Gender inequality in the music industry has remained a constant issue. Countless media outlets, including Pitchfork and Complex, have brought attention to the gender disparity n festival lineups with quantifiable breakdowns while organizations such as Keychange and Book More Women toil to foster change. A major factor in this industry-wide imbalance is a lack of gender equity in positions of power, according to a 2021 study on "Inclusion in the Music Business."
The struggle for women to hold space in any part of the male-dominated music industry — be it as an industry professional or a creative — is very real and ongoing. A study from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Institute found that women comprised 21.6 percent of all artists on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Charts between 2012 and 2020, and accounted for just 20.2 percent of artists on the 2020 chart. The latter percentage, according to the institution, incorrectly demonstrates that "there has been no meaningful and sustained increase in the percentage of women artists in nearly a decade."
Before female artists can make it to playlists and festival stages, there needs to be women behind the scenes putting them there. Women need to be in recording studios, become event producers, agents, managers, talent bookers and music executives. In order for that to happen, there needs to be guidance and support for women entering the music industry.
Here are a few ways fans and music industry workers can help make that happen.
Make the recording environment a safe space
Stories of sexual harassment in recording studio have been around for so long, they are nearly cliché. Unfortunately, instances of harassment and assault for both for artists and for the small percentage of women who work in an audio engineering environment continue to occur.
Creating safe spaces provides women with "a fair chance, more opportunities, " said engineer Suzy Shinn. Shinn has worked on GRAMMY-nominated albums including Weezer’s Pacific Daydream and produced Van Weezer.
Yet producer and songwriter Jake Sinclair was the first person to give Shinn a safe and stable studio in which to work and learn. "Before [Sinclair], I was running around town, doing every job I could get, dealing with unfamiliar situations that were different every day. [Sinclair] really gave me space to grow, " Shinn told GRAMMY.com. "When I get into that room, I do insane work and make sure I can blow it out of the water."
Get involved with organizations that support women in audio
The percentage of women in the audio space is growing, albeit incrementally. A number of organizations led by long-time, well-respected professionals are encouraging women to enter these careers and support them when they do. Among these are SoundGirls, Women’s Audio Mission, We Are Moving the Needle and Femme House.
Each one of these organizations has a "donate" button or merchandise, the proceeds of which go toward supporting their causes. You can go one step further and set up a scholarship fund (also a handy tax write-off) for women pursuing music education, or help fund existing scholarships offered by We Are Moving the Needle and Femme House.
Hire women and provide support once they’re on board
Have a position you need filled or a project you need done? Post it with shesaid.so, "a global community of women, gender minorities and allies in the music industry," or at Women Connect, who are "creating safer, inclusive spaces and equal opportunities for women, gender fluid and non-conforming people."
If you’re looking for a job in the industry, tune into MeloCompass’ podcast, and tap into Producers Program, "an initiative to support female-identifying music producers and help right the gender imbalance in their field."
Providing continual support to music professionals who are currently working is also important. Shesaid.so hosts mentorship programs where female professionals can uplift each other.
Listen to women-created and women-focused music podcasts
There are many informative women- and music industry-centric podcasts which allow listeners to gain insight into the position of women in the music industry. These podcasts often feature professionals and musicians who speak about their experience and offer advice.
Some excellent options are the radio show/podcast (and also zine), "Women in Sound," run by audio engineer Madeleine Campbell; "We Are the Unheard"; and the award-winning The Last Bohemians, which profiles women in arts and culture.
Provide basic amenities in venue dressing rooms
If you book women at a venue, they should have a private place to get dressed with adequate lighting and a mirror.
2022 Brit Award-nominated artist Rebecca Taylor (professionally known as Self Esteem) breaks it down quite simply: "Women, like all musicians, have to start small at 300-400-capacity venues," Taylor tells GRAMMY.com. "My band is six women and the space in these venues isn't for a woman. There isn’t anywhere to change. If there's a mirror it's covered in stickers. There is no light. The dressing room is for drinking and being a dude.
"That's where it starts, at the grassroots. The absolute smallest thing you can do, which is play a gig, the venue is not expecting women to be there. The knock-on from that has a huge effect. That’s why women are second all the time in music."
Bring up women bookers, promoters and festival organizers
There are not many women working as talent bookers, concert/event promoters and even less working as festival producers/organizers — at least independently.
Lauren Kashuk, founder and creative director of Ideaison, an experiential event production and marketing company, noted that female-fronted businesses are significantly less financially supported. "Events are expensive. You have to have the capital from somewhere, especially the first few years when they’re not profitable," she says. "For so long, the decision-makers have been men, and that ties in with financial implications."
Back-of-house positions such as Kashuk’s are often neglected in conversations about gender, she added. "Women behind the scenes need to have equal representation. Speak our names in rooms. If you sit at a table where there is no diversity, you are not going to represent the diverse population of your event and that’s going to impact every aspect of it.
"Empower and bring people that are different than you. We need confident men in positions of power to share that table and not be intimidated by women who are ambitious," Kashuk tells GRAMMY.com. "The way we’re going to change the industry is together, with allies."
Fill rooms and festival stages — including virtual events — where women perform
When promoters see sparse attendance for a woman performer, it is unlikely they will book her again. So showing up goes a long way. Make an effort to time your festival movements so you are in the vicinity of the stage with the rare female artist.
Notes Kashuk, "it’s easy to go to the glamorous large festival. You have to make a conscious effort to go to the smaller events." This support includes buying tickets and sharing information about the performance on social media.
Even tuning into a virtual festival, like SiriusXM’s EMPOWERED, led by the platform’s Rida Naser, makes a difference. After the festival, Naser said the ultimately wanted to have an EMPOWERED stage at a festival. This is an attainable goal, but only if Naser has (among many other things) the audience numbers to take to festival producers.
Support women-owned record labels
Women have great taste in music. They also are great at business. This makes women-owned record labels a double threat, and purchasing from them doubles down on a commitment to support women. Buying directly from a record label (or indie distributor or record store) allows label owners and artists to continue creating and releasing.
There are many women-owned labels to choose from, including Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records, Tokimonsta’s Young Art Records and the femme queer collective Surround’s Dusk Recordings. While you’re in a buying mood, grab some merchandise, post a photo with it and tag everyone involved.
Interact on social media — the right way
Follow, interact, comment, retweet, share. These are givens for any creative you want to support. But if a female artist has a non-algorithm platform you can connect with, such as Discord, engage there to create a direct line between artist and audience.
"I would love it if people used my songs in Instagram Reels and TikTok," independent artist TRISHES told GRAMMY.com. "Everyone wants to know if one of your songs is blowing up on TikTok. Using my music gives it a little bit more of a shot to catch on to a trending thing. Plus, a lot of trending sounds are made by Black creators, but not credited to Black creators. This way you’re not just using it, but also crediting it."
Focus should be shifted from physically objectifying women, TRISHES notes. Adds Self Esteem, "never comment one way or another on what we look like. I like shoes. I like fashion, but I don’t want you to tell me either way what you think about how I look, that would be helpful."
Do more than stream
According to Chartmasters, only two of top 10 most streamed artists on Spotify are women: Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift. The same source shows only two more in the top 20: Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa.
This extreme imbalance has broad ripple effects that leads to more gender inequity. "The people that book festivals, make playlists, those are the ones impeding women because they’re the ones that make those lists 80 percent men," TRISHES explains.
Naturally, you should follow women artists whose music you enjoy on streaming platforms and YouTube, but also add them to your playlists and share those. Since the individuals at these platforms are not necessarily picking women to populate playlists, any playlist women show up on helps to bring attention to their music.