With bold soundscapes that span pop, rap, alternative, electronic and more, on #InternationalWomensDay #SceneNoise is spotlighting some of the upcoming artists who have broken through into the regional music scene and will be well worth keeping an ear out for with more releases set for this year.
Gender inequality is still rampant within the music industry, with women representing less than a third of artists in the world today, 13% of songwriters and a mere 3% of music producers, according to a study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.
Access barriers faced by female and non-binary music artists include sexual harassment and objectification, ageism, male-dominated resources, lower pay, lower representation and male-dominated labels – not to mention that when a female music artist is credited for an achievement, it may be dismissed as ‘lip-service’ or ‘tokenism.’
Whether or not these artists have experienced any or all of the mentioned challenges, their growing successes form a part of the balancing shifts we want to see in the years to come among singers, songwriters, producers and other key figures in the music industry.
However, far from being labeled ‘female artists’ – a term which is often used in condescending contexts that places gender before talent – each of these artists have been releasing music that are, simply put - fire, so go check them out.
