diversity and inclusion
The landscape for top music executives remains overwhelmingly white and male, according to a new report by USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which notes that representation at the highest levels of the music industry have remained minimal despite declarations of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in by major music companies in 2020 — with many of them performing worse today than when data was last collected in 2021.
On Wednesday (March 12), Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative released their second Inclusion in the Music Business report — in partnership with Believe and Tunecore — that focuses on the gender and racial/ethnic identity of music executives, with data pulled from a survey of 2,793 executives across 106 music companies.
In one key finding, 86.8% of top executives (i.e. CEOs and presidents) at a smaller subset of 37 major and independent music companies were men, while 92.1% were white. All three non-white executives, two of whom were women of color, ran independent companies.
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“Much has been made of the ‘Year of the Woman’ in music, highlighting the work of artists like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Chappell Roan or Sabrina Carpenter,” the report reads. “While the music stage may be perceived as increasingly open to women artists, the executive ranks have maintained the status quo. Women fill fewer than 20% of top leadership positions and are still rarely part of senior leadership teams at top companies.”
“In comparison to 2021, there was no increase in the percentage of senior executives who were women, people of color, or women of color in these roles — in fact, the percentage of underrepresented top executives decreased,” the report adds.
In focusing on just six major music companies (Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Spotify, iHeartMedia and SiriusXM), the report discovered that just a third of all senior management executives at those companies were women, while 16.7% were from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group. In total, there were just eight women of color working in those roles, amounting to 10.3%.
In a broader analysis of senior leaders across the 106 companies — boiled down to 77 companies when taking into account subsidiaries — men held 84.4% of CEO/president roles while women held just 15.6%. The majority of those top executives (82.2%) were white, while just 17.8% were from underrepresented groups. Women of color held just 4.4% of these top roles.
According to the report, among all companies surveyed, the presence of women executives falls significantly as the level of responsibility increases. Across the executive hierarchy categories of chief/president, executive vp/senior vp/GM and vp/head, women are most likely to hold positions at the vp/head level at 43.9%. This percentage drops to 38.1% of executive vp/senior vp/GM roles, while the percentage falls further, to 25.6%, at the chief/president position.
A similar pattern is found for underrepresented executives, who make up 25.9% of vp/head roles but only 19.7% and 21% of executive vp/senior vp/GM and chief/president roles, respectively. Only 10% of all executives in these categories were women of color.
The report suggests that the lack of female representation in higher roles could be due to two primary consequences of gendered leadership beliefs. “The first is that [women] may not be projected into leadership positions because they are not perceived to have the traditionally masculine traits associated with leadership,” the report reads. “The second is that when women do behave in ways that violate their gender role, perhaps by exhibiting leader-like behavior, they are punished. Thus women may be excluded from promotions for reasons that are not based on their actual performance but on gender role expectations that still play a role in how they are evaluated.”
Dr. Smith and her team (which includes report authors Dr. Katherine Pieper, Zoe Moore and Sam Wheeler) also broke the findings down by five sectors: music groups, record labels, publishing, streaming and music distribution.
The music distribution sector has the highest percentage of women executives (47.8%), which is significantly greater than the other four company types, none of which reached 40%. Women fill 39.4% of executive positions at record labels, 38.3% at music groups, 37.6% in publishing and 37.2% at streaming companies.
Alternatively, record labels are a leader in underrepresented executives, who make up 30.1% of executive roles at labels. That percentage still lags behind proportional representation with the U.S. population (at 41.6% underrepresented, according to U.S. Census data) but is better than music groups (25.1%), music distribution (23.1%), streaming (17.9%) and publishing companies (16.3%). “Compared to the 2021 analysis, the current landscape shows a significant decline in the representation of underrepresented executives within the streaming sector,” the report reads. “There were no meaningful changes for the other industry categories.”
A closer look at women of color in executive roles indicates that record labels (13.4%) were significantly more likely than streaming (7.5%) and publishing (6.9%) companies to be inclusive of underrepresented women in leadership. Music groups (11.8%) and music distribution companies (9.9%) held a middle position.
