Why female headliners are still too big a ‘risk’ for top festivals Glastonbury | UK News

Solely 17% of headliners on the UK’s high festivals this 12 months are feminine, Sky Information evaluation has discovered.

Girls are seen as an excessive amount of of a “threat” for the highest slots due to a notion festivalgoers favor watching males, in addition to the pool of feminine expertise nonetheless being too small, music trade consultants say.

Trade figures additionally known as on Glastonbury to do extra to bridge the gender divide.

Throughout 104 festivals this summer time, solely a fifth (20%) of headline acts are fronted by ladies, in contrast with nearly four-fifths (78%) by males and a couple of% by non-binary individuals.

On the largest festivals, with over 30,000 capability, that is even decrease for ladies at one in six (17%).

And in the event you depend the overall variety of performers on stage throughout headline slots, just one in 10 (11%) are ladies.

Based on our analysis, whereas ladies are nonetheless behind males throughout the board, they’re extra well-liked with followers on YouTube, Google and the radio, than they’re with competition promoters when reserving headliners.

In the meantime, the likes of Glastonbury, Isle of Wight Competition and Latitude haven’t got a single female-fronted headliner on their predominant levels this 12 months.

Glastonbury, which is releasing its remaining 2023 tickets, confronted a backlash in March after it revealed the Arctic Monkeys, Weapons n Roses and Sir Elton John will headline its well-known Pyramid Stage this 12 months.

Folks rocker, Cat Stevens, can be booked for the Sunday afternoon “legends” slot regardless of rumours Blondie was because of take it.

Organiser Emily Eavis stated the feminine headliner that they had deliberate, broadly rumoured to be Taylor Swift, needed to pull out because of a tour conflict.

Girls ‘an excessive amount of of a threat’

Eve Horne is a producer, singer-songwriter and founding father of Peak Music UK, which mentors feminine and non-binary artists and producers. She can be on UK Music’s Variety Taskforce and is a board member of Transferring The Needle, which works to enhance feminine inclusion within the trade.

She says there was hope that the devastating influence of COVID would make trade bosses prioritise inclusion and variety.

“If something it did a 360 and went backwards,” she tells Sky Information.

“Everybody began going for the cash once more and saying there’s an excessive amount of threat in placing ladies as headliners.”

Eve claims promoters repeatedly inform her that festivalgoers of all genders favor watching males carry out greater than ladies.

“It is about cash on the finish of the day and we nonetheless have previous white males gatekeeping the trade,” she provides.

John Rostron, chief government of the Affiliation of Unbiased Festivals, which represents 105 UK occasions, says the issue stems from there being a smaller pool of feminine artists for promoters to select from.

“A headline slot may be the top of an artist’s reside profession.

“There are many obstacles for any artist to get there, however for ladies there are perhaps triple the variety of obstacles, so the expertise pool on the high is smaller.

“We now have to attend for them to return up after which be open to reserving them.”

The issue will get worse at bigger festivals the place huge acts cost excessive charges and promoters have to fulfill these prices with ticket gross sales – and are additionally accountable to shareholders.

“You may’t say {that a} male band sells extra tickets as a result of they’re males,” he provides. “However you possibly can say that they promote extra tickets than one other band when that is been confirmed to be true.”

YouTubers and radio DJs selecting extra ladies

Sky Information checked out YouTube views and radio play to see how well-liked female-fronted artists are on these platforms. “Feminine-fronted” refers to acts with a feminine lead performer.

They had been much better represented on each platforms than they had been on the high of competition billboards.

On YouTube, within the 12 months to the tip of March, female-fronted artists made up 35% of whole music views, whereas their male counterparts had been 65%. Non-binary-fronted acts had been at fewer than 1%.

Virtually half (24) of the 50 most looked for artists on Google in the identical interval had been additionally feminine.

Each knowledge units counsel followers do need to devour female-fronted artists.

On the radio, they’ve averaged roughly a 3rd (32%) of performs between 2019 and now, with male acts at slightly below two-thirds (65%) and non-binary at 3%.

Thus far in 2023, the gender stability has been nearly equal, with feminine and male artists each at 48%, with the rest non-binary.

Six of the highest 10 songs performed on the radio thus far this 12 months are by feminine solo artists together with Miley Cyrus’s Flowers – the preferred music of 2023 thus far.

Will increase in non-binary illustration are largely all the way down to a small variety of artists, resembling Sam Smith and Olly Alexander.

At festivals there are indicators of progress. Throughout all levels nearly three in 10 (29%) acts are female-fronted – up by nearly 2% on the five-year common.

However that progress is not mirrored in headline slots.

