Is there a gender gap in the Scottish music industry?
Data collated by UK Feminista and PRS for Music show that there is lack of female artists out there in the UK. Below are some of the facts they found.
The Facts:
* In its 18-year history the Mercury Prize has been awarded to only five 
women.
* Just 4.1% of works performed at the 2010 BBC Proms were composed by
women.
* The PRS for Music membership (writers and music creators) is currently
only 14% women.
Below is a video of the Industry Take over 2011, this was a specialised panel themed “Women in Music”.
I wonder if the same can be said for the music scene in Scotland? Before looking into this topic I evaluated my perception of the scene. I have always found it to be heavily populated by male musicians and therfore presummed that the people in power were obviously male.
Journalist Olaf Furness alerted me to the fact that industry “Cultural intermediaries” (Bourdieu,1986) in Scotland are infact very female. I was shocked to learn this as I think it is very easy to jsut default to the disposition that when it comes to music women are marginalised.
I’d be interested to hear the views and opinions of the people who are in these roles and even the views of the music/gig buying audience and fans. Is there a need in Scotland to support the females just as the nation wide bodies such as PRS and other bodies that feel the need to promote and provide additional support to women.
great post! I think there are a lot of women artists and cultural intermediaries in Scotland, however id be interested to hear if this is a recent change or how they experience working in, what has always been, a boys club industry. It would be great to hear from women working in all genres at all different levels – major labels right down to DIY. Good luck! xx
Hey P, I don’t think I got an opinion regarding gender in music let alone specifically in Scotland but I will give it to you anyway!
Although luck, and being in the right place in the right time etc plays a huge part in success – self belief, relentless drive, perseverance and some talent is the key to success….and it applies to men and women! I am not sure about the urban music but as the fans drive the success, maybe the fans are not ready for strong opinionated women but prefer them as sex objects that one can call ma bitch, abuse and expect back for more. It’s the attitude of the youth culture that seem to go backwards to accommodate small minded men who need submissive women / victims in order to make them feel big. So if women want a change (respect?) they need to change their own attitude from the grass roots (yep) , and not expect either political correctness or the industry to do it for them.
Ok I am on a wee rant here.
I’m not surprised that there are fewer female than male artists. This tells us, what most of us have suspected for a long time, that men are simply better at making music than women.
For me, the successful artists that come out of the music scene in Scotland-the commercial side-is dominated by guys in indie rock bands. I know a few Techno producers as well who are making a living from their music who are all male. I don’t know anything about what happens behind the scenes in the music industry but it’s hard for anyone to get ahead unless you know the right people from what I can gather, most of them are probably dudes too. Must be twice as hard for the girls and they probably need to have “tiger blood” to get ahead.
ohh!!!!! i m surprissed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi ya,
What are your views on this? Maybe not pertaining to the Scottish Industry but in general.
Is there a gender bias that needs to looked at and discussed openly? What has your experience been? I’m keen to get as many voices both male and female (especially the people behind the scenes) in order to shape and inform research i am doing for my Masters Thesis.
Thanks in advance. X