A 2023 report from the UK Musicians' Census, a first time survey held by the Musicians' Union and Help Musicians, has revealed the widespread misogyny running through the music industry. The census aims to "paint a comprehensive picture of the industry as a whole." For women, the picture isn't so pretty.
The survey pool, which was organized with the British research institute Walnut, comprised nearly 6,000 music industry members, of which over 40% identified as women. Nearly 30% of these women claimed that they were not making enough money to maintain their musical careers, while only 20% of men echoed this sentiment.
Women reported making roughly 10% of the salaries their male peers earned. However, female musicians were noted as having "higher levels of both general and music education" than other musicians. The census revealed that 14% more women have a "music degree" and 15% have a "postgraduate music qualification" compared to other survey participants. Despite their education and experience, women still remain victims of the wage gap.
Within the sexism generally experienced in the industry, women from the Global Majority and those who are disabled are "10% more likely to earn within the lowest income group in music than white women and non-disabled women respectively." Women also reported more experiences with, or witnessing, racism in the workplace than their male counterparts.
Few of the women surveyed reported working on the production side of the music-making process. Only 11% of the women worked behind the booth as producers, meanwhile less than 10% in total reported working as a DJ, mastering engineer, or live sound engineer. The majority of women (79%) identified as performers.
Older women also expressed that they experienced age discrimination significantly more than men, with almost 10% more women than men claiming to have experienced ageism in the workplace. Roughly two thirds of women surveyed were between the ages of 25 and 54 years old, indicating that the industry is composed mostly of younger women.
One anonymous female participant in the survey, who is between the age of 55 and 64 years old, described the experience of older women in the industry. She explained that older women are neglected and ignored: "Women in midlife suffer from invisibility and often drop out of the industry."
As a way of combating this problem, she suggested that, "There needs to be more promotion of women's music with an emphasis on midlife and older artists."
Nearly 90% of the women surveyed claimed to have been "restricted in at least one way" in "marked gender differences" such as the struggle of finding proper childcare. Work referred to as "caring" responsibilities, such as parenting, impacted 28% of women surveyed, compared to 20% of general survey participants. Furthermore, 29% of women found these responsibilities to impact their careers, while only 18% of other musicians reported this experience.
While a mere 6% of the total men surveyed claimed to experience discrimination in the workplace for their gender, over half of the women reported experiencing gender-based discrimination.
