Half of women in the music industry say gender discrimination continues, according to a new report

In honor of International Women's Day (March 8), Believe and Tunecore have released their fourth annual partnership report Be The Change: Gender Equality in Music.

Prepared by MIDiA Research and presented by Melissa Etheridge, the report gathers responses from 4,146 creators and music industry professionals. This survey was conducted through an online global survey translated into 14 languages ​​and conducted in November and December 2023.

Of these respondents, 64% were male, 32% were female, and 6% were gender expansive, with this portion indicating that they identify as non-binary, older, transgender, or other. One-on-one interviews were also conducted with women and gender mainstreaming creators in the US, South Africa, France, Mexico and India.

Among key findings, the survey found that – despite some recently documented gains for women in music creation and representation – women and gender-broader people are far more likely than men to experience the music industry as “generally discriminatory ” by gender, with 49% of women and 41% of men expressing this belief, compared to just 16% of men.

Age plays a factor in this finding, with Gen Z less likely to perceive gender discrimination than older generations. 31% of women aged 16-24 see the industry as generally gender-biased, compared to 54% of 25-34 year olds and 42% of women aged 55 and over. The report notes that this finding “could reflect improving conditions,” but could also be a function of younger women not yet being in the industry long enough to experience discrimination.

The study also found that three in five women in music have been sexually harassed and that one in five have been sexually assaulted.

More than 70% of women who have these experiences do not report them, the study says, “because fear of retaliation and not believing anything would change are the most common reasons.” The study also notes that 53% of men who witnessed sexual harassment and/or assault did not report it, with 37% of those men saying they “didn't feel like it was their place.”

Additionally, 56% of women who reported sexual assault said their allegations were ignored or dismissed. The study found that almost a third were told to “keep quiet about it”, while 12% were fired from their jobs after reporting an incident.

Therefore, the study says, “the onus is on women to adjust their behavior to avoid misconduct, rather than on perpetrators and the wider industry to stop it from happening in the first place.”

When it comes to money, the study found that women and genderqueer people “are twice as likely as men to find that they are paid less than colleagues in the same or similar roles.” Identity exacerbates this issue, with 49% of women of a marginalized race or ethnicity having learned that they are paid less than their colleagues. The study advises that the pay gap “is likely to be even more widespread than these statistics indicate, as individuals may be subject to unequal pay without knowing it.”

There were also more positive results from the study. The report says that over the past two years, a third of respondents have seen a reduction in harassment. Almost half say their confidence and self-motivation have improved over the same period, and about a third said opportunities for development and promotion have improved. 28% said that staff diversity has increased and 31% that recognition has increased.

In terms of key factors driving positive change, women and gender fluid respondents cited greater diversity in positions of power, pay transparency and stronger enforcement as the most critical factors in changing the landscape. The study continues that “women and gender mainstreamers lack confidence in industry executives to implement change, so many are the change themselves.”

The report also explores topics such as attitudes to emerging technologies, finding that respondents feel “a mixture of curiosity and concern” about advancing technology such as artificial intelligence. He also talks about the challenges of algorithmic requirements, saying that “social platforms are increasingly important to the distribution and marketing of music, which means feeding into what the algorithms prefer. This ironically limits diversity in presentation even as it promotes diversity in substance. The pressure to package artists' identities into palatable, bite-sized social clips can also be damaging. Highlighting an artist's age, sexuality or gender identity in titles, posts and marketing strategies can drive engagement and inspire others, but can reproduce existing biases and stereotypes.”

The study also breaks down respondents by region – Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and North America – finding, among other things, that 65% of women in North America often feel pressured to look good. the highest of all regions'.