SCOUTING FOR GIRLS: WHY IS THERE STILL SUCH A GENDER IMBALANCE ON FESTIVAL LINE-UPS?
Female artists are dominating music charts, record sales, and award nominations like never before, but they’re still vastly under-represented on festival line-ups. VOCAL GIRLS explores why these live events are so out of touch with the rest of the industry, and what can be done to combat this inequality.
Image Credit: Heather, VOCAL GIRLS Team
As lockdown restrictions finally ease and spring begins to show its face, the past couple of weeks have seen the annual deluge of festival line-up announcements across social media. Given that live music was a complete non-starter for the majority of last year, these initial hints of festival season 2021 were highly anticipated to say the least, representing an end to the social division we’ve all undergone over the past twelve months. However, these line-ups have unfortunately shown that a different sort of division has endured despite – or even partly due to – the pandemic. The posters released so far have made it glaringly obvious that the existing issue of vast gender inequality in the artists booked to play and headline major festivals has, disappointingly, persisted.
This problem is not a new one; prior to COVID-19, there was a lot of conversation in the media surrounding the presence – or rather, the absence – of female and non-binary artists on festival line-ups, including this article published by VOCAL GIRLS last year. In 2017, a BBC study of 14 major UK festivals found that 80% of their headline slots were filled by all-male acts, and that only 6% of headliners were women; similarly, a Pitchfork study in 2018 revealed that female artists made up just 19% of line-ups, with a further 11% being groups with at least one female or non-binary member. And that’s before we even consider how race intersects with gender disparity, especially when it comes to stereotypically white genres such as indie-rock. Part of the campaign to redress this imbalance is the Europe-wide initiative Keychange, a network of ‘400+ festivals and organisations that are working towards equal representation in the music industry’ by pledging gender equality by 2022.
Image Credit: Emily, VOCAL GIRLS Team
Among the numerous major UK festivals yet to make such a pledge are Reading and Leeds, Boardmasters, and TRNSMT. Then again, this is hardly surprising, given that TRNSMT boss Geoff Ellis catalysed press coverage surrounding the subject in 2019 when he commented that gender equal line-ups are “definitely several years ahead for any major festival to achieve because there’s far, far less female artists”, and that for any change to occur the industry needs “more females picking up guitars, forming bands, playing in bands”. As inflammatory as they were, these remarks – besides being grammatically incorrect and incredibly patronising – are just not true. The 2019 iteration of Barcelona’s Primavera Sound took place just a few months before Ellis’ comments were made, and showcased a gender balanced line-up they dubbed ‘the new normal’. Moreover, Primavera 2019 was attended by over 220,000 people - a number constituting a ‘major festival’ by anyone’s standards. Following by example, last year’s Glastonbury line-up also achieved a 50:50 split between male and female or non-binary artists. Though it was ultimately doomed to cancellation, the fact that the biggest festival in Britain booked enough prominent and emerging female artists to fill its bill frankly speaks volumes about the ignorance of Ellis’ claims.
Indeed, once you move beyond the mainstream, there is a treasure trove of independent or more regional festivals which foster a sense of community far outstripping most of the major players. This summer’s party at Lincolnshire’s Lost Village, for example, will be the festival’s fourth consecutive year with a gender balanced line-up - something the organisers themselves don’t believe should be particularly remarkable. “We want our lineups to celebrate inclusivity and equal opportunity for all”, their Event Coordinator, Sophie Bradley, explains to VOCAL GIRLS. “The more diverse our line-up is, the more interesting and dynamic the sound of Lost Village becomes - it’s a no brainer!”.
Image Credit: Sophie, VOCAL GIRLS Team
So, given that Primavera Sound, Glastonbury, and Lost Village have proved gender balanced festival line-ups are far from a pipe dream, why does progress seem so slow? There are a few arguments that organisers seem to defensively fall back on when faced with questions about their line-ups, the first of which is similar to the sentiment expressed by Ellis – that ‘there’s just not enough female artists out there’. Bored of hearing this excuse consistently reeled out, music blogger and activist Lucy McCourt designed a run of posters displaying the names of over 700 female artists, while November last year saw the creation of the F-List – an online directory of female musicians from every genre. Both these projects exemplify just how much non-male talent is out there, and the F-List even makes it easier to book its artists by providing promo and contact information.
Then, you hear the related concern that all this prioritises ‘equality over quality’. This rebuttal is based on the flawed notion that, while there may be many smaller acts with female or non-binary members, this representation drops off when you start to consider big name acts – in short, female artists good enough to headline. Reader, I give you: Dua Lipa, Wolf Alice, Florence and the Machine, Ariana Grande, HAIM, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Little Simz, Christine and the Queens, Miley Cyrus, Cardi B, Skunk Anansie, Billie Eilish, Lizzo – the list goes on. These are artists which regularly sell out stadium tours and shift hundreds of thousands of records, making them headline-worthy by any parameter.
