Diversity In The Music Industry

Diversity in the Music Industry

The music industry is a multibillion dollar industry that spans across all races, genders and genres throughout the world. New musical boundaries are being tested across all of these areas each year. However, one would argue that just testing the boundaries are not good enough and that major changes regarding diversity in the music industry should be made that address all inequalities. Research shows that many organizations and industries have addressed the issue of diversity; however the music industry has not done enough to expose its listeners to all of its diverse facets. This paper will explore diversity in the music industry as it pertains to race, gender and genre.

The music that one grows up with

This music helps to shape and influence cultural identities and becomes that person’s musical DNA. Once that person is old enough to access the world beyond the confines of their home, such as the internet, that can change. The internet allows a person to discover music like hip-hop, blues, and 70s rock and roll. Surprisingly a split from the traditional music of their home does not erase their social identity, but allows him/her to break defined musical boundaries according to race. The music industry is lacking when it comes to breaking racial musical boundaries. According to research conducted by (Henry 2015), many inequalities and injustices were within the music industry itself. Radio, record labels, and television networks like MTV continuously shut out various groups of minorities within the music industry. She states that some of the boundaries that musicians and

Gender diversity is unequally represented across all fields in the music. From the board room to the recording room, research shows a worrying gender imbalance. This imbalance is not in favor of women. Research shows that gender divide across all music industry jobs is 67.8% male to 32.2% female. Of the 95,000 songwriters and composers registered with PRS for Music, only 13% are female Statistics consistently show that women in music earn less than their male counterparts. This is hard to believe when artists such as Beyonce and Taylor Swift dominate the charts. In almost all cases, women are finding themselves passed over for pay raises, promotions, and recognition and record deals. In an article written by (Baker 2013), men that entered the industry at the same time as many of her friends were already at senior level positions, men received more record deals and more awards like Grammys and AMAs. There are many reasons possible reasons for the lack of gender diversity. The most common complaint is that we live in a male dominated world and that women are considered a diva or difficult when they express their opinions and/or challenge an idea. Another reason for the lack of gender diversity is that women feel intimidated when it comes to the male dominated music industry and may not feel confident asking for raises, promotions and expanded contracts. However, the lack of gender diversity is being addressed