Nearly half of LGBTQ+ professionals say the music industry doesn't provide enough resources

With an unprecedented number of openly LGBTQ+ artists making waves in the music industry, a casual observer could argue that representation in the business has reached a new high. However, according to its workers, representation is still severely lacking.

In a new study published by Queer Capitain cooperation with Advertising sign and The Orchard, nearly half of LGBTQ+ music industry respondents revealed they felt underrepresented in the industry. The State of the LGBTQ+ Music Industry Professional Survey collected responses from nearly 300 LGBTQ+-identifying music industry professionals.

The majority of respondents (77%) said they felt somewhat or very comfortable being open about their sexuality in the workplace, while 64% of respondents said the industry fosters a somewhat or very inclusive and supportive environment for LGBTQ+ professionals.

This perspective changed, however, when professionals were asked about representation in all areas of the industry. While an overwhelming 92% of respondents cited LGBTQ+ representation as either “important” or “very important” to the industry, nearly half (48%) said they believe the community is somewhat or very poorly represented across all areas of the business.

“As a manager, I feel good about my particular company. My concern is that as you get into different forms and genres, a lot of them are not welcoming and don't feel like supportive places as music industries,” wrote one respondent in the survey's open-ended response section.

When it comes to active support for LGBTQ+ people in the industry, the survey found that just 8% of respondents felt their companies provided “adequate resources” for LGBTQ+ employees. Meanwhile, 21% said their companies did not provide resources for LGBTQ+ employees.

One respondent took this concern further, saying that the burden of community support should not fall solely on queer and trans professionals. “It is critical to tackle unconscious bias against transgender people. This should not be about your resource groups or LGBTQ+ outside of full-time jobs,” they wrote. “Many times, I was put into PPC work on top of my full-time job. Actually, I don't want to be in PPC, I want to do music. We need to stop forcing our LGBTQ+ colleagues to do all the work except break glass ceilings.”

Additionally, 64% of respondents said they had personally experienced or witnessed microaggressions related to LGBTQ+ identities in the music industry. Just over a quarter (28%) of all respondents believed they had been passed over for promotions or raises because of their identity.

“I think we have a lot of LGBTQ+ identifying people in the music industry, but some areas are still more unsafe than others,” one respondent wrote. “Working on the tech side, there are still a lot of regressive ideas about LGBTQ+ people and offensive comments or 'jokes' that are made during work hours.”

So what can music companies do to boost community support both during and outside of Pride Month? Respondents said that employee resource groups and diversity and inclusion workshops provided by their companies “actively helped” create a safe and supportive environment for LGBTQ+ employees. When asked what resources are not currently provided by their companies that they would like to see implemented, respondents cited mentoring programs (19%) and LGBTQ-specific networking events (17%) as top choices.

“I feel really good about the representation in our industry, but I will say that I would like to see more LGBTQ+ bosses. The leadership could still use some freshening up,” wrote one respondent. “I'm very grateful that one of my first mentors was an incredibly bad artist manager. She is a lesbian who has never shied away from her identity at work. She showed me what it's like to be a confident boss and how that can win over clients and business partners. I aspire to the example he has set so far.”

In a statement shared with Advertising signco-chair of Queer Capita; Dan Iammatteo said the nonprofit's goal in publishing the survey results was to “use data as a tool to help industry advance issues our community values ​​most.” He added that the organization will use the results of this research to “expand our collective impact by continuing to work with DEI industry leaders, organizers and champions to produce events and programs that remain free and accessible to all LGBTQ+ professionals at every level ».