FEATURE:
Sexism, Discrimination, Abuse and Misogyny in the Music Industry
IN THIS PHOTO: Haim (from left): Alana, Este and Danielle/PHOTO CREDIT: Drew Le Fore Escriva/The Guardian
Will We See a Turn Towards Change Soon?
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IT might seem like music has gone…
PHOTO CREDIT: @marvelous/Unsplash
into a state of hibernation, as not many gigs are happening, and there is a very strange feel about things at the moment. Plans are being made for next year and, recently, the nominations for this year’s Mercury Prize were announced. The most positive thing to come out of the shortlist was the fact that, for the first time in the award’s history, women outnumbered men on the list – either as solo artists or the lead of a band. We should be at a place where it is seen as normal that women are equal or outnumbering men in terms of award nominations, but it is still a big surprise as disparity continues. Though music has slowed and things are not as they were before, that is not to say that issues such as misogyny and sexism have gone away. Alongside continuing misogyny and sexism, women are still on the receiving end of harassment at festivals. I have read a couple of stories recently relating to sexual assault and toxicity at music festivals and, for years it has been a huge issue. One of the music world’s biggest names, Hayley Williams, recently talked about her experiences and those of her friends:
“Hayley Williams opened up about the stories of sexual assault and abuse she's been reading from friends and peers in the music industry lately in a lengthy tweet on Monday night (July 20) in which the Paramore singer and solo star sent her love and support to those who've suffered while revealing her own experience as a frontwoman in the emo scene.
"It makes my stomach hurt and my eyes turn red," Williams said about unspecified stories of sexual and other forms of abuse at the hands of men in bands or in other parts of the music industry. "It's so crazy to me how frontwomxn can be such powerful inspiration to so many young people, who see us as very much 'in control' of ourselves and our immediate surroundings when we're up on a stage."
Williams wrote that she knows that powerful feeling, which is very real for her, transcending "any notion of gender" and, for her, is more than the sum of her parts when she's on stage. "But the truth is, all us 'music people' are first and foremost human beings," she wrote, adding that female lead singers are vulnerable and feel shame just like any other young person.
While Williams did not specify which stories she's been reading, her post came amid recent reports of alleged sexual abuse and misconduct leveled at musicians and record labels and it found her thinking out loud about the vulnerability of young male rock performers that can transform due to the ingrained toxicity in the scene. "They are most definitely vulnerable too and unfortunately -- whether consciously or not -- wrapped up in the toxicity of a culture that has existed long before most of us became a factor in it," she wrote”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Hayley Williams/PHOTO CREDIT: Natasha Moustache/Getty Images
This year has been a challenging one for the industry – more so than usual -, and there is no certainty regarding gigs next year and whether a lot of our venues will still be standing. That is fair enough, but I would hope that, among these recovery plans, there is going to be discussion regarding new frameworks and protective measures in place that protects women across the industry. I will talk about sexism in a minute but, in terms of talking about assault and abuse against women, the figures do not seem to improving - the reality is bleak, and recent stories involving Ian Svenonius and The Killers’ touring crew is bleak! I am aware that music festivals are hard to police but, as next year’s festivals will be the busiest and most-anticipated ever, it is going to cause extra strain, and it also means that there will be countless cases of harassment and assault against female festival-goers. I would recommend people investigate this recent article from Louder Sound, as it talks about the ongoing issues at festivals and wider afield:
“In recent years, the wider #MeToo movement has prompted women who have been the victims of assault and abuse at the hands of musicians to speak up. A wave of allegations against prominent musicians, like Brand New’s Jesse Lacey in 2017, encouraged women to come forward with their stories.
However, as the root causes of that abuse have not been stamped out, and the perpetrators not held properly accountable, little has changed.
PHOTO CREDIT: @globelet/Unsplash
There are a few factors that make abuse more endemic within alternative scenes – like hardcore, emo, pop punk and metal – than other areas of the music industry. One, an overwhelming percentage of musicians and fans in alternative music are male. Two, the age gaps between artists and their teenaged fans is often broad. Three – and this is key – artists hold power over their female fans. In many cases, the reverence that fans have for their favourite singers and musicians makes it difficult to realise that they’re being taken advantage of”.
I wonder whether there will be a #MeToo movement for music. Compared to Hollywood, I would imagine sexual abuse, sexism and assault is just as common, and most women in the music industry would have experienced some form of sexism. I have brought the subject up now as, a) I felt that this year would be a year for change and progression. COVID-19 has sort of put a spanner in the works, but the fact women are still speaking about sexism and abuse so frequently is worrying. Also, b), I feel that the fact women are dominating and producing the best work around is not been reflected in terms of opportunities, equality and a wider platform. I hope that next year will not only see a resurgence in live gigs and security for the industry, but greater rights for women, whether this begins with discussions or funding. In the U.K., a lot of money has been pledged to help our arts scene survive this tough time.
