FEATURE:
International Women’s Day 2023
IN THIS PHOTO: Holly Humberstone will play the Reading & Leeds Festival this year
2024: A Year for True Equality and Balance Across All Festivals?
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WHEN I think of…
IN THIS PHOTO: Rina Sawayama is also booked to play this years Reading & Leeds/PHOTO CREDIT: Olivia Lifungula/The New York Times/Redux
International Women’s Day, I think of equality and an end to discrimination and abuse. In terms of artists, gender balance is still something that blights many festivals. As we look ahead to the summer, there are going to be plenty of festivals and events for all kinds of music lover. Even if festivals like Reading & Leeds offer a valuable and prestigious platform to some brilliant rising female artists, there is still not gender balance. I am not sure why there has not been a complete reversal of the inequality that has plagued festivals. If Reading & Leeds has improved in terms of the percentage of male artists vs. female artists (and gender non-specific artists), then it still shows there is a lot more work to do. Most of the major festivals are not defined and rigid in terms of the genres of music features. There is a breadth and flexibility that means so many kinds of artists are accommodated for. That does make selection a lot easier. I don’t think there is any room left for excuses. There will be various festival bills revealed in the coming months. With festivals offered gender equality, let’s hope that next year is going to be one where there is actual commitment and change! Baby steps are happening, but it is peculiar why things are slow in terms of parity. The past few years has seen an explosion of incredible women right across the musical map. Apologies if it sounds like I am repeating myself, but it is a subject that requires bringing back to the fore. In the same way award ceremonies like the BRITs made excuses as to why some of their major categories were male heavy, I don’t think festival organisers can really hide behind old lines.
PHOTO CREDIT: Wendy Wei/Pexels
We are living in a time when women are ruling music. In terms of choice, originality and potential, there are so many options for every festival. Excuses in the past revolved around female artists not being available to play or busy touring; some were not commercial or popular enough; maybe not the right fit. Festivals are not defined by harder-edged bands or any particular scene. Music is as fluid and genre-free as it has ever been, and festivals’ line-ups are reflecting that. Even if Reading & Leeds’ bill features very few women in the top lines and headline slots, they have expanded their sonic roster and palette. One hopes that, by next year, they will be even closer to a fifty-fifty. I think it is poor that many festivals this year will not improve or create a gender-equal bill. Glastonbury are the leading light from the biggest festivals, and there are smaller festivals like The Great Escape in Brighton where there is equality. The same is true of Connect Music Festival in Scotland. One only needs to look at the wave of features from the end of last year that tipped so many great female artists for success. That should provide ammunition and inspiration for all festivals. The best and most enduring albums of the past year or two are by women, and the most exciting and indelible album are also from women. I am glad that incredible artists like Holly Humberstone and Billie Eilish are going to be at Reading & Leeds.
I guess we will have to wait until nearer the summer before other festivals announce their bills. It is frustrating not really knowing why festivals are slow to adopt a gender-equal billing. Glastonbury has announced its first wave of names and, astonishingly, even though there are some incredible women lower down the bill, there are NO female headliners. Whilst excuses have been made, there is no excusing a festival that should be leading the way! What about Taylor Swift for instance?! It is ridiculous that there will be all-white male trio of headliners. Maybe there are genuine problems that mean things are what they are, but one cannot deny the sheer talent and popularity of so many female artists who would be perfect on festival bills. They are no less qualified or promising than male artists. This idea that women are not festival-ready, or they would be hated on is not true. I guess it is an evolving process and improvement. Things will be better this year than last, so it stands to reason that 2024 will be a year when things improve even more. Will that mean gender equality across all festival bills? I think that is unlikely, but we will see bigger steps towards it. It is sad and frustrating that, with databases like The F-List providing a plethora of U.K. female artists, that there are is still disparity. I spoke with the President of the Independent Society of Musicians, and the founder of The F-List, Vick Bain.
PHOTO CREDIT: Vick Bain
I wanted to know what she felt about gender inequality at festivals and across the industry and, as we head to International Women’s Day, whether she felt change was happening:
Even though smaller festivals like Connect in Scotland have announced a balanced line-up in terms of gender, larger ones like Reading & Leeds are still not there. Do you think there are reasons behind this?
