NEWS
For the first time, the Partnership for Sustainable Development in Music, has mapped the gender distribution across Denmark’s music industry. With this survey, the partnership aims to inspire more actors to use data as a tool to promote gender equality.
See the full report here.
The Danish music industry has long been marked by a gender imbalance. Since early 2022, the need for change has led more than 80 organisations, institutions, and companies to join the partnership’s Code of Conduct for Equal Access in Music. Now, for the first time, 47 of them have reported key indicators on gender balance to shed light on the distribution of roles and responsibilities in music. The report covers a wide range of sectors – from venues, festivals, and booking agencies to labels, publishers, educational institutions, and NGO’s. The report shows a commitment towards transparency and development, but it should be noted that it is not yet representative of the entire music scene. Achieving this will require a much larger volume of data reporting.
“With the report’s indicators on gender balance, we now have a baseline measurement that can help us evaluate future developments – constructively and factually. The measurement needs to be expanded, so we can add more data points and respondents to the dataset moving forward” says Sara Indrio, chair of the Danish Artists’ Union and member of the steering committee in the partnership.
Tendency for more men in leadership positions
Based on data from the 47 participating organisations, several cross-cutting trends are revealed.
A total of 655 men and 580 women are included in the baseline measurement. The figures show that the gender gap is most pronounced at the executive level, where men hold an average of 68 percent of the positions. In the management tier just below the executive level, the distribution is 57 percent men and 43 percent women. When looking solely at employees without management responsibilities, the ratio is roughly 50-50. In other words, there is a clear trend that the gender balance becomes more skewed the higher up in the hierarchy you go.
The gender gap is largest among companies in the music industry
When looking specifically at companies in the report, the differences are significantly more pronounced. Here, men account for an average of 68 percent of board positions and a full 82 percent of executive positions. In comparison, the distribution is almost equal in both boards and executive teams when we look at other sectors, such as educational institutions and interest organisations.
There is a desire to change, but more action is needed
A full 87 percent of participants report that their organisation is working to increase knowledge about diversity and inclusion. At the same time, none of the respondents feel that there is a lack of support from leadership. However, almost half mention time as a key barrier for them, while about one in three points to finances and lack of knowledge as obstacles to further action.
To drive change, The Code of Conduct for Equal Access in Music has outlined 6 principles for inclusion and diversity. These principles are designed to make change tangible and pave the way for an industry where everyone has equal opportunities to develop their talent in creative, performing, and leadership roles. You can read more about the 6 principles in the CoC here and find inspiration for actions that can be taken.
“It is absolutely crucial that the report doesn’t stand alone. We are working strategically to create the conditions for more people to have the opportunity to reach their full potential, both on and off stage. We are doing this through organisational and leadership levels, because we believe that this is where structural changes happen and where the mandate for action lies. Specifically, we need to look at gatekeeping roles, bias, education, and so on within the layers that support the artists” says Sara Indrio, and continues:
“Our goal is to end up with even larger and more solid datasets. With more data and more respondents, we will likely see different results in the gender distribution percentages.”
