The parallelity gap between male and female music industry presence accurately displays the difficulties of a woman making their way through entertainment. Dr. Stacy L. Smith from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative now releases an annual report –funded by Spotify– analyzing comprehensive industry updates on inclusion across the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Chart. The 2021 analysis extensively examines artists, songwriters, and producers alike credited on any Billboard Hot-100 Year-End Chart since 2012.
Over the last 10 years, an average of 21% of the presence on those charts were women. (When understanding these direct percentages, it is important to note women make up 51% of the US population) 12.7% of the music on the charts was written by a woman, and only 2.8% was produced by a woman. However, women of color specifically have been making large strides in comparison to the generalized identity. Not only have artists of color risen from making up only 38.4% of these charts in 2012 to 57% in 2021, but women of color currently make up roughly 55% of the presence on the Billboard Hot-100 Year-End Chart. This is not to mention there was only a singular woman of color accredited to producing music in 2021 according to Billboard Hot-100.
Understanding these very real equity issues within a space that is meant to be built upon creativity and artistry rather than power, I am frustrated as a woman. I am aware of the lack of women across entertainment production as a whole; yet when I hold interviews with both male and female artists, their difficulties breaking through the industry are much different. When audiences are listening to/watching music from a man, they are concerned with their work lyrically. Whereas when a woman is showing off her work, audiences tend to be far more concerned with the presentability of the artist. Male artists do not face the same backlash from society as female artists, because ill-informed audiences hold different values to individuals based on their gender identity. When it comes to women working in the business aspects of the industry and the issues they face, they align pretty directly to a woman fighting for their spot in any workplace. However, as the music industry is of such a competitive nature, this lack of equity is far more apparent.
Supporting female artists is an individual act. Scrolling through any public playlist any music streaming service has to offer, anyone can see the poor gender diversity across the boards for themselves. It isn’t difficult to find talented female artists, and I highly consider going through your own playlists and attempting to balance the faulty gender parity in the industry. One stream obviously won’t change the entire trajectory of the industry. Although understanding why we aren’t seeing impartiality across the board –rather than assuming it is due to a talent deficiency– incentivizes more audiences to support up-and-coming women in the industry.
References
Aswad, J., & Wallenstein, A. (2022, March 31). Music Industry Has Made Little Progress in Female Inclusion: Annenberg. Variety. Retrieved November 2, 2022, from https://variety.com/2022/music/news/female-songwriters-artists-producers-usc-annenberg-study-1235219635/
Limbong, A. (2022, March 31). Women are rare in the music industry, especially as producers. NPR. Retrieved November 2, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1089901763/women-music-industry
Comments