Of all the acts in dance music, both world renowned and the ones that come and go, one thing stands out amongst them both. Males dominate the scene. Now it is disappointing to see so few female powerhouses represent the dance music scene but on the flip side it is exciting to see acts like Nervo and sisters Jahan and Yasmine from Krewella put the female populous on the map, in regards to EDM, as they do bring a unique image to the table. While drizzled within the highly male saturated EDM market, very few females power through to the world renowned fame and exposure that men in scene receive. In a recent article featured on Thump, the gender gap is broken down showing female to male performances at various festivals.
Electric Zoo featured the smallest ratio of all the festivals tested with only 3 of 113 performers being female (2.6%). With Mutek holding the highest percentage of female performers amongst their lineup at 9.6%, the median of the festivals tested was 5.9% at Ultra Music Festival. All across the board here we have a small percentage of female performers; even at the high end, topping out at less than 10%. That poses the question of whether or not female Djs are out there, or if they are oppressed and not giving the same opportunity as males in the scene?
It’s funny because at any given EDM show or festival you attend, the ratio of male attendance to female attendees is a thin wish-washy percentage, everywhere you go. So why is it that both sexes show such a huge interest in the scene but the artists that cater to the consumers is so heavily dominated by males. Music is art and by no means can be crafted by men better than woman so at this point, I’ll leave this open ended for interpretation. You let us know what you think, and for all the woman out there. Keep on chuggin’, you’ll make it and your presence in the scene is needed!
Breakdown of male to female performers courtesy of Thump.
I’m curious as to how many female DJs are out there in general. I’m sure someone must have this data. DJ Mag should ask when they do their poll. If it turns out that literally only 3% of bedroom DJs, profession DJs, producers, etc. are female, then we’d be having a different conversation.
Thanks for this post on the male-dominated world of EDM. Actually, to #changetheratio requires the same approach the equally male-dominated tech and business worlds generally need to adopt. As Eric Ries highlights in his post ‘All The Best Stories Are Not Necessarily Told By White Men’ http://pando.com/2013/11/04/eric-ries-all-the-best-stories-are-not-necessarily-told-by-white-men/ if organizers ‘ask who they know’, you perpetuate the same closed loop effect. Sarah Milstein has practical advice here on how to actively ensure more diverse – and therefore more innovative – lineups: http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/01/theres-no-excuse-for-all-white-male-panels/ the principles of which can be adopted for festival line-ups. Do Androids Dance is doing a great job highlighting the women of EDM (I’ve posted some of their links in replies below). And the interesting thing about more gender-equal lineups is that it produces more innovative, surprising and enjoyable experiences for men 🙂 http://shriverreport.org/heres-why-the-future-of-business-is-gender-equal-cindy-gallop/
There’s a huge problem with the industry as a whole being hyper masculinized. More and more music videos and promo art feature scantily clad women, and it’s also important to note how female DJs are portrayed and objectified as hot, much more so than their male counterparts. I am a female just getting started on DJing, and frankly, all of this kinda makes me want to quit sometimes. Just read you recent article on PornHub’s new label, for crying out loud! People are excited about it because of how “awesome” the festivals will be. That kind of attitude definitely alienates a lot of women from wanting to get more involved in the industry.
The point of EDM is the music not the artist. So when a DJ puts out a good track, no one cares who the DJ is until they hear that track. Crying about gender in this genre of music is petty and playing the victim. Talent is talent, if you make heavy beats and put on a rockin show it shouldn’t matter what color you are, where you come from, or what gender you are. It should be about weather you have talent or not. If you make it about gender and race and location you will limit actual talent by giving breaks to someone who doesn’t deserve it just because they are a different race or gender and not on their actual skill. I still am introducing people to EDM and you know what they care about? The drop. They don’t care if the DJ is a man or a woman.
Electronic music is produced with logic and reason. Women don’t use either sorry couldn’t resist :p
Why even post this article? It’s quite obvious that the amount of women out there DJing and producing is much much lower than men. Not due to barriers of entry. Women just don’t care for the trade as much as men. Just like so so many sports. I have only met 2 aspiring female DJ’s in my life and only one aspiring producer. And all of them are successful in their locale. If anything it might be EASIER for women to get in the business due to the high demand for female entertainers clothed and non-clothed.
I dont think its discrimination like some are hinting. It has to do more with women not making music. Take a look at most edm artists who arent big. They are more likely to be men. So it cant be discrimination because not all men make it big either. If there is a low turnout among females making music, then simple logic dictates thats there’s going to be a lower female turnout playing at festivals.
So why arent women making music?
You have to understand that making music isnt something easy. Many musicians (and even millionaires,not related to music, who are mostly men) have to go through a process of constant loneliness and failure that last years. Most women don’t fall into the realm of loneliness because they are more social. As such, women tend to pursue hobbies that are most likely less lonely.
Is this a joke? These numbers mean nothing without knowing what percentage women make up of the total DJ’ing population. There aren’t a lot of girls in rock bands either, that’s because playing guitar in a rock band isn’t as attractive of a hobby to females as it is to males so there are less of them in general. Personally I know tons of guys who are into producing/dj’ing. I don’t really know a single girl. You really have to be out of your mind if you think people running these festivals are purposely trying to block out woman performers.
There are great females on the scene. The US festival scene, and somewhat festivals in general just don’t cater to their styles. I see more women playing tech house, minimal and techno. Check out Illesnoise. Find women you you like on be-at.tv. Go see local females where you live.
It’s because women don’t know how to use reason or logic. heuheu
This may be misinterpreted but I really don’t care. The issue is that to become a successful Dj, one must have good music of their own to play in their sets. The process of making electronic music is incredibly technical, and from my experience working in an electronics store girls do not care (in general) about technology. Every time I get a customer, I always treat them the same way (gender does not matter). Inevitably I bring up the question of “what do you want to do with this computer”, because it will help me recommend the best device for them. I always follow up with asking if they are interested in making music or anything else creative with their computer. 9 times out of 10 I am told no. They would instead prefer to listen to music or observe the creative art with their computer, but not participate in making it. Now idk if this is because there aren’t as many female icons for them to look up to, but I personally believe that technology in that regard does not seem as appealing to an adolescent girl because there are other things she’s more concerned with (or that she believes it’s inherently nerdy or masculine to work with technology in such a way). I notice there are far more female performers who play acoustic instruments and sing because there is less of a masculine stigma attached to these types of performance, and there is little to no technology required to have fun doing it. I really don’t think there’s a gender bias in edm. There are some amazing female artists out there who draw HUGE crowds when they hit the decks. These women did not play into the masculine stereotype of technology, and that to me is why they are able to accomplish what they have. Music is about music is about music. No one gives a shit if you’re a guy or a girl, if you make good music, that’s all there is to it.
The likely answer is that there’s just fewer females producing. Just look at the music industry as a whole. What percentage of pop, rock, and hip hop producers are female? I don’t think it’s limited to EDM. Production is a very technical field and males are a lot more likely to enter into such fields as evidenced by the disparity in degrees awarded in fields such as computer science. I think this is just a symptom of a much broader cause, not because of anything in EDM.
you have to look at the % of female dj’s/producers vs male dj’s/producers. you should do more research, this is almost certainly a per/capita conversation, not an issue of prejudice.
Dj baby anne
Dj Irene
this article gave me aids
How much female DJs? 3 %? Maybe 5 % ? So it’s normal…