Yes, the pipeline is not there yet. Festivals, especially larger ones, will book from agents. Agents book from record labels. Only 20% of signed artists are female (solo-artists it’s slightly better), with the ‘harder’ genres such as heavy rock and electronic music having even less than that. So the talent development side of the industry needs to invest in more female talent to get that pipeline going.
Now more than ever, women are dominating music and producing the most original and brilliant work. How damaging is it to young female artists coming through when they see how music festivals are struggling to reflect this with their line-ups?
It’s got to have an impact. I am told time and time again by women that they struggle to get festival spots because they are unsigned (not because they are not talented but because of discrimination and stereotyping) and so they don’t get that experience to help them progress. Female musicians experience far more barriers to progression in their careers and it accounts for the astonishing fall-off rate – 46% of all music performance students graduating from UK universities were female (2013 – 2018) and yet make-up only 25% of professional musicians and 20% of signed artists and 13% of large festival headliners. As an industry not improving the retention rate means we are losing out on talent.
The F-List for Music clearly lists a huge volume of female artists who would fit onto festival bills. Are festivals out of excuses when it comes to not creating gender-balanced bills?
Indeed, one of our straplines is no more excuses. Especially with smaller/mid-size festivals. And with the brilliant examples of huge festivals like Glastonbury and Primavera leading the way…
So yes things are improving, but goodness it’s glacial”
What was the reason for creating The F-List for Music? With no excuses for a lack of diversity and equality, is it frustrating to see only small steps being made?
It came out of data that I collected and analysed from my research for Counting The Music Industry, where I analysed the rosters of over 300 record labels and music publishing companies. Out of that process, I realised I had the details of a number of thousand female musicians who were signed and I made that information public via a Google spreadsheet, so festivals could find the ‘roster of rosters’ of signed women to book. Then lockdown happened about two weeks later and creating The F-List WordPress platform allowing women to create their own listings, and the non-profit organisation behind it became my lockdown project.
And yes, I wish progress was happening at a far quicker pace! We have some fantastic promoters and festivals out there (I’d like to give a big shout out to the brilliant promoters in our Doing The Right Thing network!).
I guess things have improved through the years. Do you think things have moved on and given women a bigger platform in general, or is there a long way to go?
Research and analysis allows us to measure progress and the BBC Data Unit have reported that in the few decades prior to 2017 women consisted of 6% of large festival headliners, that has increased to 13% (plus 12% ‘mixed’-sex bands) up to 2022. So yes things are improving, but goodness it’s glacial.
With so few festivals booking female artists as headliners, and very few festivals committing to a fifty-fifty gender split, what message would you give to them as we look towards the summer and a raft of festival announcements?
Use The F-List! There are over 5,700 women listed on there with all types of skills, genres and expertise. If they want help and assistance on recommendations they can drop me an email.
It is not only festivals that are lacking when it comes to balance and parity. Award ceremonies such as the BRITs are culpable. What was your reaction to the all-male line-up in the BRITs’ Artist of the Year category?
Exactly the same as what I have said about festivals: it’s an industry pipeline problem!
“Female musicians are demanding it….and so are audiences, which at most festivals nowadays are now also majoritively female”
How do you feel things will look next year in terms of equality and diversity at festivals and across the industry? Do you have a message to festival organisers and label bosses?
Invest in female talent just as much as you do male talent. Female musicians are demanding it….and so are audiences, which at most festivals nowadays are now also majoritively female. It’s better for your reputation, the vibe of your festival, the creativity on stage, your economic potential and risk management.
It is International Women’s Day on 8th March. To me, the voices of women in music is more important now than it has ever been. How does it make you feel to see the results of the great work you have helped create with The F-List, and should International Woman’s Day be a moment where the industry should stop and appreciate just how important female artists are?
I am thrilled that three years after lockdown we are building our momentum to make a difference and influence the industry. And YES, the industry needs to stop and appreciate just how important female artists are - and they can do that by signing more women, investing in their careers and supporting women-led initiatives such as The F-List 😊
2022 saw so many tremendous new female artists coming through, and some established names put out incredible music. Let’s hope that there are signs of equality this year at festivals. It would be the least that they can do for artists who have made such a big and important impact on the industry. It would be hugely encouraging if we got gender-balanced festivals across the board…
PHOTO CREDIT: Rahul Pandit/Pexels
BY 2024.