Running Head: Women in Music

Women in Music Oppression and Empowerment: A Literature Review

Jenna Larcara

Appalachian State University

Women in Music Oppression and Empowerment: A Literature Review

performers, singers, conductors, music scholars, music educators, and other music professions.

As well, it describes music movements, events and genres related to women, women's issues and

feminism. In the 2010’s, while women constitute a significant proportion of popular music and

classical music singers, and a significant proportion of songwriters, there are few women record

producers, rock critics and rock instrumentalists. Notable women artists in pop music, such as

Bjork and Lady Gaga, have commented about sexism and gender discrimination in the music

industry. In classical music women composers are significantly underrepresented in the

commonly performed classical music repertoire, music history textbooks and music

encyclopedias.

Gender Pay Gap in the Music Industry

Throughout history women have fought for equal pay in a wide variety of careers. In an

article written by Murray Stassen, for Music Business Worldwide (2019), he goes into detail

about the pay gap between men and women who work for major companies like Sony, Warner,

and Sony in the U.K. Stassen states that women in the industry make 29.1% less than males in

regard to the average hourly rate of pay across the whole business. He also mentions that female

executives who work for these companies receive an average of 67.5% less on bonuses when

compared to their male coworkers. In an interview with Sarah DeCourcy (2016), a musician,

composer, and producer based in Los Angeles, she shares personal accounts of gender pay
Women in Music

discrimination in her own life. She shares a story about an experience where she discovered she

was offered only half the amount of money of what a man would have made for the same pitch

idea. DeCourcy also shares her shock in the interview when she found out the musical trio Haim

was offered ten times less than what a single male performer was offered to play at a festival.

Many women in the music industry fear bringing up the gender gap issue due to retribution and

backlash they may receive. She explains her frustration with the industry and the importance of

discussing the gender pay gap issue.

Underrepresentation

Women in the industry have been underrepresented across all genres of music and music

careers. Forbes Magazine published an article, written by Caitlin Kelley (2019), explaining this

widespread underrepresentation. According to the article, men are vastly overrepresented when

observing the data for some of the biggest awards like Record of the Year and Best New Artist.

Only 10.4% of the nominees in these categories between 2013 and 2019 were women. The

Forbes article also refers to a research study in which researchers interviewed 75 female

songwriters and producers to gain knowledge about the experiences of women in music. Over

40% of the interviewees said that their colleagues dismissed or discounted their work. In 2019,

an article written by Kristin Samuelson of Northwestern University stated that on average female

artists have fewer collaborators and are on the outer limits of these collaborations. Samuelson

also states in the article that out of nearly 5,000 record labels only a third of them have ever

signed at least one female artist. In another piece of writing released by NPR, it explains that

only 16% of country artists are female and only 12% of country songwriters are women.
Women in Music

Although the percentage of women in the industry has increased from 20% to 25%, women are

still widely underrepresented and more work needs to be done to improve these statistics (2019).

Other Barriers in the Industry

Alongside the gender pay gap and underrepresentation in the music industry, women face

many more challenges that may prohibit their success in their careers. In another article released

by Forbes Magazine, written by Bonnie Marcus (2018), it states the several other reasons why

women are underrepresented in the industry. Marcus explains that the industry is a “boys club”

where women are offered less opportunity and have to work much harder in order to get ahead.

She also mentions that due to underrepresentation women have fewer role models to look up to

and that they face an intense gender bias. The Forbes article (2018) also explains the importance

of providing women opportunities at a young age so that they are encouraged to explore different

fields in the business. In another writing published by PBS, written by Laura Santhanam (2019),

it goes into detail about the discrimination women face amongst their male coworkers and

competitors. She explains the backlash that country artist Keith Hill received for calling women

in country music “tomatoes of our salad” while men would be the lettuce - the main ingredient

for success. According to the article, male artists claimed nine out of 10 of Billboard’s Top 10

country music songs just last year. Santhanam also explains that songs with topics of women,

pickup trucks, and drinking beer always seemed to rise and climb on the charts. She mentions

that women artists in country music are coming together to speak out against harassment and to

demand for better conditions for women. In a personal anecdote written by Penny Anderson

(2018), she shared the discrimination she experienced as a scout and songwriter in the music

industry. She stated that one of her male coworkers once tried to “mansplain” feminism to her
Women in Music

when she called him out for not giving her proper credit for something she helped write.

Anderson also shares that when she called out harassment and even assaults the men declared

that she must be a lesbian. She stated that to them, this was the appropriate insult to bash an

assertive woman.

Underrepresentation, the gender pay gap, harassment, assault, and sexism are just the tip

of the iceberg in which women have to deal with in the music industry. Equality for women in

music has come a long way but still has an even longer way to go. Through early intervention

programs, support groups, and other organizations, women in the industry continue to push

through and fight their male counterparts. Despite the challenges they face, women in the music

business continue to work hard to diminish these problems in order to be successful in their

music careers.
Women in Music

References

Anderson, P. (2018, December 17). The music business I knew was a sexist hell. But things are

changing | Penny Anderson. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/17/music-business-sexist-nineties

-bands

Gilbert, B., Gilbert, B., & Jones, D. (2016, September 09). Who Run the World? Female Music

Industry Leaders Confront the Gender Pay Gap - Synchblog by Synchtank. Retrieved

March 26, 2020, from

https://www.synchtank.com/blog/who-run-the-world-female-music-industry-leaders-conf

ront-the-gender-pay-gap/

Kelley, C. (2019, April 28). The Music Industry Still Has A Long Way To Go For Gender

Equality. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/caitlinkelley/2019/02/06/music-industry-study-annenberg-g

ender-equality/

Marcus, B. (2018, April 04). The Music Industry Remains A Boy's Club: How Do Women Break

In? Retrieved March 26, 2020, from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bonniemarcus/2018/04/03/the-music-industry-remains-a-bo

ys-club-how-do-women-break-in/

Samuelson, K. (2019, September 17). Women grossly underrepresented in the music industry.

Retrieved March 26, 2020, from

https://phys.org/news/2019-09-women-grossly-underrepresented-music-industry.html

Santhanam, L. (2019, March 22). How female musicians amplify each other when the industry

won't. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/how-female-musicians-amplify-each-other-when-the-

industry-wont

Shea, A. (2019, March 12). 7 Takeaways From A New Berklee Report On Women Working In

The Music Industry. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from

https://www.wbur.org/artery/2019/03/12/berklee-report-women-music-industry

Skolnik, J. (2018, August 07). Beyond Representation: In Music And Media, Gender Equality

Will Take A Revolution. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/07/634725840/beyond-representation-in-music-and-media-

gender-equality-will-take-a-revolution

Stassen, M. (2019, April 05). Revealed: What major labels are paying women compared to men

in the UK. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from

https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/revealed-what-major-labels-are-paying-wome

n-compared-to-men-in-the-uk/
Women in Music