Representation and Identity in the Music Industry for Women, Transgender and Non-Binary People
By Jenny Perry
The conversation on diversity and identity within the music industry has been extremely prominent in the recent decade. It’s particularly true now that obstacles are being removed for a lot of artists through different streaming platforms, social media and so on. However, even though ideas about identity and diversity are being readdressed, we need to question the way that this is being done and how it might marginalise underrepresented groups in a different way. It has become very apparent that the movement to engage more women, non-binary, and transgender people in the music industry is extremely profitable – underrepresented groups are at risk of becoming a commodity.
Women only line ups at small music festivals and more conscious independent booking agents are one way issues around diversity are being addressed. It cannot be denied that there have been huge attempts made to push women into the music industry. This is conveyed by feminist music critic Clair Duffin, who said, “Positive progress has been made to help undo some of the role-framing and male-dominated operational grounding of the music industries”. Certainly, people have become more conscious about readdressing the in-balance on a localised level in the music industry. However, Duffin goes onto explain that despite numerous efforts from within the industry, not a lot seems to be physically changing:
On the one hand, the very existence of such initiatives could be seen to be a step in the right direction to achieve the gender balance so desired. …. On the other hand, however, it may be that the practical implementation is more cumbersome if promoters become overly reliant on their existing contacts or networks, which have seemingly come to accept a belief that there are simply not enough female performers out there.
It can be argued that events that put stress on an ‘all women line-up’ defeat the purpose of readdressing gender inequality because it puts more emphasis on the conscious aesthetic choice and commodifies the acts. Women composers and artists are viewed as an experience to sell, rather than just neutrally as artists.
I discussed this with Sterling, the non-binary bassist of the Manchester-based loud and proud alternative band ‘The Red Stains’. Sterling expresses their worries on the “commodification of trans, female and non-binary musicians – when you’re a musician who’s non-binary or trans, people expect you to be really open about it and to almost use it as a selling point. There are a lot of transphobic, queerphobic awful people out in this world. It’s dangerous. To be openly queer is such a brave thing to do, and people expect this from you and expect you to make it into a big thing.”
When discussing the idea of ‘women-only line-ups’, Sterling gave some insightful points on how when the system for radical equality in the music scene is broken down, it ultimately just benefits more men – “Something like a female-fronted line-up, it’s not going to do loads, it might help with booking a few bands, but is it going to help with any systemic change in the music industry, if all the people organising it and running it are men.”
Kristian Leib expresses this well in their text Gender, Branding, and the Modern Music Industry: The Social Construction of Female Popular Music Stars, which discusses the idea of female music stars as brands. They write, “female popular music stars are objectified, productised brands who are considered high-risk investments, given their relatively short-term careers and the tremendous amount of money it takes to market them successfully.”
Sterling extended this by vocalising the idea of “the trophy girl of the band at the front” and the immediate sexualisation of femme presenting performers in the music industry. When suggested what we could do to make tangible change, Sterling voiced that “we need women and queer people throughout the entire music industry to see any change; roadies, sound engineers, venue owners, producers and writers – otherwise it’s just going to men telling women to sing a song on stage for them.”
A lot of bands that are made up of all female performers have stopped referring to themselves as a ‘girl band’, because it not only panders to the male gaze but also makes male bands seem like they are otherwise the norm. Sterling articulated how they have seen this first-hand in the music industry and how there is “still definitely the idea that all-male bands are the ‘default’ or the ‘norm’, and if you’ve got women or gender non-conforming people in a band, it’s always made to be a selling point or a novelty.”
The way that female, transgender and non-binary musicians have been commodified in the industry in the name of ‘equality’ and ‘representation’ is explored in conversation with Musician, Artist and Influencer Jay Page, where we discussed how most musicians are only given attention and representation by how attractive and marketable you are. “People do not want to work with trans people as a whole because they do not know how to market them; they don’t even know how to market them to the queer community. It doesn’t matter how you identify. They don’t care because they want to put you in a box to market you,” Jay recalls from first-hand experience, being an active member within the music industry and the LGBTQ+ community for many years.
Jay recollects how when he came out as a transgender man, after previously identifying as a cis female lesbian, he lost a considerable part of his audience. “The second that I came out as trans, people didn’t like that because I didn’t fit into their ideals about what they wanted. I lost a huge portion of my following, and it’s because the ‘sex appeal’ was ‘lost’.’
Jay describes how he got offers in abundance from record labels when he identified as a cis female lesbian. When he came out as a transgender man, it felt as if the music industry didn’t quite know what to do with him. It seems that in this sphere, the only thing that the music industry is willing to sell is the potential sex appeal of a musician, and this is thinly veiled as an outreach for the representation of women, transgender and non-binary people.
Despite the fact that this conversation on equality has been going on quite consistently over the past decade, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of change within the past ten years, specifically concerning composers and writers who are women. Of the 2,767 songwriters credited (in an analysis of the top 600 songs from 2012 to 2017) 12.3 percent were women. This statistic has stayed fairly constant as the years go by. According to Bain’s 2019 report, which is based on an analysis of more than 100 music publishers and 200 labels, just 14.18% of the 12,040 writers represented by UK publishers are women. It seems evident in the production and compositional side of the music industry that there is not as much of a push for active inclusivity behind the scenes.
One of the main problems with the way that representation is being sought after in the music industry is the sweeping generalisation of needing ‘more marginalised people’. What ultimately needs to be done for marginalised communities in the music industry is the physical development of safe performance and production spaces, where women, transgender, and non-binary people are held as valuable members of the compositional and production team and not commodified in order to sell an experience.
It is true that the music industry is changing in terms of representation and identity. However, it has become clear that this isn’t being done for the right reasons. With women and non-binary and transgender people at risk of becoming commodities, there needs to be a much bigger and more precise movement that directly addresses different marginalised groups and their needs.
Jay Page – Instagram @japageoffical
Sterling – Instagram @sterlingrosek Band Instagram @theredstains