Billboard’s Post

James Brown once said 🎤 "This is a man's world. But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl.” Now that that song is in your head, hop on over to youtube to see the legend himself perform it: https://lnkd.in/eXdEZNms Ok, you’re back, great. So, 7 of 8 artists nominated in 3 major Grammy categories this year — Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year — are women. Women also make up just over half of the eight of this year’s Best New Artist nominees. Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Dr. Katherine Pieper, Karla Hernandez, and Sam Wheeler of USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative found that 2023 was a great year to be a woman in music. ✓ Female artists increased from 30.2% in 2022 to 35% in 2023 ✓ Female producers increased from 3.5% in 2022 to 6.5% in 2023 ✓ Female songwriters increased from 14.1% in 2022 to 19.5% in 2023 ✓ Grammy nominations to women increased from 15.5% in 2023 to 24% in 2024 There’s still miles to go, however. 30 to 1. That’s the degree to which women are outnumbered by men as music producers. 2023 saw men producing 93.5% of all music studied --- women were credited with just 6.5%. If you factor in color, the picture is even more grim. 0.96% of all producers were women of color.    Check out the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eyv7ivHd And don’t forget the #BarbieSnub. If you haven’t already, read about that here: https://lnkd.in/eiW3M_eQ 💡💡 While you may not be able to directly influence the number of women in the music industry, I bet you can highlight more than one here on LinkedIn who is a rockstar. Try it out. It's going to feel great, I promise :) #WomenInMusic, #Grammys, #DiversityInMusic, #Inclusion, #MusicIndustry

👩 Last year, women comprised only 30% of artists on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Chart. 📊 What's more revealing is that the stats for female songwriters and producers have hardly changed over the past 10 years. This stagnant representation in the music industry today poses a crucial question: 👀 How far have we really come in recognizing and valuing women's contributions to music? In my latest article, "Melodies in the Shadows," I embark on a journey through history to rediscover influential women who have shaped the music we love – from Hildegard von Bingen to Nadia Boulanger. 📖These remarkable figures navigated a labyrinth of societal constraints, yet their legacies resonate through time. Read the full article here 👇 https://lnkd.in/dASq2_sr . . . #women #history #music #musicindustry #songwriter #composers #musicians #womeninmusic #femalecomposers #musichistory #historicalperspectives

This year’s Grammys were all about the power of women! Six years ago, it was #GrammysSoMale. At the 66th awards last night, women dominated the evening. It was #GrammysSoFemale, and well deserved as host Trevor Noah shared, “Women dominated music this year.” They certainly did 👏 Women took home the night’s major awards. Not to mention, Tracy Chapman’s iconic performance of “Fast Car” blew me away. The music industry has come a long way. The USC Annenberg annual music report showed some improvement with an increase in the number of female artists, producers and songwriters credited on the biggest hits of 2023. The number of female recording artists on the year-end Hot 100 grew to 35% in 2023 from about 30% a year ago. Female songwriters also grew over 5%. But across an 11-year span and 1,100 songs, the overall percentage of female artists was 22.3% - a ratio of 3.5 male artists to every 1 female artist. This year’s #Grammys are a testament to progress made, but we still have work to do!

Age is just a number! Despite facing ageism in the music industry, I'm still passionate and excited to share my music with the world. Here's to all women in the industry who aren't letting their age define them! #FemaleMusician #femalemusicians #femalemusiciansoftiktok #femalemusicianempowerment #femalemusiciansrock #femalemusicianvoices #WomenInMusic #womeninmusicbusiness

This year's Grammy Awards was historic for women.    Several women won awards for the first time, such as veterans Miley Cyrus and Victoria Monét, while Taylor Swift won Album of the Year for the 4th time, setting a new record and making her one of the most decorated artists. 7 out of 8 Album of the Year nominees were by women and SZA led with the most nominations. Women also made gains behind the scenes, with women of colour driving the first increase in female songwriting credits in 12 years.    We know that when public wins happen for women such as equal pay in sport for women in sports, we see the ripple effects in our own workplaces. These Grammy wins are historic as the music industry has traditionally been dominated by men. Approximately 96.6% of producers are male whilst only 3.4% are women. In addition, women represent less than a third of top-selling artists in music and only 14% of songwriters. The dominance of women at this year Grammys demonstrates a breakthrough in the industry that we hope is here to stay and reflected in the wider world. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e7JSybZN