PHOTO CREDIT: @mihaisurdu/Unsplash
I would like to imagine that a small chunk of this money would be earmarked to bring about parity, improvement and new measures that means women are not only better safeguarded and protected when it comes to sexual assault, but their talent, importance and voices are heard – from female producers and songwriters through to artists and everyone in between! As this article explores, female artists alone have to deal with so much scrutiny, double standards and sexism:
“All singers are constantly being judged and scrutinized under a magnifying glass every second of their every day, but female artists are known to always get the short end of the stick. In fact, any aspect of their lives is the subject of discussion and careless rumors, with their stories being constantly paraded on the covers and headlines of flashy gossip magazines.
Their body is continuously judged – as it never seems to be ‘thin enough’ or ‘curvy enough’. Their fashion sense is picked apart by wannabe fashionistas – as it is either ‘too boring’ or ‘too sexy’. Their love life and behavior are analyzed by cheap press reporters who act like part-time psychologists, and who feel like they are entitled to have an opinion on a stranger’s life. In the public eye, female artists are either never enough or just way too much, and that must be incredibly frustrating for them.
Therefore, it is no wonder why there are so few women who actually make it into the entertainment industry, as according to a study from 2017, 16.8% of artists are female, whereas 83.2% are men.
PHOTO CREDIT: @henmankk/Unsplash
Even women who work behind the scenes in music face an abundance of misogyny, however different it may be from what female singers experience.
Women who work as record producers, composers or songwriters face incredibly tough challenges every day, trials that can be compared to what women in STEM fields (i.e. science, technology, engineering, and math) go through: they are not respected or taken seriously by the public, and they are always the second choice, after their male colleagues. Female producers need to be the best of the best to be recognized for their talent, and even then, that doesn’t happen very often”.
Although the Mercury Prize has seen equality for the first time, and Glastonbury’s intended 2020 bill was gender-equal, big award shows like the BRITs still have a problem with gender. The fix is not going to be overnight and easy, but I am looking on social media and seeing daily tweets from women relating to sexism and their negative experiences. Whether that is a new artist being overlooked on radio playlists or reading derogatory comments in press articles, it is appalling! Big artists, too, are not immune from sexism. Haim have delivered one of this year’s best albums in Women in Music: Pt. III, and one would imagine they not have to shout for attention or struggle to be appreciated.
As this article from Music News outlines, the band tackled the issue of sexism on their current album:
“Haim have opened up about the sexism they've encountered in the music industry on their new album.
The all-female sibling trio, comprised of Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim, are one of the hottest Los Angeles pop-rock outfits, but in a chat with Variety, they revealed interviewers were fixated on their gender up until recently.
Admitting that they would constantly be asked, "What it's like to be...?" in "every single interview", Danielle said: "We haven't gotten asked the question this record cycle, which is also another reason why we wanted to call the album Women in Music. So it's actually great."
The new record, titled Women in Music Pt. III, appears to tackle sexism from the outset, with the cover art portraying The Wire hitmakers behind the counter at their beloved Canter's Deli in Los Angeles, posing in front of a sea of sausages.
Danielle, the group's main songwriter and lead vocalist, confessed the title is "mostly funny. But we also thought, 'Why don't we just put it into our music and tell our fans some of the experiences that we've had?'"
IN THIS PHOTO: Dua Lipa/PHOTO CREDIT: Hugo Comte
Maybe the root cause of sexism, misogyny and ignorance comes from the fact that men still dominate when it comes to positions of power. It may seem terribly naïve of me to say that quality and talent should be recognised, and that men need to stop ignoring and objectifying female artists. The more artists who speak out, the more the discussion continues. Another world-class album from this year arrived in the form of Future Nostalgia from Dua Lipa. Again, Lipa is an artist who has faced various forms of discrimination and sexism. I think one of the common threads is the way women are viewed and how there is this standard for men – where they are not criticised and told how to dress -, and a different one for women. NME explained more in an article from earlier this year:
“In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Lipa discussed ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ – a new track from her ‘Future Nostalgia’ album – which explores men’s treatment of women, saying she hoped the song would start a “conversation” because these were “real things [she has] gone through.”
“There is a lot less scrutiny of male pop stars,” Lipa said, adding: “…the way women are described compared to men, it’s, like, she is wearing shorts? ‘She puts on a leggy display!’ I just feel I’m here because I do music, but when people write articles like that about me, it takes it away from my talent and makes me a thing. An object. People like to just objectify women”.
