In the 2020 study by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California, ... [+]
Responses from a new survey of woman creatives working in music revealed some of the three core drivers of gender inequality in the industry.
Early 2020, the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California released a study on gender inequality in the music industry which revealed some staggering statistics. At the time, less than three percent of producers were women. Less than 13% of songwriters were women.
Gender inequality is rampant across the industry. Independent digital music distribution company TuneCore worked with MIDiA Research to release their 2021 survey, which adds more color and context to the image of inequality.
The survey includes 401 woman creatives—including artists, songwriters, producers and DJs—mostly from North America and Europe. One of its key findings points to three of the biggest challenges women face in the industry, according to those surveyed.
A whopping 64% of respondents named sexual harassment and objectification as a major challenge women face in the industry. Although the #MeToo movement remains influential, it hasn’t fundamentally changed gender-based harassment. While there may be more publicity around the matter, structural changes are often not made, and unbalanced power dynamics persist.
An issue that has been plaguing the industry since its inception, 38% of respondents included ageism in their assessment of main challenges women face in the industry today.
“The music industry wants female artists to be young–partly a symptom of the industry’s youth obsession, but also so that women become successful before they are presumed to decide to take on the role of motherhood,” the study says.
For women, ageism is no new enemy. Gendered ageism is an issue across many fields and areas of business. Superstars like Madonna speak about it and still face it. For women without the power of that comes with that spotlight, it can take an even bigger toll or be a “death sentence.”
Nearly four of every ten respondents pointed to male-dominated resources as a challenge faced by women in the industry. Male-dominated resources and towering levels of gender-based harassment create a perfect storm.
This survey shows more of what’s behind the curtain of the greatly unequal statistics the USC Annenberg study initially revealed early 2020. This survey may not be the perfect representation of women’s opinions about gender inequality in this area since race and sexual orientation were not recorded in demographic data.
But it reveals key information.
According to the survey, some of the main challenges women face in the industry includes issues related to discrimination—including gender-based harassment and ageism—and resource related issues. Others include lower pay, low representation and male-dominated labels.
“Phrases such as ‘tokenism’ and ‘lip service’ are commonly used to describe some of the current changes,” the study says. “But there is also a clear, bold vision of what real change should be.”
To improve the industry for women, survey respondents advocate for creating more opportunity; seeing more female representation and leadership; providing more support, recognition and resources; and tackling sexual harassment, objectification and ageism.
“The issues, challenges and experiences highlighted in this report are not ‘women’s problems’ to be solved just by women in the music industry,” the study says.
