MCA Nominee Highlight: Music For All Foundation, Pioneering Accessibility in the Music Industry
- Music Cities Events
- Sep 3
- 5 min read
“We want no one to be left out of the musical experience.”
Raquel García, Activities Coordinator at Music For All Foundation
The Music For All Foundation aims to be a pioneer in creating an accessible and inclusive musical and cultural scene in Spain, where everyone can enjoy and actively participate. Its working model, which promotes inclusion in music industry events, deserves to be exported to other parts of the world.
In Music Cities Events Magazine, we spoke with Raquel García, Activities Coordinator at Music For All Foundation, about the foundation’s work, which has earned it a nomination for the Music Cities Awards in the category of Best Initiative to Support Diversity and Inclusion in Music. The ceremony will take place on September 16th in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Interview by Liliana Ramírez
Let’s start from the beginning: how was Music For All founded, and what inspired its creation?
The Foundation began at a music festival called Cultural Fest in Almería, Spain. The festival organizers have always been quite sensitive to issues related to accessibility.
They decided to investigate what other festivals were doing in this area so they could adopt and improve those measures, and they discovered that, apart from providing a viewing platform or an adapted toilet, very little was being done. So they decided: “Let’s implement real measures and see how it goes.”In 2019, they started organizing the first interpreted concerts and hiring people with disabilities, among other steps. Then the pandemic came along, giving us time to reflect, and in 2020, we created the Music for All Foundation to take this movement to other festivals so more of them could adopt these measures and improve accessibility across the music industry.
What kind of support does Music For All offer to the music industry ecosystem?
We provide guidance to music events looking to improve their accessibility. We also offer many workshops and training sessions, and we’ve created a wide range of manuals and guides so anyone interested can learn how to do this independently. We also have a small area focused on hiring people with disabilities, helping them become part of festival production teams.For example, at Cultural Fest, we hired almost 60 people with disabilities to work in all areas of the festival. We want more festivals to do the same because it truly enriches the event.
How did you first approach festivals, considering that in Spain they are such an important part of the music industry?
We were lucky that Music for All was born within a production company, so our first festivals came through that company. That gave us the chance to say: “Look, this is being done here, it’s working, let’s apply it elsewhere.”From there, we’ve been sharing our work and trying to help more festivals, not as a commercial service but as a mission. In some cases, festivals are required by city councils to meet certain measures, so they call us in for support. In others, audience members themselves request accessibility measures, like adapting vibrating backpacks that pulse with the music.
Which have been the most impactful festivals you’ve collaborated with?
We’ve been fortunate to work with leading festivals in Spain, such as Sonorama Ribera, Primavera Sound, Mallorca Live, and many others.
Does Spain have any regulations for accessibility in music festival workspaces?
No, there are no specific rules for how a standing event, such as a music concert, must ensure accessibility. The situation is different for seated venues like theaters or auditoriums, where there is more regulation.Standing events are more complex to regulate, so instead, we’ve brought together industry organizations and spoken with many festival teams to collect feedback. Together, we’ve created a set of requirements for festivals to meet universal accessibility standards so that everyone can enjoy them.We turned this into an accessibility quality seal for music events, especially festivals, designed to be easy for promoters to implement. The idea is that when you arrive at a festival, you don’t want to waste time figuring things out; you want clear, tested solutions. Last summer, we visited 28 festivals with our checklist to assess them directly.
You’ve created a guide for disability inclusion at music events. How was that process, and who are they for?
The first guide focused on advising music festivals on which measures they could implement. Later, we released a second edition with improvements and new technologies. Then we developed a full guide for festivals, another for venues, and practical manuals with checklists for each area of the event site. We also made a guide for evacuating people with disabilities in emergencies and worked on mapping services within festivals. Those maps were reviewed by people with intellectual disabilities to ensure the pictograms were clear. It’s been a lot of work, but these resources allow anyone who genuinely wants to learn to apply them, not just for music, but also adaptable to other events too.
Where can people find these documents if they want to consult them?
They’re all available on the Music for All Foundation website and can be downloaded for free. The site also has a virtual campus with videos explaining everything, so anyone can access and learn.
Let’s talk about your work in Latin America, such as at Lollapalooza Chile, which is already implementing these measures. How was that experience?
Lollapalooza Chile already has a pioneering accessibility plan. We first connected with them years ago to exchange knowledge. Later, they visited the Cultural Fest to see how we worked, and we visited them in Chile to learn from their approach.Thanks to a grant from the Ministry of Culture in Spain, we developed a Latin American project for offering training in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Punta del Este (Uruguay), and Buenos Aires (Argentina), sharing our methods and learning from others. This tour ended in Santiago de Chile at Lollapalooza, where we awarded them our quality seal.
What’s next for Music For All? Maybe increasing the percentage of accessible music festivals?
We’re preparing the same quality seal, but adapted for concert halls and venues, to certify their accessibility. We’re also working on European projects, one focused on advising festivals and another on venues. For the latter, we’ve partnered with teams in Estonia, Turkey, and Spain to share best practices for accessibility in concert spaces.
The work of the Music For All Foundation exemplifies how dedicated action can transform a music scene into a space of true belonging and accessibility. Their model proves that inclusion isn’t an afterthought—it’s essential to building stronger, more vibrant cultural ecosystems.
But how can we bring this same transformative approach to cities everywhere?
That’s exactly what we’ll explore at the Fayetteville Music Cities Convention this September 16–18, alongside leaders like Raquel García and a global network of advocates, policymakers, and artists.
Together, we’ll share strategies, celebrate innovations like the Music Cities Awards, and turn inspiring examples into actionable blueprints for cities around the world.
Ready to be part of the change?
Join us in Fayetteville AR and help build a future where everyone has a place in the music.
Last tickets available at: musiccitiesevents.com/fayetteville-mcc-2025
Let’s create cities where music doesn’t just sound good—it does good.
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