Number of top women musicians has grown just 1.5% in 10 years [new USC Annenberg Study]

The fifth annual USC Annenberg Study shows that women gained little grown within the music industry of the last decade.

Just 23.3% of artists on the 2021 Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Chart were women. That’s a rise of just 1.5% from 21.8% in 10 years and 1,000 songs. The total percentage of women in the U.S population is 51%.

Just 14.4% of songwriters were women, according to the study, up just 1.7% in the last 10 years. Women represent just 2,8% of top music producers.

“Despite industry activism and advocacy, there has been little change for women on the popular charts since 2012,” said Dr. Stacy L. Smith of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. “Although the data reveal an increase for women of color, these findings indicate that there is more work to be done

Download the full report here.

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.