The gender gap in music festival line-ups
Discussion
Interesting article on the BBC this morning, not sure how I feel about it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-4465...
I suppose only time will tell with ticket sales for the festivals that go 50/50.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-4465...
I suppose only time will tell with ticket sales for the festivals that go 50/50.
king cares as long as the music is good? The BBC is really starting to get on my tits.I guess it's down to popularity.
There are a few massively popular (doesn't necessarily follow that they're good, but that's true regardless of gender mix) female performers, but most are male or male dominated.
I believe Wolf Alice and Chvrches are female fronted, but mostly male - Hell, what about Blondie, The Pretenders and Texas - Would they have been better with a full female line up? I suspect not, as it seems that fewer teenage girls are obsessed with music, rather than musicians (and mostly male ones then!), then teenage males, so there's less 'talent' out there.
If you're a top female performer, you're not going to lumber yourself with a so-so band, just to satisfy some perceived quota. You MIGHT for a visual effect, but that's a different matter.
Many festivals feature 'big' bands from the past, most were male dominated and who would want to see Queen or the Rolling Stones fronted by some unknown female singer? If they weren't an unknown, say Carol Decker, then it's T'Pau does Queen!
If there's a bias, I think you'd have to say it originates from the record companies promotion of performers - Few festivals (unless they have a feminist agenda) will ignore the big names just to have more female performers. Who will go to a concert with more female acts they've never heard of in preference to
That said, Florence and the Machine are a big favourite on the festival scene, pretty sure they headlined Glastonbury a couple of years ago, but she had a stage full of men behind her, so that puts her into the 'mixed gender' category, even if the reality is that 'the machine' is just a group of session artists backing a solo act.
Christine and the Queens, too, made a big impression at Glastonbury a couple of years back, but again, there are men on stage, so is that in the 'mixed' category?
M
There are a few massively popular (doesn't necessarily follow that they're good, but that's true regardless of gender mix) female performers, but most are male or male dominated.
I believe Wolf Alice and Chvrches are female fronted, but mostly male - Hell, what about Blondie, The Pretenders and Texas - Would they have been better with a full female line up? I suspect not, as it seems that fewer teenage girls are obsessed with music, rather than musicians (and mostly male ones then!), then teenage males, so there's less 'talent' out there.
If you're a top female performer, you're not going to lumber yourself with a so-so band, just to satisfy some perceived quota. You MIGHT for a visual effect, but that's a different matter.
Many festivals feature 'big' bands from the past, most were male dominated and who would want to see Queen or the Rolling Stones fronted by some unknown female singer? If they weren't an unknown, say Carol Decker, then it's T'Pau does Queen!
If there's a bias, I think you'd have to say it originates from the record companies promotion of performers - Few festivals (unless they have a feminist agenda) will ignore the big names just to have more female performers. Who will go to a concert with more female acts they've never heard of in preference to
That said, Florence and the Machine are a big favourite on the festival scene, pretty sure they headlined Glastonbury a couple of years ago, but she had a stage full of men behind her, so that puts her into the 'mixed gender' category, even if the reality is that 'the machine' is just a group of session artists backing a solo act.
Christine and the Queens, too, made a big impression at Glastonbury a couple of years back, but again, there are men on stage, so is that in the 'mixed' category?
M
Only 1 women in the top 10 best selling artists of 2017,&4 out of 20 albums are by women in the top chart. Even if a 50:50 split is achieved then by necessity the female acts will be lesser known. Will people pay to spend half their time listening to people that they have never heard of? I suspect the charts are the way they are because people buy the music that they like, not because it's sung by a man or a woman.
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