Greater than half of ladies have skilled gender discrimination whereas working as a musician, with a 3rd reporting being sexually harassed, a report has revealed.
Feminine musicians are greater than eight occasions extra prone to have skilled gender discrimination than their male colleagues, at 51% in contrast with 6%.
About 33% of ladies additionally report being sexually harassed whereas working as a musician, based on information from the Ladies Musicians Perception Report from the UK Musicians’ Census.
The census occurred in 2023 and surveyed 5,867 musicians within the UK over the age of 16 and who “earn or intend to earn cash” from music. It goals to spotlight “among the obstacles and points girls face of their careers as musicians”.
The report was directed by Assist Musicians and the Musicians’ Union to assist “present a fuller image of the musician inhabitants within the UK in the present day”.
“The census information reveals that gender stays a determinant of the sort of roles and genres of music musicians work in and will even have an effect on profession longevity and monetary sustainability,” the report mentioned.
“In the end, we hope to see the census serving to to foster a thriving and various musician inhabitants, now and sooner or later,” it added.
On common, feminine musicians earn lower than their male colleagues. The common annual revenue from music for males is £21,750, and for girls it’s £19,850.
Ladies solely make up 19% of the best revenue bracket of these incomes £70,000 or extra from music every year.
Feminine musicians who’re Black, Asian, or from different minority ethnic teams had been extra prone to earn within the lowest revenue band than white girls, with 35% of ethnic minority girls incomes £7,000 or much less, in contrast with 25% of white girls.
Equally, girls who’re disabled had been extra prone to earn £7,000 or lower than non-disabled girls, with 31% of ladies who’re disabled incomes on this bracket in contrast with one in 5 nondisabled girls
Nevertheless, girls are likely to have increased ranges of {qualifications} than males working within the business. Nearly half (46%) of feminine respondents had been educated to masters degree or above, in contrast with 30% of all different respondents.
This was additionally true for formal music {qualifications}, corresponding to instrumental graded music exams, at 58% of ladies in contrast with 42% of different respondents.
In addition to being paid much less, feminine musicians usually tend to expertise monetary challenges than males. Greater than 1 / 4 of feminine musicians (27%) mentioned they don’t earn sufficient cash to help themselves and their household. This sits at 20% for male musicians.
These monetary obstacles are compounded by extra frequent and vital structural obstacles to their profession development, together with childcare.
Feminine musicians reported increased charges of main caring tasks, at 28% in contrast with 20% for different genders. About 29% of ladies acknowledged that household and caring commitments are obstacles to their careers, in contrast with 11% of musicians of different genders.
Nadia Khan, founding father of Ladies in CTRL, referred to as the discrimination, harassment and unequal pay girls proceed to face“alarming”.
In a press release, Khan mentioned: “It’s alarming to witness the persistence of gender disparities highlighted by the UK Musicians’ Census, the place discrimination, harassment and unequal pay stay prevalent points confronted by girls musicians
“It’s important that the business makes real commitments and takes decisive motion to stop the recurrence of the identical information … True progress can solely be achieved after we deal with these systemic points head-on and create a extra equitable panorama for girls in music.”
The findings present there may be “nonetheless a lot work to be carried out” to make sure pursuing a profession in music is extra equitable, mentioned Sarah Woods, chief government of each Assist Musicians and Music Minds Matter: “We hope these insights will encourage the business to proceed collaborating to cut back gender-based obstacles and guarantee gender fairness in each a part of music.”