“The lack of underrepresented executives in key leadership roles is particularly disappointing because in recent years, finding ways to promote talented people of color has been a priority for the industry,” the report states. “Efforts to address ongoing gaps have included the launch of industry-wide coalitions, task forces, and company-specific plans. Despite this, the underlying biases that thwart hiring and promotion have clearly not been addressed. To see more underrepresented leaders in the music industry, valuing the abilities, insights, and leadership traits that people of color bring to these roles is essential.”
For women of color, the hurdles to reach the top echelons of the music industry remain the highest. Among the smaller subset of 37 music companies, a mere 5.3% of the highest-ranked executives and 10.3% of senior management teams are composed of women of color.
“The lack of women of color in leadership roles stands in contrast to the strong showing of women of color as artists and songwriters over the past several years,” the report states. “Clearly the music industry values women of color — but not the ways that women of color lead.”
The report offers three actionable opportunities for change. First, it recommends using specific and measurable criteria in the hiring, evaluation and promotion process. Second is to create pathways to promotion that account for the different experiences needed to lead well while ensuring that performance metrics are met. The third is to pursue solutions that are sector-driven.
“The music industry has faced a difficult season with layoffs across multiple companies,” the report states. “Additionally, the wider cultural moment is dismissive or even hostile to so-called DEI initiatives, creating wariness or even abandonment of principles and activities designed to cultivate and foster talent. Despite these challenges, the music business need not forego adopting strategies that will allow for the most qualified employees to rise to positions of greater responsibility and leadership, no matter their identity.”
Check out the full report, including additional information on solutions, here.
The late, Grammy-winning conductor Seiji Ozawa; Matt Cameron, drummer for Pearl Jam; and Grammy-nominated concert violinist Anne Akiko Meyers are among the Asian Hall of Fame’s class of 2024 inductees. The class will be announced at a kick-off event, “Celebrate Asia Festival,” on May 1 at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.
The Celebrate Asia Festival is an annual benefit for the Women Founders Fund, which supports diversity among women in tech, entertainment and the arts. May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.
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Ozawa, who died Feb. 6 at age 88, was recognized internationally through his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Vienna State Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He won a Grammy in 2016 for best opera recording for Ravel: L’Enfant Et Les Sortilèges; Shéhérazade.
Cameron first gained fame as the drummer for Soundgarden, which he joined in 1986. He appeared on each of the band’s studio albums until its breakup in 1997. In 1998, Cameron was invited to join Pearl Jam’s Yield Tour and then became a permanent member of the band. Cameron has won two Grammys for his work with Pearl Jam: best metal performance for “Spoonman” and best hard rock performance for “Black Hole Sun.”
Meyers received her first Grammy nod late last year for Fandango, a live recording with Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic, which was nominated for best classical compendium. Her 2023-24 season includes performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic.
Here’s a quick look at this year’s three other music-connected honorees:
John Paris, drummer for Earth, Wind & Fire since 2001, played on Asian Hall of Fame’s Down by the Water charity album for human trafficking rescue.
Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, who performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” on American Idol at age seven (and was given a golden ticket by judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan to come back and compete in 2027) is the recipient of the Asian Innovation Award. The prize includes a grant check, invitation to record a song with pianist Ed Roth at the private studio of Robby Krieger, and opportunities to perform at the May Festival and October Ceremony.
Lydia Lee, choir director at John Muir Middle School in Burbank, Calif., is recipient of the Asian Women in the Arts Prize for her work in music education. Her choir will perform Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” in German with a professional adult choir and ensemble at the Oct. 19 induction ceremony.
The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) unveiled a tepid assessment of the music industry’s progress toward addressing historical racism and inequity on Monday (May 15). The organization expressed particular concern about Universal Music Group’s commitment to the cause and the live music sector’s lack of “attent[ion] to Black professionals.”
The BMAC established its “Music Industry Action Report Card” in 2020 “to keep tabs on the promises music companies made in the wake of The Show Must Be Paused” — noting that real progress is unlikely without some type of accountability mechanism. The latest edition of the report, authored by Naima Cochrane, concludes that the music business outlook was “not negative.”
“Why that phrasing?” the report asks. “Because it’s not ‘all good,’ either.”