In a year where the music industry has suffered shockwaves, one would hope that, when we are out the other side, there will be a reappraisal of the way women are viewed! There have been small improvements in the last couple of years, but things seem so painfully lopsided still regarding women’s rights and balance. The last female artists I want to bring in is Beyoncé. As one of the most influential women in music, she knows how important she is to many other women out there - and it seems like she has also had enough. When she delivered a graduation speech earlier in the year, she discussed sexism:
“She also touched on the sexism that is still prevalent in the music industry and how she had to carve her own path to success. Although the process was “terrifying” in her own words, building her own company was a major turning point in her life, “I know how hard it is to step out and bet on yourself.”
“The entertainment business is still very sexist. It’s still very male-dominated and as a woman, I did not see enough female role models given the opportunity to what I knew I had to do — to run my label, and management company, to direct my films and produce my tours that meant ownership, owning my masters, owning my art, owning my future and writing my own story. Not enough Black women had a seat at the table. So I had to go and chop down that wood and build my own table. Then I had to invite the best there was to have a seat. That meant hiring women, men outsiders, underdogs, people that were overlook and waiting to be seen,” she said.
She touched on how race and gender played a part in music corporations overlooking some talented candidates.
“Many of the best creatives and business people, who although supremely qualified and talented, were turned down over and over as executives at major corporations because they were female or because of racial disparity. And I’ve been very proud to provide them with a place at my table. One of the main purposes of my art for many years has been dedicated to showing the beauty of Black people to the world, our history, our profundity and the value of Black lives. I’ve tried my best to pull down the veil of appeasement to those who may feel uncomfortable with our excellence,” she said”.
From Beyoncé’s impassioned speech to Taylor Swift’s video for The Man taking shots at everyday sexism, Janelle Monáe attacking the misogyny that is rife, it seems that some serious work needs to happen! One area where sexism and gender imbalance is rife is to do with songwriting and production credits. In this L.A. Times article, there are some concerning statistics:
“In the Grammy Awards arena, females have fared best as new artist and song of the year contenders, averaging 36.9% and 24.6% of nominations over eight years studied. Come Sunday, 44.4% of the song of the year nominees are women, and 46.2% of new artist contenders are female.
By contrast, among nominations for overall record of the year (which recognizes vocal performance, production and engineering) and album of the year categories, an average of 8.2% have gone to females since 2012, and just 2.5% for producer of the year, in the form of a single nomination in 2019 for producer Linda Perry.
IN THIS PHOTO: Beyoncé
Looking more broadly to the recordings that have fared best on the Billboard Hot 100, the numbers become significantly more skewed: Last year just 14.4% of the 3,874 songwriters responsible for the most popular 800 songs over the study’s eight-year span were women, a statistically insignificant blip above the eight-year average of 12.5%. That figure has remained nearly static over time: in 2012, 11% of songwriters who crafted the top 100 songs that year were female.
The disparity in the world of record production is even more staggering: 5% of 2019’s top 100 recordings were produced by a woman; the eight-year average is 2.6% women to 97.4% men.
“The music industry has virtually erased female producers, particularly women of color, from the popular charts,” Smith said. “As producers fill a leading creative role, it’s essential to ensure that women from all backgrounds are being considered and hired throughout the industry. Moreover, the industry itself must continue to expand its commitment to representing the voices and talent of women in all aspects of the business”.
I have thrown a lot of information in the mix, but all of this is recent. Nothing new is being revealed here. Although, as I said, there have been changes in some areas, overall, the music industry has a huge problem with sexism and misogyny! As we are in a period of relative quiet regarding gigs, it would be a good time for festival organisers to ensure that next year’s festivities are aimed at keeping women as safe as possible – the same goes for venues.
PHOTO CREDIT: @dole777/Unsplash
I think there has been a change whereby people are being activated and motivated through social media, and there is a definite desire for evolution. I feel the problem is now as it has been: those in power are normally men, and they are not often incentivised to change things. If they perceive everything is okay, then they will not do much to upset the apple cart. The fact we have testimony from big artists and countless social media post from women in the industry sharing their experiences shows that doing nothing is not an option! Whilst there are very few gigs right now, that only briefly stops one problem among myriad ones. From a lack of exposure for female producers and encouragement for women to get into the studio, to media and record label scrutiny and sexist attitudes towards female talent, this could be a time for new pledges and a change in attitudes! I do think a bit of money would help set up bodies and organisations – aside from the ones that are there – that exclusively deal with making the music industry much safer and fairer for women. I do think a #MeToo movement is needed, and it could flourish and effect change. I think those in power need to take accountability, and reports regarding sexual assault at festivals and artists like Haim speaking about their struggles should open eyes. From the amazing albums released this year to record labels, venues and every corner of the music industry, women are essential and hugely important! It is tragic that, in 2020, we still need to have these conversations. Change and true progress needs to happen now but, to be fair…
IT should have happened years ago!