Loud LDN is a women-run collective of women and gender-expansive artists based in London.[1] It was founded in May 2022 by musicians Coupdekat and Maisi;[2] Maisi came across one of Coupdekat's songs on TikTok[2] and invited her for brunch, where they discussed the loneliness of being a woman in the music industry and how they were often pitted against each other.[3] This prompted them to set up a group chat[2] on WhatsApp[4] called Ladies Making Noise in London for the women and non-binary musicians they knew at that time.[2]
"Our most important thing when we were starting out was to not treat it as a networking thing – we’re there to support each other but not to use each other. Of course collaboration is natural, but we wanted it to feel like a sisterhood outside of the pressures and expectations of the industry, and that still is at the heart of everything we do."
Matilda Cole speaking to Wonderland Magazine in August 2024[5]
Initially, the group chat started with ten musicians including Piri,[2] who Maisi had reached out to at the start of 2022,[6] and Matilda Cole,[7] who had bonded with Coupdekat over a lack of community in the music industry.[5] The adding of other members caused the member list to grow to forty people, prompting them to set up an Instagram page.[3] In November 2022, Venbee mentioned that she was in the group chat in an NME article;[8] this caused interest in the group chat to rise to the extent that the collective had to institute eligibility requirements and an application process.[3] By June 2023, the chat had moved to Discord.[9]
In November 2022,[10] they held an event at The Bunker in Deptford Broadway. Charlotte Plank, who helped organise the event, used a December 2022 NME article to note that it had been "create[d as] a safe space where women can go and relax [without] hav[ing] to worry about getting groped or touched up".[2] Several members performed at a three-day pop-up event in April 2023 hosted by Spotify's Our Generation in Shoreditch[11] before others performed at Reign Down at Southbank Centre in June 2023[1] as part of Meltdown Festival.[12] The month after that, members performed at Climate Live's set at Wireless Festival.[13]
Artistry
Coupdekat told an interview with La Face B in January 2023 that she had been inspired by Nine8,[14] a group composed of Lava La Rue, Mac Wetha, Bone Slim, Biig Piig, Nayana Iz, Nige and LorenzoRSV,[15] and Maisi stated in April 2023 that they picked the name Loud LDN on the grounds that "[they] want to be loud in the industry, [they] want to like, make [their] mark, [they] want everyone to hear [them]".[16] In December 2022, Sophie Wilson of NME described the collective as a "community of [...] drum 'n' bass, pop, and R&B artists at all stages in their careers";[2] the following month, however, Maisi stated in an interview with Mia Khan of Shift London that she had complained to the magazine about the description on the grounds that there were only a few drum and bass artists in the group and that most of its members made indie and pop music, with the occasional jazz musician in there.[3]
Singles by Piri (as half of Piri & Tommy), Caity Baser, Venbee, Issey Cross, Charlotte Plank, and Bshp have entered the UK Singles Chart; the chart ending 4 May 2023 contained five entries from members: Venbee's "Messy in Heaven", Cross' and Bshp's "Oh Baby", Baser's "Pretty Boys" and "Feels This Good", and Plank's "Dancing Is Healing".[35]