Women in Music Industry Held On to Gains in 2024, Still Underrepresented, Study Finds

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2024 saw women in the music industry maintaining their progress in striving for chart parity as per a recent study by USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, but the study found minimal advancements in creating new opportunities for female artists.

Last year, females represented approximately 37.7% of the artists appearing on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Chart, which was only slightly higher than the 35% seen in 2023. This increase from 2023’s figure marked a substantial advancement compared to the 22.7% recorded in 2012.

In 2024, women made up around 37.7% of artists on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Chart, which was a slight rise from the 35% seen in 2023. This increase signified a significant improvement over the 22.7% recorded back in 2012.

Prior to the 2025 Grammy Awards, a recent study by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative highlighted that while some progress has been made by women, it hasn’t significantly increased. For instance, there was no significant advancement in the role of women producers in 2024, as they represented just 5.9% of producing credits.

The study showed that although women have made some progress, it has not been rapid or substantial. In the case of women producers in 2024, their representation remained minimal at around 6%.

In 2024, the proportion of underrepresented artists dropped significantly from 61% in 2023, amounting to 44.6%. Furthermore, an analysis by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative revealed that just 22.7% of nominees across six major Grammy categories for this coming Sunday’s awards ceremony are female. This includes the record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best new artist, producer of the year, and songwriter of the year competitions.

Dr. Stacy L. Smith noted in a statement that there was minimal advancement observed among female artists in 2024. Interestingly, it’s actually the number of male artists that has decreased, while the number of women in 2024 remains similar to previous years. This indicates that the decrease in men, not the progress of women, is likely responsible for these findings. For those hoping for change in the music industry, this trend does not signal forward movement.

The analysis she conducted looked at data spanning 13 years and a total of 1,300 songs taken from the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Charts. In 2024, women songwriters accounted for 18.9%, a slight decrease from the previous year’s 19.5%. However, this is still significantly higher than the 11% of female songwriters in 2012.

In 2023, it was women of color who contributed to the rise in songwriting positions. However, this trend did not continue into 2024. Regrettably, the count of female songwriters of color declined last year, while the number of white female songwriters grew instead.

Approximately 54% of the songs in 2024 included at least one female songwriter, similar to the percentage from the previous year. “The music industry reflects the movie industry—there’s a lot of talk about empowering women, but not much progress when it comes to the most widely played tracks,” Dr. Smith pointed out.

Or,

In 2024, around 54% of songs had at least one female songwriter, which was comparable to the figure from the year before. “The music industry is like a mirror image of the film industry—there’s plenty of talk about promoting women, but not much real progress in the most popular tunes,” Dr. Smith commented.

She contended that as long as the leaders in executive positions and A&R roles don’t acknowledge and address the gender imbalance in the industry, we can expect minimal progress.

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2025-01-29 19:25