The Recording Academy, Arizona State University, and Berklee Publish Women in the Mix Study Illuminating the experiences of women in the American music business, the study was developed to help create a more inclusive and equitable industry.
By
Media Relations Staff
March 8, 2022
Image courtesy of the Recording Academy
The Recording Academy, Arizona State University (ASU), and the Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship revealed today the results of the inaugural Women in the Mix Study, designed to examine and better understand the experiences and socio-economic landscape of women and gender-expansive people working in the American music industry. Developed to influence advocates, allies, and leaders in music to work towards a more inclusive and equitable industry, the study explores demographic characteristics, employment experiences, career challenges, job satisfaction, family decisions, and pathways into the music industry within this community. With this survey, the academy, ASU, and Berklee affirm their commitment to create dialogue around the realities of women and gender-expansive people in music, directing resources to accelerate progress around representation and equity.
The study was built upon the baseline results from the 2019 study by Berklee and Women in Music, titled Women in the U.S. Music Industry: Obstacles and Opportunities. More than 1,600 respondents from across the U.S. representing all ages, races, and ethnicities took part in the Women in the Mix Study. Respondents included those working in various capacities in the industry, from behind the scenes to front and center, and at all levels, from entry to executive. Compelling data points are outlined below:
Discrimination is prevalent. Eighty-four percent of respondents had faced discrimination equally across all racial identities; 77 percent felt they had been treated differently in the music industry because of their gender; and more than 56 percent believed their gender had affected their employment in the industry, with music creators and performers expressing this the most, at 65 percent.
They are overworked and underpaid. Fifty-seven percent of respondents have two or more jobs, 24 percent are working between 40 and 51 hours per week, and an additional 28 percent are working more than 50 hours per week. Thirty-six percent of respondents are making less than $40,000 per year and almost half of them feel like they should be further along in their careers.
Music creators and performers see the lowest income and highest dissatisfaction with career progress. Of the respondents that identified as music creators and performers, 48.6 percent said they made less than $40,000 per year. While thats roughly 15 percent higher than within the entire respondent pool, this indicates that these professionals are making less money than their peers in other professions on average. Approximately 57 percent of music creators felt they should be further along in their career, compared to those working in music education (48.5 percent), event/tour production and management/promotion (41.7 percent), music business (37.4 percent), and music media and technology (32.9 percent)
Respondents prioritize career advancement over parenthood. Roughly one out of every two respondents said they chose not to have children or had fewer children than they wanted because of their careers. Respondents with children under the age of 18 represent slightly less than two out of every 10 women and gender-expansive people in the music industry. People who make more than $100,000 per year had a 27 percent likelihood of having children, which fell to 15 percent for those making less than $40,000 per year.
Gender-expansive respondents face heightened levels of adversity. Gender-expansive people were less satisfied than respondents who identified as women by a 16 percent margin. They were twice as likely to make less than $40,000 per year and felt less comfortable in their workplace by a margin of almost 18 percent.
Mentorships prove to be beneficial toward respondents self-fulfillment. Ninety-three percent of respondents felt mentoring had contributed to their career. These respondents were more likely to feel they were where they should be in their careers and satisfied with their jobs.
Despite challenges, career satisfaction and passion for the music industry remains high. Seventy-eight percent of respondents reported feeling satisfied, with more than 80 percent in career categories that seem to face the most obstacles, such as freelancers, music creators, and performers. More than half of respondents said that their pathway into their careers was through their inherent love and passion for the music industry.
Advocacy organizations provide value. Forty percent of respondents were members of advocacy organizations, and roughly 20 percent mentioned advocacy in their recommendations to help improve the climate for women and gender-expansive people. Thirty-five percent of respondents cited professional or industry-related organizations as being one of the main sectors of the music industry that helped them grow and advance.
Read the full report.
We have a responsibility to ensure that we are amplifying womens voices and our lived experiences, said Valeisha Butterfield Jones, co-president of the Recording Academy. The Women in the Mix study is a groundbreaking account of the realities and decisions that we as women working in music are publicly and privately making each day. By centering this study around active listening, learning, and building solutions, weve armed the industry with valuable data about the barriers affecting women in music and how we can together take a stand. Were thankful to the more than 1,600 respondents that participated, whose voices are helping us shape the approach to achieving equity in the industry.
Listening
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
The Recording Academy, Arizona State University, and Berklee Publish Women in the Mix Study Illuminating the experiences of women in the American music business, the study was developed to help create a more inclusive and equitable industry.
