Stars in the foreground hide problems
There are some female artists like Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj or Cardi B which dominate the charts and also make headlines in political discourse. In terms of width and in the studio, however, the proportion of women is falling considerably. For study director Smith, women still have too little to say. Accordingly, the “voices of women in music remain silent”. Above all, behind the scenes, the imbalance is a problem: “Women as producers – and non-white women in particular – are practically wiped out in the music industry,” said the communications professor afterwards. According to the researchers involved, however, the imbalance is not due to the better qualifications of men, but rather to an “exclusionary dynamic”. According to the researchers, the music is clearly dominated by male executives who are more inclined to “work with the same male collaborators”. As a result, women often don’t even get a foot in the door, although female musicians at the top often deliver more hits than male artists. The study compares Nicki Minaj and Rihanna to Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran as examples.
One number stands out in particular at the end. Of the 900 top songs over the past nine years, 57.3% had all male authors, while less than 1% had all female authors.
It only works from the inside
The study also showed that non-white musicians are on the rise. Whereas in 2013 it was only 31% of musicians, the record figure of 59% was achieved in 2020. There has also recently been a trend towards more diversity on the red carpet. In 2017, only 6.4% of the Grammy nominees for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist, and Producer of the Year categories were female. The previous high of 28.1% was reached in 2021. In the 9-year average at the Grammys, the difference is still enormous – 13.4% women to 86.6% men.
Even if there are bright spots here and there and especially the stars at the top are often female, according to the USC researchers little will change in the general situation as long as the male decision-makers “do not want to bring about any deliberate change”. The whole industry would have to advocate change, something “which in this case clearly did not happen”.
It should be noted that the annual study mainly focuses on commercially successful music or pop music. The results do not necessarily imply the same problems with indie music or electronic music – even if men are also in the majority here. Nor does it set the goal of establishing a 50:50 ratio. In an artistic field that is not expedient. Instead, there should be more equal opportunities initiatives in the allocation of jobs. The Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammys, has taken a first step here. A call was made to labels, musicians and producers to consider at least two female candidates for future projects. The initiative was previously supported by over 650 people signed by the industry.
The study can HERE (pdf).
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