Research shows gender inequality in music

Research published on Wednesday, the 27th, shows significant gender inequality in the music industry in the United Kingdom.

The research was conducted by Help Musicians and Musician's Union with support from Women in CTRL , and was based on responses from 2,526 musicians who identified as women – out of a total of 6,000 musicians.

The disparate results prove that there are still many issues that women face in their careers that put them at a disadvantage compared to men.

Gender discrimination and sexual harassment

The report indicates that 51% of women have experienced discrimination while working in music, a figure reported by only 6% of male musicians; in other words, women are eight times more likely to be discriminated against in this context.

The results also showed that 33% of women have experienced sexual harassment while at work, and 25% have witnessed it happening to male colleagues.

In addition to discrimination and harassment already being serious issues, 60% of women consider these situations to be barriers to continuing or progressing in their musical careers.

Inequality in roles and musical genres

Although there are many women working in the music industry, when it comes to certain roles, they still have limited opportunities.

Approximately 79% work as musicians, meaning they perform, play instruments, etc.

However, women represent only 29% of DJs, 24% of producers, and just 15% are live sound engineers and 12% are studio engineers.

Regarding musical genres, women are the majority in classical music, at 59%. There is also a certain balance in musical theatre, where they occupy 46% of the roles.

However, in other genres there is a discrepancy between men and women, especially in rap (in the United Kingdom), with women representing only 8%.

Wage gap between men and women

The research revealed average annual income data, showing that female musicians earn £19,850 compared to £21,750 for men, a difference of almost one-tenth.

Among those who earn £70,000 or more per year from music, only 19% are women.

Aside from the problem of the wage gap, women are more qualified in terms of education; more than 14% hold a bachelor's degree in music and 15% have some postgraduate qualification in the field, but in practice this does not affect salaries.

Obstacles to career progression

Besides the wage gap, there are other structural issues that hinder the career development of women in music.

The main factors that interfere with professional life are family and domestic commitments.

A simple example is the fact that female musicians have more primary care responsibilities (28% compared to 20% of other genders) and 22% report themselves as the primary caregivers for a child.

Therefore, women face problems such as incompatible work schedules and difficulty finding someone or some company to care for children or disabled adults.

Age and career longevity

Given that women receive lower salaries, they also face more financial difficulties.

27% of the female respondents said they do not earn enough to support themselves, compared to 20% of male musicians.

This factor has an impact not only initially, but also in the long term, since, to make matters worse, the visibility of women in music tends to decrease with age.

According to the report, 47% of female musicians are between 16 and 55 years old, but only 26% are over 54 years old.

Contribution of research to combating gender inequality in music

Speaking to NME , Sarah Woods, executive director of Help Musicians and Music Minds Matter, said the report showed that much remains to be done to achieve gender equality in the music industry.

She also hopes that the research data will encourage the industry to collaborate more and more to reduce gender-based barriers.

Nadia Khan, founder of Women in CTRL , stated that the census data regarding discrimination, harassment, and wage inequality are alarming.

Khan emphasized that measures need to be taken and this is the opportune moment for the industry to commit to changes that will prevent the same data from appearing before the next census.