspired by USC Annenberg’s 2019 study “Inclusion in the Recording Studio?”, which highlighted the lack of women working in popular music. The study found that out of 1,455 creators represented in 700 sample songs released in 2018, only 17.1% were female.

Partnering with Bumble for the program are festival promoters C3 Presents, Superfly and Another Planet Entertainment. The agencies behind it are Endeavor Global Marketing and FlyteVu.