Women Underrepresented in Technical Field, Metal Genres, But High on Americana, Electronic: Study

Although we might have seen a lot of women in the music industry at the forefront, like Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Adele, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and the like, it seemed like at the back bench; women are still underrepresented.

A new study finds that women in music might be many, but there are not a lot of leading technical and production roles.

Fix The Mix Study Findings

The study that Middle Tennessee State University, Howard University, and We Are Moving the Needle has conducted on the study of gender representation in music yielded various findings. (via Variety)

According to Yahoo News, the report examined gender representation, specifically pertaining to women and non-binary technical creators and professionals. They studied playlists from 14 genres, the 65th annual categories, and even the RIAA Diamond Certified list.

The study aimed to motivate labels to expand their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives to recruit women and non-binary producers and engineers.

Women & Non-Binary in Technical and Production Roles

According to the study, women and non-binary people are found in junior roles in technical fields, but they are "vastly underrepresented" in senior roles across the 14 genres.

Meanwhile, the said gender groups are high in Electronic, Folk, and Americana genres compared to others - especially Metal.

Most notably, there are 0 women and non-binary producers in Rap, 0 engineers in Metal, Christian, and Dance, and 0 key technical credits in Metal.

However, levels of representation "vary significantly" as some are 0 in some sectors while others were 17.6%. Roles vary from engineers, producers, and master engineers, to programmers, vocal producers, and even production assistants.

Grammy Award-winning artist Brandi Carlile, who is also a board member of We Are Moving the Needle, is optimistic despite the shocking results.

"This is a systemic problem in the recording industry that we cannot ignore any longer. I'm not sure everyone knows exactly where to start...but it begins with the courage to take a chance on someone who may not be getting recognised regularly in the field. We have to start somewhere," she said in a statement.

According to Carlile, it is "no one's fault" and "everyone's fault" at the same time. She is urging her fellow artists and producers to make significant hiring decisions for an "equitable" future.

Check out the full study below: