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Community is in Consistency

Community is in Consistency

Tone Shift December Listening Party next Friday 12/19

Lydia Froncek
December 12, 2025

_{In this newsletter… An invitation to Tone Shift next week, reflections on building community in chaotic times, a new video! and a birthday invitation (}_{save the date}_!)

Hi friends and lovers,

The last Tone Shift event of the year is coming up one week from today!

Audiofemme x Tone Shift Listening Party & Mixer
Friday, December 19th | 8–11pm | at Commune

This month Tone Shift is joining forces with Audiofemme for our biggest listening party to date! We’ll get to hear new music from 6 featured artists and learn more about Audiofemme’s Agenda Grant- how to apply and make your application shine.

This event is for creatives and music lovers who want to get inspired, connect with fellow artists and discover new music. If you’ve been curious about Tone Shift but haven’t made it to a listening party- I hope you can come through!

RSVP HERE

Celebrating Two Years of Tone Shift

Next Friday marks our 21st Tone Shift event since the first ever listening party I hosted on my birthday on January 3rd, 2024. It’s pretty amazing to realize this spark of an idea has evolved into such a cornerstone of my life here.

This week I’ve been reflecting on how it all began…

The year I moved to New York I also released a two part album called LOVE COMES//LOVE GOES. In an era where releasing music can often feel extremely isolating, I wanted to find a way to celebrate the time and care I put into producing and mixing this album by gathering in community and intentionally listening to the work. I asked a few of my producer friends from Gender Amplified to share tracks as well, called up my DJ friend Brown Jewel, brought some donuts, and the first listening party was born.

I realized quickly that this was a unique and much needed space for women & non-binary creatives. Not only is it inspiring to hear the music we create and learn from each other’s process, but it’s also encouraging to know we’re not alone is some of the struggles we face.

It’s exhausting to navigate an industry that too often leaves us out of the conversation. To have to prove ourselves time and again. To struggle finding trusted collaborators. To stay grounded in the hypercritical landscape of social media.

In the past two years the state of the music industry has continued to dissolve into chaos. From major labels partnering with AI music companies to Spotify running ICE recruitment ads and investing in war tech companies, the promise of finding fulfillment or success by marketing your music into the void of feels less and less appealing.

And yet the necessity of creating and consuming human-made art is more important than ever.

It takes an extreme amount of dedication and bravery to be a woman or non-binary person making art in the face of rising costs of living, crumbling infrastructure and a political system that want to strip us of our rights and in some cases our humanity.

We can’t do it alone.

I started Tone Shift because my instincts told me we would need to connect in person on a consistent basis in order to build a support system that will carry us through these twisted and changing times.

Here are some lessons I’ve learned from Tone Shift in the past two years:

Consistency is key.
Part of what makes a space feel safe and welcoming is the trust that it will be there for you no matter what. Can’t make it this month? It’s okay we’ll be here. It’s been a slow build but we’re connecting with the people that will benefit most from what we’re creating.
You can’t do it alone.
When the vision is clear people will want to help make it happen. From Aviva jumping on the branding and design, to Nykia helping to run the events, to Dean at Commune who works to accommodate us month after month, the right people will continue to step up to help bring a good idea to life.
Coalitions over competition.
Capitalism wants us to believe we’re all in competition with one another. Over the past two years I’ve crossed paths with so many other amazing organizations that are seeking to build equity for women in the industry and reimagining the structure all together. Everyone has a role to play and together we can uplift each other’s work.

That’s why I’m so excited about this month’s Audiofemme x Tone Shift collaboration. It’s a moment to celebrate all we’ve achieved in the last year, the over 150 artists we’ve impacted, collaborations we’ve spurred and community we’ve cultivated.

This is just the beginning. There’s much more to come next year and I think the most exciting part is that I won’t be doing it alone.

To you sweet friends that made it this far… here’s a little gift for you. I’ve been recording a series of covers of songs that inspired my album. Last Thursday I stayed up late singing “Wish You Well” by Sierra Ferrel. A gorgeous song about the dichotomy of still feeling love for someone who broke your heart. I hope you enjoy my rendition.