GENDER DISCRIMINATION A MAJOR ISSUE IN BIZ: REPORT

A new report provides further evidence that gender inequality remains a key issue in the U.K. music industry, with 51% of survey respondents experiencing gender discrimination and 33% sexual harassment while at work.

The Women Musicians Insight Report, put together by the Musicians’ Union and Women in CTRL, gathered responses from more than 2.5k women musicians. The data was taken from 2023’s Musicians Census.

Eighty-eight percent of women reported that their career had been restricted in at least one way, according to the findings. Experiencing or witnessing discrimination while working in music was reported by 87% of women, compared to 65% of men. While more than half of women reported experiencing gender discrimination, just 6% of men reported the same.

Disabled women are more likely to experience both disability and gender-based discrimination, while 38% of women from the Global Majority reported experiencing or witnessing racism.

Women reported an average annual income from music of £19.8k, compared to £21.7k for men. The gender pay gap is widest after £34k a year and in the highest income bracket, where women made up just 19% of those earning £70k a year or more from music.

Women are more likely to experience financial challenges than men, with 27% saying they don’t earn enough money to support themselves, compared to 21% of musicians overall.

In addition, while 47% of the census respondents were women aged 16-55, women’s representation drops significantly after the age of 54.

The findings echo those in the U.K. Government’s report, released in January, which described misogyny in music as “endemic.”