The report notes that “for the most part, companies that outlined measurable goals and plans in 2020 and 2021 have either continued in forward progression or at least held the line.” But BMAC points out that “there is a history of music companies… being called out for unfair, unjust, or otherwise imbalanced practices.” In the past, when “public pressure rescinds… things revert to how they were before, if not worse.” The report wonders: Is history set to repeat itself?
The BMAC report assesses each music company’s commitment to a more diverse industry according to four criteria: Corporate commitments, partnerships and giving; company representation on a senior level; internal culture and business practices; and transparency and public accountability.
The BMAC praises Sony Music (which earned grades of A, B, B and B+ in the four categories, respectively) and Warner Music Group (A, B, B, B) for “sharing more info about the makeup of their staff by gender, age, and race/ethnicity.” But the report expressed “concern” about Universal Music Group (B-, B+, C+, C), the biggest of the major-label groups.
While the report notes that UMG’s “Taskforce for Meaningful Change was a strong presence in the conversation around justice and change” in 2020 and 2021, the BMAC states that “the group’s presence and visibility felt significantly diminished in 2022.” Why the sudden change? Firstly, the report questions the sudden departure of Ethiopia Habtemariam, “a significant leader,” who unexpectedly left Motown in November.
The BMAC also calls out Capitol Music Group’s “massive cultural blunder” and “especially egregious misstep” with the virtual rapper FN Meka, who was widely viewed as perpetuating racist stereotypes and subsequently dropped from the label’s roster. (“We offer our deepest apologies to the Black community for our insensitivity in signing this project without asking enough questions about equity and the creative process behind it,” Capitol said in a statement at the time.) “The project was a perfect illustration of how music companies have historically commodified a distilled or skewed version of Black culture without including Black decision-makers and/or voices in the process,” the BMAC writes.
In addition to evaluating the major label groups, the BMAC scrutinized the Recording Academy (B, B+, B, B) — which it praises for working “to increase diversity in the voting membership and remove the more opaque aspects of Grammy voting” — and streaming services: “Amazon Music stood out this year for its visible representation among senior staff and its partnerships.” The BMAC also notes approvingly that Spotify has been “diligent in the execution of [its] BLK 5-Star Strategy for diversity, inclusion, and combating inequity.”
In the live music business, where “Black people were systematically shut out for decades,” the BMAC observed that “the impact of that exclusion still reverberates both in offices and on tours.” Promoting diversity “needs to be as much of a concentrated focus at [live music] companies as it is on the record music side,” the BMAC argued. The talent agencies UTA, CAA and WME/Endeavor were all given grades of “needs improvement,” as was AEG Presents. Wasserman and Live Nation were deemed “satisfactory.”
Finally, the BMAC turned its attention to radio, which continues to adhere to “genre lines” that limit the “visibility and opportunity for both our Black artists and Black executives,” according to the report. “The media conglomerates that control the majority of the pop and urban airwaves still have an enormous impact on artist success but also still operate on often arbitrary and outdated music standards,” it continues. BMAC added that “radio is on watch.”
The latest Music Industry Action Report Card acknowledged that “racism, a 400+ year-old disease, will not be cured in 24 months.” “However,” it continues, BMAC hopes that “through music’s reach, power, and influence, the industry can set a new standard of inclusion, diversity, and equity.”
As a kid, I dreamed of being a unicorn. Now that I am one, I recognize I’m just one of the herd. When I gaze at festival lineups, skirt cables backstage, log onto Zoom meetings with labels or give the post-COVID elbow bump before settling down for an in-person, women are still scarce. We make up a fraction of the music industry, both in presence and recognition. However, we are here and always have been.
The world of jazz is a microcosm within the industry, but it mirrors the greater whole. While the majority of celebrated titans are men, the smattering of women in the pantheon are often finely coiffed, smiling behind mics and backed by an entirely male band. However, people need to take a closer look. For example, Louis Armstrong wouldn’t be an international icon without wife Lillian ‘Lil’ Hardin Armstrong. She was a celebrated pianist, composer/arranger, bandleader and singer in her own right long before taking Louis under her wing. Yet, few know her name.
There are countless other women in front of and behind the scenes who remain obscured, despite the valuable contributions they’ve made to the music and business. How do we bring the overlooked to center stage and expand the spotlight? Enter Grammy- and Tony Award-winning singer-songwriter-actress Dee Dee Bridgewater and The Woodshed Network.
