How New York City Is Leading Change for Women in Music
variety.comreport from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Institute. The report, which analyzed credits for songs on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End charts for eight years, found that in 2022, only 14% of the songwriters were women and only 3.4% of the producers were women.
During the 8-year sample, of all women producers, only 26% were women of color. In a report issued by music data provider Luminate on International Women’s Day called “Be the Change: Gender Equality in the Music Industry,” almost 60% of respondents believe that gender discrimination continues to be a major issue facing the music industry.
This inequality in music must end. In New York City, it starts in the classroom. In 2018, the City University of New York, the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment and a group of industry executives started Sound Thinking NYC, an innovative free program for New York City public high school students designed to tackle this issue head-on.
The program works with diverse, highly motivated students over multiple years, supporting them as they enter music-industry-related programs in college.
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