FEATURE:
Frequency Modulation
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When Will Radio Stations Properly Acknowledge and Represent Women?
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I am not sure…
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what the official figures are regarding radio stations and gender parity. In terms of the playlists and how many songs are by female artists. We will get a report later in the year. I think that it will make for alarming reading. I listen to a few stations on a fairly regular basis. What I am noticing is that there is barely any movement regarding gender equality! There are some especially bad stations. I always pick on stations such as BBC Radio 2 and Greatest Hits Radio. Radio X and Absolute. Even BBC Radio 6 Music, the best when it comes to striking for equality, have a very long way to go. Programme song schedules that are either heavily skewed to male artists or just about equal. As female artists are dominating music and, as I have said, released the best albums for quite a few years ago now, it is always angering and insulting! Think about all those features that came at the end of last year and early this year. Most of those tipped artists were women. There is no shortage of new female artists that are worthy of being played on a variety of stations. Definitely no issue regarding legacy and older artists. I don’t think many radio stations are so rigid that they have little room for women. Even genre-specific stations – who are quite narrow – still have the potential to do more than they are. I wonder whether there is impetus to actually improve. Even now, as we look to a summer of festivals in 2024, many are struggling to book female headliners. Too many excuses that are covering for the fact that they are not doing enough. The fact that Glastonbury’s two female headliners this year (SZA and Dua Lipa) seems so extraordinary speaks volumes. The first time they have booked two female headline act. It seems exceptional that, in over fifty years, that is the first time! To be fair, Glastonbury could have booked a third female headliner. Kylie Minogue, Björk, Little Simz. It would have been more refreshing and stronger than Coldplay – who are the third headline act this year.
IN THIS PHOTO: SZA/PHOTO CREDIT: Mason Poole for Variety
My point is that there is never a shortage. Any excuses regarding a lack of female headliners is a lie. No festival has anywhere to hide. Even so, things are still dire. Not as much progress as there should be. Radio stations seem to struggle from a similar lack of consideration. How have we got to 2024, in a year when it is obvious female artists are on top, and things are still as they are?! I can’t think of a radio station hat affects a gender-balanced playlist/schedule. Maybe smaller ones do though, when you think of commercial stations and the bigger names, it is hard to think of anyone doing as much as they can. This is inexcusable. It is pretty sorry that female artists are not deemed worthy enough to be on playlists. I don’t think it has anything to do with quality, fitting into their demographic or there being any sort of unwritten rule that says male artists should be in the majority. I feel that festivals and radio playlists should naturally be female-heavy. It would be wonderful to think a male bias is overturned ` and women are finally at the front. Overturn decades of sexism and ignorance. It is so frustrating that radio playlists seem unwavering. I know the situation is worse in Ireland. The entire industry needs to do more. All major festivals in the U.K. have to do more and are not exactly quick when it comes to reversing gender inequality. With more options than ever when it comes to amazing women to book as headliners or further down the bill, many are still being ignored. Many rely on radio airplay to get them noticed by festival organisers.
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It is part of the chain. Venues booking female artists based on what they hear. If they are struggling to make it onto schedules, it makes it harder for them to get to the attention of headline organisers. I would be interested to see officially statistics and findings whenever that comes. Seeing how far big radio stations have come since last year. Even if the situation is not as bleak as it was years ago, I am confident very few can say they have achieved a fifty-fifty balance. Maybe BBC Radio 6 Music are the only ones yet, when I look at various programmes and count how many women are chosen on schedules compared to male artists, so many are still leaning towards men. It is an odd situation. One would feel that every radio station could and should make an instant change. It would not be too hard! I realise many have new artists playlists and there are certain limitations, though none are in the position where they are lacking female artists to add to the mix. It is this weird split between clear dominance of female artists. In terms of original sounds and innovation. Many of the best-reviewed albums are from women. So much of the terrific new music. I hope that radio stations do a lot more to include women. One would feel a fifty-fifty split would be the least they can do. Embarrassingly, I don’t really think any major station is in the position where they are there or near at all. It is a sorry state of affairs that needs to change! As each year comes and goes, only small steps are made. This is a problem that can be fixed incredibly quickly. There seems little effort of impetus to do that. Rather than there being any logical reasoning, this male bias and sexism that is still rife through the industry is present and correct on radio playlists. Gender inequality and a lack of female representation on radio playlists needs to be…
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A thing of the past.