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‘They’re really breaking through’: how women put the music business in a spin

Despite distressing reports about misogyny and male ‘banter’ in the industry, the Grammy nominations mark the start of a hopeful new era for female artists

Female recording studio technicians and session musicians still have harrowing accounts of the obstacles and insults they have faced at work, while the most influential labels and music publishing companies are top-heavy with men. Limited opportunities to advance in the industry and persistently lower levels of pay are also hurdles, while racial discrimination holds back many black women from taking up influential roles in the music business, the findings suggested. In 2022 only two female musicians cracked the top 10 of biggest songs, with Kate Bush reprising the success of her 1985 single Running Up That Hill, on the back of television’s Stranger Things, and pop singer Cat Burns making an impact with Go.

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