Looking for a summer playlist? Join me in celebrating #50YearsOfHipHop by tuning in to the incredible women who have transformed this genre of music. Music holds a mirror to our world, reflecting its divisions and biases. The contentious issues in hip-hop—and every genre—are a part of that mirror. From derogatory lyrics to the hypersexualization of women, the misogyny so apparent in the music industry (and many other industries, by the way) is a reaction to and a reflection of our reality. This context sets the stage for a deeper understanding of women in music. The incredible feminists on this playlist have reinvented and redefined what it means to be a hip-hop artist. They’ve taken control of their own narrative, advanced sexual autonomy, championed creative expression, and been outspoken advocates for change. From the feminist and anti-violence message of Queen Latifah in the 90s to M.I.A.’s calls for global solidarity in the 2000s to Janelle Monae’s protest songs of the 2010s to Megan Thee Stallion’s raw discussion of mental health in the last few years, women have and continue to use music as a vehicle for their activism. Female artists—especially Black women in hip-hop—have had to be extraordinarily resilient, forging their own paths and asserting their voices in the industry. Now is the opportunity for us to recognize their efforts and the barriers they've overcome and for us to fight to remove those barriers for future generations of all women in all genres of music. https://lnkd.in/eujub7Qc #MusicBusiness #WomenEmpowerment

“What’s the big hype about taylor swift.. she’s not even that good”.. said a dear male friend of mine who clearly does not like her…and I told him “Your anecdotal experience does not trump statistically significant data” and given that he is a wise guy he took my point gracefully. I read somewhere that ‘Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self kind of understanding. ~Bill Bullard’ I have doled out my share of opinions in my life time and I am humbled after reading this.. Artist like Taylor swift and others ( as cited in the article) now have the power to change people’s lives (and I mean economically) beyond thier songs and that’s a contribution worth recognition and celebration .. not criticism …and yet they get trolled in ways their male counterparts never face. Fortunately we live in an age where access to information is easily available … even in a polarised opinionated world.. if you search “ good things about xxx” search ‘bad things about xxx” too so you can make up your own mind… and not get influenced by the algorithm …and then there is data like the below article to support your inference. Here’s to celebrating the wins of these mighty talented women breaking barriers, inspiring young girls and transforming lives through thier songs and music.

The future of music NEEDS to be intersectional. In evaluating over 4,000 music industry executives across 119 companies, the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that women of color are missing from crucial executive positions that shape the future of the music industry. #womeninmusic #musicindustry #musicbusiness #womeninbusiness #diversityandinclusion

Annie Mac (DJ & Radio Presenter) speaking at the UK Parliament's Women and Equalities Committee's inquiry into misogyny in music . The music industry is a notoriously male-dominated industry, and women often face sexism and harassment at all levels. The testimonies of Annie Macmanus and Rebecca Ferguson are both deeply troubling. Macmanus's story of the young artist who was sexually assaulted by the head of her label is a reminder of the power imbalances that exist in the music industry. And Ferguson's story of the pressures placed on women artists to conform to certain beauty standards is all too familiar. It is clear that there is a lot of work to be done to make the music industry more inclusive and equitable for women. As Macmanus and Ferguson have said, having more women in senior positions would be a big step forward. But it is also important to create a culture where women feel safe to speak out about the harms they experience. The inquiry's findings will be published in due course, and we hope that they will lead to real change in the music industry. We feel it is important that more is done to: - Provide more training for music industry professionals on how to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and assault. - Create more opportunities for women to network and mentor each other. - Support the work of organizations that are working to challenge sexism and harassment in the music industry. We need to create a music industry where women feel safe and respected, and where they can thrive. The inquiry's findings are a step in the right direction, but there is still much work to be done. Find the full video of the discussion from the committee here: https://lnkd.in/eBekgcJB #womeninbusiness #womenempowerment #womenartists #womeninmusic #womenbusinessowners #music #musicbusiness #uk #ukbusiness #ukbusinessowner #musicnews #musician #musiclicensing #musicindustry #musicproduction #musicpublishing #musicbiz #equalitymatters #equality #equalityanddiversity #equalityatwork

The focus on misogyny and discrimination in the music industry, is a scratch on the surface of what is really going on for women in the world. A deep dive would be welcome in the judicial system for the average person (not just celebrities) and on unconscious bias’s to make any significant shift, or raise hope for real change. There is so much more to this experience than the music industry, but this is a start. #endmisogyny https://lnkd.in/eshg5yNB