Editorial: Where are the women in music?
The music industry is already a difficult career to be a part of, but for the 30% of female musicians in the business, it’s nearly twice as hard.
From 2012 to 2017, only 22% of the songs that reached the top charts were performed by women. Even less than that, only 12% were written by women. Despite this, women still seek a career in music. Why is this?
Sarah Tudzin created her solo project “Illuminati Hotties” in fall 2016. She wanted to pursue music because she was “obsessed with it.” Tudzin managed to not only make a name for herself but found a way to involve music in her life while still paying rent and buying groceries.
“Challenges on my path have often been related to time, finances, resources, turning talent into skill and so many other obstacles that everyone faces on their journey to success,” Tudzin said.
And gender definitely played a part in it.
“Some challenges though have certainly been related to gender along the way,” Tudzin continued. “I’ve felt uncomfortable, unheard and underestimated by men in working environments who have no problem entertaining the opinions of their male counterparts and throwing them into opportunities for advancement. With sheer perseverance, I’ve been able to block out any offhand comments or seek alternative paths to the ones that were being laid out for the men around me, but none of that should be a stumbling block or second thought for anyone who’s not a man.”
Carolee Beck, the lead singer of Logan’s own “The Gatherers,” agreed.
“When I started pursuing music, I was shocked to find that the majority of my peers and colleagues were male,” Beck said. “That has pretty much been true with shows I’ve played, studios I’ve recorded in, and musicians I’ve played with. Women are totally underrepresented in the music industry.”
Even Taylor Swift, one of the biggest artists around, has shared her experiences with sexism. In 2018, she spoke to Vogue magazine about the experiences she had as a child versus as an adult.
“I would hear people talk about sexism in the music industry, and I’d be like, ‘I don’t see it.’ I don’t understand,” Swift said. “Then I realized that was because I was a kid.”
It wasn’t until later that she realized it was grown women that men felt threatened by.
According to a study conducted in 2015, men feel more threatened by female leaders rather than males and are more likely to act aggressively. People are more likely to assume 20% of female managers are at lower positions compared to only 10% of men while one-third of women have been asked in their career to provide proof that they are competent enough to hold their position.
“It’s fine to infantilize a girl’s success and say, ‘How cute that she’s having some hit songs,’” Swift said. “But the second it becomes formidable? As soon as I started playing stadiums — when I started to look like a woman — that wasn’t as cool anymore.”
This came after Swift made nearly $345.7 million on her 2018 Reputation tour.
Another study conducted at Northwestern University analyzed four factors — sonic features, genre, record label affiliation and collaboration network — to find how much gender inequality existed in the music industry. Data was compiled from applicants over a 40-year period, resulting in an astonishing 54,000 songs. Although the percentage of female artists did increase from 20% to 25% over the years, men were still releasing more songs. In addition, the four factors they analyzed showed some interesting results. Songs created by men were considered more “danceable.” Women tended to perform more acoustic songs and were less likely to be sought out by collaborators, meaning advancing career-wise was nearly impossible.
Aubree Schill, who started her band “Roadie” in Provo, Utah, had experiences that support Northwestern’s findings. Making waves in the Provo music scene was difficult, which made gaining respect even harder.
“In my experience, bands with men as the leads have a much easier time developing a very devoted fan base,” Schill said. “This leads to better ticket sales and online response to their music. Most female-led bands that I’ve noticed locally have quite a bit longer timeframes to reach a point where they’re established, and much fewer dedicated fans, fans who will stream their music, buy their merch and attend most shows.”
“There is absolutely no difference between myself and any male counterpart that has anything to do with our gender,” Tudzin agreed. “As far as personality, taste, skill, energy, etc. there is just as much difference between myself and a man as there is between myself and any other person, regardless of gender, who does what I do.”
Young girls need people to look up to, which is why having equality in the music business is so important. This is a problem that exists cross-platform, no matter the career. Women are underrepresented in politics, film, hard labor and management. As others fight for equality amongst business, what steps can be taken in the music industry?
1975 frontman Matty Healy had an idea. Last year, his band was set to headline the popular Reeding Festival in England but pledged to turn down future unequal events when he realized the lack of female artists in the lineup.
“It’s all about action,” Healy said in a statement to the BBC. “When it comes to big sociopolitical issues and governments are involved, sometimes action or protest can just be ignored. But when it comes to the music industry, we can change that. It’s not a geopolitical nightmare: it’s the music industry, and it’s something that if everyone gets on board, we can fix.”
In 2018, 45 music festivals and conferences across the world signed the PRS Foundation Keychange’s initiative promising to reach a 50/50 gender split across lineups from now until 2022.
Although the push for gender equality in music is a start, the world still has a long way to go. Despite this, women should not be discouraged from doing what they love.
“I would encourage women with a passion for music to keep putting it out there and to maintain their drive through all the difficulties of a music career,” Schill said. “We need more women in this industry and there is always room for more in the music field. I think it’s time to make this less of a competition and more of a community.”
So let’s do just that. After all, in a few more years, the start could become a movement.
—sydney.dahle@aggiemail.usu.edu
@dillydahle