Image Credit: Sophie, VOCAL GIRLS Team
Finally, detractors voice concerns that if all festivals were to make their line-ups 50% female, then the same female acts would be booked to play all of them. Aside from the obvious illogic of this argument – Peggy Gou’s hardly going to be announced for Download, is she? – it conveniently manages to overlook how homogenous many line-ups already are. The aforementioned BBC study found that the same 20 artists made up 24% of all festival headline slots, suggesting uniqueness isn’t exactly high on the priority list when it comes to securing Kasabian or The Killers. Therefore, the continued lack of female artists on festival line-ups now just seems at best ignorant, and at worst, wilfully sexist; in the words of Keychange’s Maxie Gedge,
“It’s not an accident anymore, it’s a statement of exclusion.”
Image Credit: Sophie, VOCAL GIRLS Team
All of which brings us to this year’s crop of line-up announcements. In the wake of the pandemic, festivals are more important than ever to sustain and revitalise our severely weakened industry, and 2021 represents a make-or-break year for many artists (indeed, for anyone working in the live music sector). Given all that is riding on the upcoming festival season, then, the stark gender inequality shown by this summer’s line-ups is all the more significant. The uncertain viability of large-scale summer events and the intense pressure on said events to make money have meant that festivals seem to have played it extraordinarily safe in their bookings for 2021. According to The Guardian, male artists comprise 73% of acts announced so far at this year’s Isle of Wight Festival, 79% at Kendall Calling, and 91% at Creamfields, to name a few. Indeed, in terms of profit-margins, it’s as if any artist who doesn’t fulfil the categories of male, white and probably guitar-playing is viewed as risky. And so, many organisers have fallen back on the tried and tested names, who are almost invariably men, relying on their familiarity to shift tickets.
After a year in which income from ticket sales and performance fees all but halted, this prioritisation of male artists gives them the opportunity to earn money, gain exposure and reinvigorate their careers, whilst the opposite is true for women and gender minorities making music. And that’s not to say the male artists booked to play these festivals don’t deserve those things – of course they do. But such inequality of opportunity only perpetuates the existing divisions between male and female artists, granting the former group further advantages in an industry which already privileges them.
Image Credit: Emily, VOCAL GIRLS Team
While the primary motivation for these decisions may be financial, their consequences run deep. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy that if festivals don’t book many female artists, especially higher up on their bills, then yes, in years to come the pool of female artists big enough to headline may be smaller than that of their male counterparts, because the industry hasn’t given most of them the opportunity to grow. If organisers complain that there are simply too few female artists big enough to headline, or too few in a specific genre, then they need to start nurturing female and non-binary talent at the grassroots and mid-levels by giving them equal standing on their bills. Essentially, the reasons cited for the dearth of women on festival line-ups are issues which can be easily rectified by – you guessed it – the festivals themselves.
However, that’s not to say fans and artists are completely powerless in this dynamic. Bleak as it sounds, money is the language that major festivals speak; if individual music lovers support female artists, buy their records and go to their gigs, this sends a message to organisers that these acts have a solid fanbase, generate revenue, and are therefore ‘worth’ booking. Similarly, fans can consider supporting the festivals which are committed to achieving gender equal line-ups, as well as the organisations partnered with Keychange. It’s a truism that actions speak louder than words, and this extends to the behaviour of male artists as well as audience members. Granted, it’s not fair to expect all male artists to boycott festivals that aren’t gender equal, especially considering the financial hardship many have experienced over the past year – for smaller acts in particular, these summer bookings are a lifeline.
Image Credit: Sophie, VOCAL GIRLS Team
However, support from the bill-topping, large-font male artists has the potential to be incredibly influential. Festivals deem them their most valuable assets because of their headline status and ticket-selling capacity, putting these artists in a position of relatively great power and privilege. They could refuse to play events which aren’t dedicated to achieving gender equality, thereby forcing organisers to sit up and take note, if only out of sheer financial panic. Indeed, last year The 1975 seemingly did exactly that, after journalist Laura Snapes challenged frontman Matty Healy to make the commitment on Twitter. Healy replied: “Take this as me signing this contract – I have agreed to some festivals already that may not adhere to this and I would never let fans down who already have tickets. But from not [sic] I will and believe this is how male artist [sic] can be true allies”. Although the truth of Healy’s words is yet to be proved due to coronavirus-induced cancellations, they at least represent an acknowledgement of the important role prominent artists – particularly male artists – can play in shaping industry practice. If more were to make a similar pledge, perhaps this collective action could affect change by targeting festivals in the wallet, as well as the conscience.
Ultimately, the extensive conversation surrounding gender equality on festival line-ups isn’t even necessarily about exact 50:50 splits every year, across every festival. Some years festivals may book a few more male acts, and some years they may even (shock!) book a few more female or non-binary artists. Instead, it’s more about setting a new precedent that departs from the current state of affairs. When male artists commonly make up over 70% of line-ups and the vast majority of headliners for all major UK festivals, that sends a subtle message that men are more important; that their presence is more valuable, their status higher, their music better. And if these implications are reinforced each festival season, then an industry culture condoning more explicit forms of sexism will continue to thrive.
