Female musicians in the UK experience more discrimination, shorter career longevity and earn less than their male counterparts, according to new research published as part of the Musicians’ Census carried out by Help Musicians and the Musicians’ Union.
“The Census findings, set out in this report, illustrate the many discriminatory practices and behaviours still holding women back in their musical careers”, says Musicians’ Union General Secretary Naomi Pohl. “We have long advocated for better pay gap reporting, and hope the Census findings will encourage the industry to take action, be more transparent and make change”.
Women made up 2526 of the nearly 6000 artists who responded to the survey, with their answers highlighting significant disparities when compared to musicians who are men.
More than half (51%) of the women who completed the survey said that they had experienced discrimination based on their gender while working as a musician, compared to 6% for men. A third (33%) also reported experiencing sexual harassment, while 25% said that they had witnessed the sexual harassment of other musicians.
The responses also highlighted a distinct pay gap, with women earning on average £19,850 per year, compared to £21,750 for men. Women also only make up just 19% of the highest income bracket of those earning £70,000 or more from music each year. This despite the fact that women in music are generally more highly educated than men, both at a general and musical level.
Financial pressures, as well as gender and age discrimination, are also shown to result in women leaving careers as musicians earlier than men. In younger age brackets, the distribution of working musicians between genders is close to 50/50. However, there is a significant drop off among older musicians, with just 26% identifying as women after the age of 54.
Help Musicians chief exec Sarah Woods comments, “The findings of the latest Census report show there’s still so much work to be done to make sure that working as a musician is equitable for all. We hope these insights will encourage the industry to continue collaborating to reduce gender-based barriers and ensure gender equity in every part of music”.
The publication of these results from the Musicians’ Census follows a recent report from the UK Parliament’s Women And Equalities Committee, which found high levels of misogyny in the British music industry.
You can read the new Women Musicians Insight Report in full - along with other reports on LGBTQ+ musicians, mental health, and finances - at musicianscensus.co.uk.