Bridgewater launched this artists residency in 2019 with me as co-artistic director and program curator. We‘re steadily building community, providing support and educating cohorts of women in jazz. The annual 10-day program (Feb. 27-March 10 this year) is bolstered by a who’s who of women executives, creatives and legends including Sheila E., Lizz Wright, Regina Carter, Maria Schneider and more. Alumnae are busy topping charts (Lakecia Benjamin’s “Phoenix”), releasing albums (Candice Hoyes’ “Nite Bjuti”) and winning Grammys for arrangements and compositions (Marta Sanchez’s “Unchanged” on Terri Lyne Carrington’s New Standards. Vol. 1).
However, this is just one piece of a very large puzzle. Before you can hold space, you have to create it. The most enduring line from the 1989 movie Field of Dreams can be applied to jazz and the industry more broadly: “If you build it, (s)he will come.” Across the world, various programs are creating spaces for women in all sectors of the industry … and women are joining in droves.
Here are a few tangible examples of those fields plus several accompanying myths that spring to mind. So let’s get down to busting those myths, shall we?
Myth 1: There are no women sound engineers.
Women may make up only 2.1% of engineers, but they’re flipping all the right switches and turning award-winning knobs. Examples: Woodshed mentors Jett Galindoand Grammy winner Jaclyn “Jackie Boom” Sanchez. This dynamic duo has been with the program since its launch, breaking down process, equipment and production in all formats from recording to release. Organizations like Women in Vinyl, SoundGirls and Women’s Audio Mission are also training, supporting and getting gigs for women in sound recording, mixing and mastering.
Myth 2: No women run labels or produce music.
Betty Carter launched BetCar Records in 1970. Dee Dee Bridgewater launched DDB Records in 2006. Jazzmeia Horn launched Empress Legacy Records in 2020. Lizz Wright launched Blues & Greens Records in 2022. All produce and release projects on their own labels with distributors. Some 15% of women in the industry overall run labels, while even fewer produce their own material at 2.6%. Throw in songwriting and they figure into that 12.5%. These are just four examples among countless others.
Myth 3: People don’t care about jazz.
Tell that to the Nice Jazz Festival (founded in 1948, France), Monterey Jazz Festival (f. 1957, USA), Festival International de Jazz de Montreal (f. 1959, Canada), Montreux (f. 1967) and New Orleans & Jazz Heritage Festival (f. 1970). They’re all going strong. Globally, jazz is one of the most sought-after genres. Ella Fitzgerald said it best: “Music is the universal language.” Yet, when you turn up to one of these festivals, only 14% of the headliners are women.
Considering that women comprise over 49% of the world’s population, influence more than 80% of purchases and are set to hold 66% of consumer wealth in the coming years, this is not a demographic to ignore.
Something is amiss.
So how do we fix it?
1. Start at the beginning organizationally and include women.
When Woodshed took the Keychange pledge (the global campaign committed to gender equality in the music industry), we realized that we’d already surpassed the goal line. Women make up 90% of our team and 100% of our mentees, mentors and speakers. We have precisely zero problems finding leaders in every category and facet of the music industry who are women. There is so much pent-up desire to mentor and pay it forward that we have a year’s-long list of women who have approached Woodshed to participate on both sides of the table.
2. Make larger tables and bring folding chairs.
When organizations make it central to their mission to include women, not for tokenism, but in acknowledgment of their contributions, experience and expertise, they’re stronger for it. Echo chambers may be good for vocal effects, but they’re terrible for healthy businesses and communities. A quick internet search yields pages of results for women in various fields of the music industry. Let your fingers do the walking and hire more women in all positions. It’s not a capitulation, it’s a sound investment in your organization’s future.
3. Free the unicorns.
Once individuals and organizations take stock of their own houses, they can look outward to the community. The ripple effect is positive in all aspects. By creating, maintaining and ensuring the health of spaces inclusive of and specifically for women, The Woodshed Network is investing in the future. A thriving jazz community fosters dynamic exchanges of ideas and, in its highest form, democracy. Women belong on the bandstand, behind the scenes, and in C-suites. We’re providing support, resources, visibility … and space. What will you do? It’s time to crossfade into the thundering hooves of unicorns.