‘Glastonbury can afford inclusion managers’

In contrast, the Mighty Hoopla, a 25,000-person competition in south London, has had no male-fronted headliners since 2018.

Olly Alexander headlined in 2018 and is returning this 12 months.

It provides a “platform to LGBTQ+ performers” and ensures at the least 50% of performers are feminine and non-binary throughout the entire line-up.

Cassie Leon, who heads-up inclusion for the competition, says with their viewers, it is “comparatively simple” to decide to a various line-up.

“A part of queer tradition is attempting to uplift ladies as a lot as attainable,” she provides.

Requested how different festivals ought to enhance feminine illustration, she says extra workers needs to be employed particularly to advertise inclusion.

“It is all people’s difficulty, from the brokers to the festivals to the locations discovering the expertise,” she says.

Particularly on Glastonbury, she provides: “In case you can afford Elton John, you possibly can afford inclusion managers.”

Whereas Britain’s largest competition may be much less profit-focused than others, elevating funds for charities and reportedly paying artists a fraction of their typical charges, smaller festivals nonetheless appear to do higher at reserving female-fronted headliners.

Jungle and drum and bass artist Nia Archives is headlining two indie festivals this 12 months – We Out Right here in Dorset and Outlook in Croatia – in addition to taking part in at Glastonbury.

“It is a laborious one for me,” she says “as a result of I do know I am being given these alternatives but in addition recognise that not all people has these alternatives.”

Heavy steel and rock amongst worst offenders

Aside from the Mighty Hoopla, no competition in our database has had greater than a 3rd female-fronted headline acts between 2018 and now.

Six have had none in any respect since then – Isle of Wight, Obtain, Kendal Calling, TRNSMT, Slam Dunk Competition and Bloodstock Open Air.

With half of the worst offenders coming underneath rock and heavy steel, John Rostron, of AIF, which represents Bloodstock Open Air, says issues are “significantly tough” throughout these genres as there’s a “a lot smaller expertise pool”.

Bloodstock’s competition director Adam Gregory shares his view.

“There’s a scarcity of female-fronted bands coming via the ranks,” he says, including that headline slots are booked based on the “strongest accessible providing”.

John additionally factors to the best way some main festivals enroll artists solely – stopping them from taking part in different occasions.

“Somebody taking part in third at Studying may be excellent to headline one in every of our smaller festivals, however they cannot. Each organisers and artists have a duty to say no to exclusives.”

‘Moral’ promoters

There are teams attempting to make a distinction.

Not Unhealthy For A Lady, a DJ collective based mostly in Manchester and London, shaped 4 years in the past to “create a platform for feminine and non-binary DJs” – operating their very own occasions, acting at others, and on the radio.

They put on signature pink balaclavas in a bid to “get rid of typical magnificence requirements” after members had been denied alternatives on account of their gender.

Founder Martha Bolton says they actively assist numerous expertise, for instance by “having two occasions and utilizing one as a money cow, so the opposite can promote an up-and-coming artist”.

She provides that huge organisations like Glastonbury have a duty to set the usual for the trade.

“It must be the larger individuals taking that soar for the remainder of us who cannot afford the danger.”

No accountability

There isn’t a official regulator of the music trade within the UK, so no official technique of accountability relating to gender range.

UK Music, which has its personal range taskforce, acts as a commerce union, and connects smaller associations that signify particular elements of the trade.

Learn extra:
Glastonbury: Arctic Monkeys and Guns N’ Roses join Sir Elton John as headliners
Sir Lenny Henry ‘surprised’ by lack of black people at UK music festivals

Keychange is an EU-funded range programme that asks its 600 signatories (41% of that are festivals) to decide to at the least 50% feminine inclusion. By the tip of 2021, 64% of signatories had met the goal.

However neither physique is legally binding.

In an interview with The Guardian in March, Emily Eavis stated Lizzo, who will carry out simply earlier than Weapons N Roses on the Pyramid Stage, might “completely headline” however the rock band had been already booked.

She reiterated that feminine inclusion is “high of our agenda”, having dedicated to 50:50 illustration in 2020 and secured greater than half feminine and non-binary acts for 2023 thus far.

In its range assertion the competition says it’s “working alongside consultants in equality and anti-discrimination” on an inside evaluation.

“We strive our greatest and we clearly intention for 50:50. Some years, it is extra, some years, it is much less,” Eavis advised the BBC earlier this 12 months, including it is “wanting like we have got two feminine headliners” for 2024.

However she added that regardless of being the most important competition within the nation, it’s not simply all the way down to her to make change.

“We’re attempting our greatest so the pipeline must be developed. This begins means again with the report corporations, radio. I can shout as loud as I like however we have to get everybody on board.”

Sky Information has contacted Glastonbury for additional remark.