Same Old Song? Women In Music Win Awards But Still Face Opportunity Gaps
Camilla Cabello, Taylor Swift and Halsey at the recent American Music Awards.
Taylor Swift had it right. In her performance at the recent American Music Awards, where she won Artist of The Decade as well as Artist of The Year, she sang, “The Man,” with particularly fitting lyrics.
“If I was the man, I’d be the man,” she sang, surrounded by a choir of young girls. Alas, she is not. And the gender gap in all music is wide.
Even if the optics for the recent awards show featured iconic performers and diverse newcomers such as Shania Twain, Toni Braxton, Carole King, Ciara, Billie Eilish, Halsey and Camila Cabello, the reality is women do not dominate the music scene—pop, country or any genre.
“Even if the recent awards show featured diverse newcomers such as @Ciara, and @Billieeilish, the reality is women do not dominate the music scene. #WomenInMusic”
The recent Country Music Awards also honored a wide chorus of legacy female performers including Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and dozens more, but for women in country music, the playing field is imbalanced.
Women In Music keeps up to date stats on the discrepancies. They report that the gender divide across all regions of music is roughly 70% male to 30% female. In the U.S., 15% of label members are majority owned-by women, while in the U.S.and Canada, 6% of recognized producers are women. Only 7% of women identify as having a role within sales/biz development in Canda, and in the United Kingdom, 50% of freelance women earn less than £10,000 annually in the music business.
“@Womeninmusicorg reports that the #gender divide across all regions of music is roughly 70% male to 30% female. #GenderParity”
Read more in Take The Lead on how to reach parity in the music business
According to Keychange, in Europe across the participating countries’ collecting societies, women represent 20% or less of registered composers and songwriters. In the U.S., 22% of all performers across the 600 most popular songs from 2012 to 2017 were female, while only 12% of songwriters of the 600 most popular songs from 2012 to 2017 were women.
“According to @KeychangeEU, in Europe women represent 20% or less of registered composers and songwriters. #FemaleSongwriters #Keychange”
In country music, a new study shows that the gender gap in performance, production and songwriting is pronounced. NPR reports, “Women's voices and perspectives — and particularly those of more mature female artists and songwriters — are not being heard out of Nashville,” according to a University of Southern California's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative study.
“In country music, a new study from @NPR shows that the #GenderGap in performance, production and songwriting is pronounced. #MusicIndustry #WomenInMusic”
NPR reports, “According to the Annenberg researchers, led by Stacy L. Smith, only 16 percent of country artists are female, and only 12 percent of country songwriters are women. The team also notes that when female country artists do find mainstream success, they are young. ‘Not one of the top-performing women was over the age of 40, while all but one of country's top-performing men had reached or exceeded that age.’"
Earlier this year, Refinery 29 reported on the silence women have in air time. “Data scientist Jada E. Watson, in conjunction with the Women of Music Action Network in Nashville, compiled an alarming report that shows a steep drop in radio airplay for women on country stations from 2000 to 2018. The rate of play went from 33.3% to 11.3%, hitting its lowest point in 2014, when women earned only 7.3% of airtime. That means, their study found, songs performed by men are played at 4:1.”
According to Refinery 29, “Women had 2,846,744 million spins in 2000, and decreased over this 19-year period to 1,067,483 million by 2018 .This, while male artists increased steadily and indeed significantly from 5,896,507 million total spins in 2000 to 10,336,609 million in 2018.”
Northwestern University reports in a June 2019 study, “Men release more songs than women, are signed to record labels more frequently and are aligned with more collaborators to produce music, according to the study. The study authors analyzed four factors (sonic features, genre, record label affiliation and collaboration network) to identify the gender of an artist without taking vocal pitch into consideration.”
Agnes Horvat, assistant professor in the department of communication studies at Northwestern, “compiled data from 6,164 male and 2,083 female solo artists who commercially released 177,856 and 54,942 songs, respectively, between 1960 and 2000. Although the percentage of females in the industry increased from 20% to 25%, men released more songs than women throughout the 40-year time period, even after controlling for the imbalance in representation, the study found.”
In March 2019, The Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship, Berklee Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, and Women in Music (WIM) released the results of the first study in the U.S. exploring the socioeconomic landscape of women in the American music industry, Berklee reports.
"Women in the U.S. Music Industry: Obstacles and Opportunities," analyzed responses from nearly 2,000 women. “While both white women and women of color shared this sentiment, 55 percent of women of color felt like they were behind in their careers, compared to 44 percent of white women. Women also overwhelmingly agreed that they had been treated differently within the music industry (78 percent), while over half of respondents felt that their gender had affected their employment (52 percent). These numbers were more pronounced among women who identified themselves as self-employed or freelancers,” Berklee reports.
In light of all the bad news, the good news for women in music is that mentorship and networking with other women helps.
“In light of all the bad news, the good news for women in music is that #mentorship and #networking with other women helps. #WomenInMusic”
“Survey results also shed light on positive aspects of different workplace practices, such as mentorship and networking opportunities. For example, 92 percent of women who had been mentored felt like it had contributed to their career in a positive way. Women with mentors were more likely to earn over $40,000 annually, and felt more satisfied in their career growth, compared to women without mentors. Overall, 72 percent of women working in the music industry considered themselves extremely or somewhat satisfied with their primary job,” Berklee reports.
Take The Lead reported in 2016 advice from Samantha Slattery, founder and executive director of Women in Music Canada offered several tips that all women can take to heart in any industry. Slattery advises:
“@Takeleadwomen reported in 2016 #advice from Samantha Slattery, founder and executive director of @WomenInMusicCA offered tips for women in any industries.”
Network relentlessly, in person and outside of your social circle.
Communicate openly about what you want and what you want to accomplish.
Be willing to accomplish and excel at tasks that may be below your expertise or skill level.
Enlist the help of one or more mentors, and be able to offer them something in return.
Love being underestimated, as it’s an opportunity to prove the quality of your work.
Go beyond your comfort zone and do things that scare you.
Know your value and what you can offer in terms of return on investment for your employer. Use this information to negotiate a fair wage.
“Know your #value and what you can offer in terms of return on investment for your employer. Use this information to negotiate a fair wage. #EqualPay”
While the visuals of women in music have improved recently— at least at the award shows— reaching true parity may need the help of more voices chiming in to achieve fairness. We can see what the Grammy Awards bring.
“While the visuals of women in music have improved recently— at least at the award shows— reaching true #parity may need the help of more voices chiming in to achieve fairness. #SpeakNow ”
