female:pressure, an online database and network of women and transgender individuals working in electronic music and the visual arts, recently released its 2024 FACTS report.
The report, with an aim of “[quantifying] the gender distribution of artists performing at electronic music festivals worldwide,” is in its sixth edition — the first debuted in 2013, and has faced numerous updates over the last decade.
The data, collected by festival organizers, female:pressure’s proclaimed “Trouble Makers” and female:pressure members since 2012, came from 175 editions of 110 unique festivals that took place in 2022 and 2023 for this year’s report. The organization found that the proportion of female acts at these festivals significantly increased, starting from 9.2% in 2012 to 29.8% in the 2022-23 reporting period.
Additionally, female:pressure found that most of the top 10 festivals (with at least 20 acts) by female proportion in 2022 and 2023 took place mostly in Western Europe, with Germany in the lead for most gender-diverse festivals. While the United States was not part of either year’s top 10 festivals by female proportion, it did make it on the top 10 festivals by male proportion in 2022 and 2023, with four mentions overall. The overall winner for highest proportion of female artists in 2023 went to Austria’s HYPERREALITY festival, set to take place again this May.
female:pressure’s research conclusion contends that, while “slow but steady” progress has been made in terms of highlighting more female and nonbinary voices in the electronic music industry, “there is also a continued trend of the largest festivals booking the fewest female and nonbinary acts. Indeed, the smaller the festival the more gender diverse its line-up is going to be. There is clearly still a significant imbalance in gender representation on electronic music festival stages today.”
In female:pressure’s Call to Action, they list 33 points for festival organizers, artists, journalists, policy advocacy groups and politicians, and festival attendees to make note of as consumers, producers and commentators of electronic music.
For festival organizers, female:pressure recommends that “festivals, in particular larger festivals, should consider a diversity, equity, and inclusion committee.” Moreover, they recommend that “a mixed-gender team” should be installed to program future festival lineups.
Regarding artists, the organization asks that those who perform “learn what it means to be an ally.” They address artists “in positions of relative cultural power” such as cisgender male artists, commending those who “have shown solidarity with female and nonbinary colleagues by boycotting festivals when their line-ups fail to be diverse or inclusive.”
Lastly, for festival attendees, the feminist network recommends that concertgoers contact festival organizers directly if they feel that a festival is creating an unsafe space. In the event that festival organization committees fail to address these concerns, female:pressure encourages concertgoers to raise awareness on social media. In addition, it encourages attendees to “demand more diverse line-ups” when festivals are mainly comprised of white cisgender male artists.
To read more about the research procedures undertaken by female:pressure or to look at specific data found in 2022 and 2023, peruse the 2024 FACTS Report here. If you want to stay updated on future research findings from female:pressure, events or advocacy tips, be sure to check out their Instagram as well.
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