The 2024 BE THE CHANGE: Gender Equity in Music Study

With data from more than 4,100 women, men, and gender expansive industry professionals and music creators from 133 countries, the fourth annual BE THE CHANGE aims to expose the reasons behind the gender inequities in the industry and create tangible solutions to combat them.

Demographics

The majority of respondents are solo creators between the ages of 25-44 and 64% are men, 32% women, and 6% gender expansive which is reflective of the overall music industry.

An Uneven Playing Field

• Women are twice as likely as men to discover that they are paid less than colleagues in the same or similar roles: 35% to 17%, respectively.

• Nearly half (49%) of women from marginalized racial / ethnic groups report discovering they are paid less than male counterparts, as did 44% of women with disabilities, and 41% of LGBTQIA+ women.

• This “pay gap” is worse in the business realm than the creative one: 51% of women professionals discovered it compared to 27% of women creators.

Sexual Harassment & Assault

3 in 5 women in music experience sexual harassment during their time in the industry. 1 in 5 women experience sexual assault.

Reporting Sexual Harassment & Assault

• Over 70% of women who experience sexual harassment and assault do not report it.

• Of women who reported experiencing sexual assault, 56% said their claims were ignored or dismissed, 38% felt blacklisted afterwards, and 12% said they were terminated afterwards.

Perception Gap: Gender

The “perception gap” is reflected in the fact that only 16% of male respondents view the music industry as generally discriminative based on gender, compared to roughly 50% of women and 41% of gender expansive respondents.

Perception Gap: Race/Ethnicity

Only 25% of all respondents consider the industry to be generally discriminative towards race / ethnicity. This rose to 66%, for women of a marginalized racial or ethnic community.

In short, marginalized identities compound: It is hard to be a female creator, and it is extra hard to be an artist of color, but being a female artist of color is harder still.

Digital Dissonance

• Women and gender expansive respondents express greater concern than men about the potential for AI to heighten competition, and to reinforce existing biases and inequalities.

• Men are more confident that technologies like AI will not affect them, or will give them more freedom.

Online Trolling or Bullying

• 37% of men experience online trolling or bullying, compared to 44% of women, and 57% of gender expansive respondents.

• Women aged 35-44 are most likely to experience online trolling / bullying of all the womens’ age brackets.

Mental Health: Confidence & Self-Motivation

• For both women and gender-expansive respondents, nearly half said their confidence and self-motivation improved in the last two years.

Mental Health: Stress

• Nearly half of women (44%) and gender expansive respondents (47%) say stress worsened in the last two years, compared to 27% of men.

• Stress worsened for more than half (56%) of LGBTQIA+ women, and 46% of women from marginalized racial / ethnic groups.

• Professionals are also more likely to see worsening stress levels than creators, with 53% of women professionals saying their stress worsened, compared to 44% of gender expansive creators and 39% of women creators.