Dear Music Industry, You Have Some Explaining to Do
Dear Music Industry,
First, I want to acknowledge you are NOT the only industry that should explain themselves. You are just the first one I’m bringing attention to. The inequity between men and women in the music industry came to my attention when I was compiling a Spotify playlist of kickass women. March is Women’s History Month and I wanted to honor and highlight these powerful women. It was not difficult to come up with 5 hours and 20 minutes of women singing out their guts, roaring, and pleading to be seen and heard. [If you are interested, I posted the playlist here.]
But I digress, sort of. Let’s get back to the question that started this article, “what is the percentage of women who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?” I will not keep you in suspense; it’s 8%. Yep, EIGHT PERCENT. Both 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Stevie Nicks and Janet Jackson, spoke about the disparity between women and men in the music industry. Indeed, 95% of producers in the music industry in 2019 were men. The Guardian reported that approximately 22% of the music industry were female. In 2019, when Nicks and Jackson were inducted, there were eight women and 23 men on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee.
News flash: In 2020, there were still eight women compared to 23 men on the nominating committee. The Rock Hall Class of 2020 included Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Nine Inch Nails, Notorious B.I.G, T. Rex, Whitney Houston, Irving Azoff, and Jon Landau. Some more stats for 2020: one woman and five men or groups of men were inducted; and, 67% were white.
Why did I write this letter? To ask you/us to support diversity. To the music industry, open your minds, hearts, and wallets (since this is what most men carry) to include and recognize our wonderful, wild, diverse, fiercely talented, and passionate sisters in the music industry.
Call to actions include:
- Put more women in leadership roles including as music producers and on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee.
- Buy your favorite women artists’ music, concert tickets, and so on.
- Shout out on social media about how these women make you feel.
- Vote for the women you love at every opportunity. This includes on television music competition shows, any music countdowns, podcasts, etc.
Thank you for listening. I appreciate your time.
ONWARD,
Dr. Z