Female musicians are not getting the credit they deserve as the stars of the male-dominated music world, with female artists on average performing at lower levels of success than their male counterparts, according to research.
Female soloists are also less likely to get a solo hit, according a new study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego.
The study, which included interviews with more than 1,300 musicians, found that female performers performed at a lower level of success in the United States than their peers on average.
The study was published in the journal Music Theory Research.
“For decades, women have played more often than men, but have received less recognition,” said study co-author Stephanie B. Breslow, a music teacher and professor of music at UC San Diego and the University at Buffalo.
“The disparity between the way women are treated in the music industry and the way men are treated is very troubling.”
In the study, musicians played music at a total of 7,500 different venues across the United Stations, from the top to the bottom.
Bexar County, Texas, is the most populated county in Texas, and it is the region with the highest percentage of women in the field.
The musicians surveyed had been performing for 20 years or more and had performed at more than 300 venues, Bresfield said.
The authors said the disparity was particularly notable among female soloists.
The average soloist at the top five or six venues was performing at a rate of 3.6, compared to 3.7 for female soloers at the bottom five or so venues.
In addition, female soloist rates of success were lower at the lower levels than for female musicians at the highest levels, with soloists playing in the range of 3 to 5.7.
“It is not surprising that musicians are less likely than musicians in the general population to get to the top of the ladder,” Breslows said.
“We know that the success of musicians is tied to their ability to sell records, and if a woman cannot sell records then she cannot be successful.”
The study also found that the average solo performance was performed in less than 10% of the venues, compared with 35% at the other four levels.
For female solo artists, Bexars County had the highest rates of solo performance in terms of percentage of venues, followed by the Bay Area and San Diego County.
“Our findings suggest that female musicians in this country have been playing less than their female peers for far too long,” Bexares County Supervisor Brenda Williams said.
“While this disparity is not an anomaly, we need to do more to increase the number of female musicians performing at the levels they are at in the world.”
The authors added that there is also a problem of gender stereotyping.
For example, female singers are usually portrayed as having a more feminine voice, or having an “open-hearted” and non-threatening voice, the study said.
However, this is not the case for female dancers, singers, and dancers, who typically portray themselves as being more aggressive and aggressive in their performance.
“The music industry is a male-led field,” Breguet said.
She said the lack of diversity in the industry is not due to sexism, but to a lack of talent.
“I am very hopeful that we will get better representation of women and girls in music in the future,” Breda Bregiets, a soloist, told ABC News.
Breguets is the first female solo musician to receive a solo album Grammy nomination, but she said she is still unsure how she will be recognized.
“When I am playing the solo, I feel that I am doing something, that I have something that is unique to me,” she said.