Tulani Bridgewater-Kowalski is the founder and president of Bridgewater Artists Management and co-artistic director and program curator of The Woodshed Network.
Sources: USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s “Inclusion in the Recording Studio?” by Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Dr. Katherine Pieper, Hannah Clark, Ariana Case & Marc Choueiti, Jan. 2020. Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship’s “Women in the U.S. Music Industry: Obstacles and Opportunities” by Becky Prior, Erin Barra, Sharon Kramer, Ph.D. “Music Festivals’ Glaring Woman Problem” by Alanna Vagianos, Huffington Post. “Tracking the Gender Balance of This Year’s Music Festival Lineups” by Rob Mitchum and Diego Garcia-Olano, Pitchfork. Keychange PRS Foundation’s “Keychange Manifesto: Recommendations for a gender-balanced music industry”; designed by Ian Robson and Infographics by Jon Stanbrook.
The Country Music Association will soon launch its inaugural Diversity & Inclusion Fellowship, which will provide a select group of BIPOC students with an immersive educational experience leading up to the 2023 CMA Fest in June.
The CMA has partnered with the University of Alabama, Nashville’s Belmont University and Knoxville’s University of Tennessee. Six students (two from each university) will be selected to take part in the fellowship, launching this spring. Students must be an incoming junior or senior majoring in public relations, advertising, journalism, business or a related field. Each student will also receive compensation for their work, as well as a stipend to cover living expenses while in Nashville.
“As we look at our industry and how we can drive country music into the future, it’s being thoughtful about who is part of it and who feels like they can be part of it,” Mia McNeal, CMA senior director, industry relations and inclusion, tells Billboard. “Working with all three of these universities has been incredible, thinking strategically and intentionally about how we can engage the student body in a way that is very direct and making a pipeline of talent.”
McNeal adds, “There has been a push for more artists of color within the country music industry, but they also need the opportunity to team with people behind the scenes who look like them.”
In April, the students will begin working remotely with the CMA’s communications team, participating in planning meetings with cross-departmental teams and various industry partners. They will then join CMA team members in Nashville in the weeks leading up to and through CMA Fest, June 9-12. Following the event, the students will take part in a six-week assignment with a country music publicity partner, offering the students additional real-world PR experience.
“They get the 360-degree view of exactly how public relations and communications is central not only to the CMA, but to the industry at large,” says Tiffany Kerns, CMA vice president, industry relations and philanthropy.
“The idea for this fellowship came out of having significant conversations with several artists and a wide variety of industry professionals who really felt that publicists are part of the storytellers of our business,” Kerns adds.
The University of Alabama’s Dr. Kenon Brown, who was previously the faculty advisor for the UofA’s CMA EDU chapter for about three years, serves as the fellowship’s managing faculty member. Brown along with faculty representatives from the university partners and CMA staff will review applications.
“We felt the one thing that would help students be exposed to the industry would be to give them first-hand experience,” Brown tells Billboard. “We wanted to also give them mentors to give them a more realistic viewpoint of how the music industry works. Hopefully this helps make them more excited about not just working in music but working in country music.”
In describing the types of students they are looking for, Brown says, “We want students who recognize the opportunity they have here to become a leader in this industry and a voice for promoting diversity and inclusion in the country music industry. We want students who can look at the country music industry and see the strides that they have made and see the advantage that they have to really add a unique voice to the genre.”
The CMA is also working with the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations on the fellowship, as well as with Trell Thomas, a public relations executive and co-founder of My Publicist is Black, to match each student participant with an industry expert to serve as a mentor throughout the fellowship.
“At CMA Fest last year, we had diversity on all of our stages,” McNeal says. “Our fans are diverse and that representation matters so much. It’s hard to be something you cannot see.”
The application to apply for the fellowship is open today (Jan. 9) through Feb. 24 at cmaworld.com/fellowship.
The fellowship is one of multiple recent initiatives the CMA has launched to support leadership, education, and diversity. The CMA previously teamed with Discovery Education for a series highlighting STEAM careers within the country music industry. In 2022, the trade organization also launched a 16-week training program to support women in leadership throughout the country music industry.
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