Why are only 17% of UK’s top festival headliners female in 2023?
Only 17% of headliners at the UK’s top festivals this year are female, Sky News analysis has found.
Women are seen as too much of a “risk” for the top slots because of a perception festivalgoers prefer watching men, as well as the pool of female talent still being too small, music industry experts say.
Industry figures also called on Glastonbury to do more to bridge the gender divide.
Across 104 festivals this summer, only a fifth (20%) of headline acts are fronted by women, compared with almost four-fifths (78%) by men and 2% by non-binary people.
At the biggest festivals, with over 30,000 capacity, this is even lower for women at one in six (17%).
And if you count the total number of performers on stage during headline slots, only one in 10 (11%) are women.
According to our research, while women are still behind men across the board, they are more popular with fans on YouTube, Google and the radio, than they are with festival promoters when booking headliners.
Meanwhile, the likes of Glastonbury, Isle of Wight Festival and Latitude don’t have a single female-fronted headliner on their main stages this year.
Glastonbury, which is releasing its final 2023 tickets, faced a backlash in March after it revealed the Arctic Monkeys, Guns n Roses and Sir Elton John will headline its famous Pyramid Stage this year.
Folk rocker, Cat Stevens, is also booked for the Sunday afternoon “legends” slot despite rumours Blondie was due to take it.
Organiser Emily Eavis said the female headliner they had planned, widely rumoured to be Taylor Swift, had to pull out due to a tour clash.
Glastonbury’s famous Pyramid Stage
Women ‘too much of a risk’
Eve Horne is a producer, singer-songwriter and founder of Peak Music UK, which mentors female and non-binary artists and producers. She is also on UK Music’s Diversity Taskforce and is a board member of Moving The Needle, which works to improve female inclusion in the industry.
She says there was hope that the devastating impact of COVID would make industry bosses prioritise inclusion and diversity.
“If anything it did a 360 and went backwards,” she tells Sky News.
“Everyone started going for the money again and saying there’s too much risk in putting women as headliners.”
Eve claims promoters repeatedly tell her that festivalgoers of all genders prefer watching men perform more than women.
“It’s about money at the end of the day and we still have old white men gatekeeping the industry,” she adds.
Eve Horne says diversity in music has gone backwards since COVID. Pic: We Are The Unheard
John Rostron, chief executive of the Association of Independent Festivals, which represents 105 UK events, says the problem stems from there being a smaller pool of female artists for promoters to pick from.
“A headline slot might be the pinnacle of an artist’s live career.
“There are plenty of barriers for any artist to get there, but for women there are maybe triple the number of barriers, so the talent pool at the top is smaller.
“We have to wait for them to come up and then be open to booking them.”
The problem gets worse at larger festivals where big acts charge high fees and promoters have to meet those costs with ticket sales – and are also accountable to shareholders.
“You can’t say that a male band sells more tickets because they’re men,” he adds. “But you can say that they sell more tickets than another band when that’s been proven to be true.”
YouTubers and radio DJs choosing more women
Sky News looked at YouTube views and radio play to see how popular female-fronted artists are on those platforms. “Female-fronted” refers to acts with a female lead performer.
They were far better represented on both platforms than they were at the top of festival billboards.
On YouTube, in the 12 months to the end of March, female-fronted artists made up 35% of total music views, while their male counterparts were 65%. Non-binary-fronted acts were at fewer than 1%.
Almost half (24) of the 50 most searched for artists on Google in the same period were also female.
Both data sets suggest fans do want to consume female-fronted artists.
On the radio, they have averaged roughly a third (32%) of plays between 2019 and now, with male acts at just under two-thirds (65%) and non-binary at 3%.
So far in 2023, the gender balance has been almost equal, with female and male artists both at 48%, with the remainder non-binary.
Six of the top 10 songs played on the radio so far this year are by female solo artists including Miley Cyrus’s Flowers – the most popular song of 2023 so far.
Increases in non-binary representation are largely down to a small number of artists, such as Sam Smith and Olly Alexander.
At festivals there are signs of progress. Across all stages almost three in 10 (29%) acts are female-fronted – up by almost 2% on the five-year average.
But that progress isn’t reflected in headline slots.
Festival crowds are thought to prefer watching male artists perform.
‘Glastonbury can afford inclusion managers’
By contrast, the Mighty Hoopla, a 25,000-person festival in south London, has had no male-fronted headliners since 2018.
Olly Alexander headlined in 2018 and is returning this year.
It offers a “platform to LGBTQ+ performers” and ensures at least 50% of performers are female and non-binary across the whole line-up.
Cassie Leon, who heads-up inclusion for the festival, says with their audience, it’s “relatively easy” to commit to a diverse line-up.
“Part of queer culture is trying to uplift women as much as possible,” she adds.
The Mighty Hoopla prides itself on its diverse line-up. Pic: www.lukedyson.com
Asked how other festivals should improve female representation, she says more staff should be hired specifically to promote inclusion.
“It’s everybody’s issue, from the agents to the festivals to the places finding the talent,” she says.
Specifically on Glastonbury, she adds: “If you can afford Elton John, you can afford inclusion managers.”
While Britain’s biggest festival might be less profit-focused than others, raising funds for charities and reportedly paying artists a fraction of their usual fees, smaller festivals still seem to do better at booking female-fronted headliners.
Jungle and drum and bass artist Nia Archives is headlining two indie festivals this year – We Out Here in Dorset and Outlook in Croatia – as well as playing at Glastonbury.
“It’s a hard one for me,” she says “because I know I’m being given those opportunities but also recognise that not everybody has those opportunities.”
Rock and metal festival Download has had no female-fronted headliners since 2018
Heavy metal and rock among worst offenders
Other than the Mighty Hoopla, no festival in our database has had more than a third female-fronted headline acts between 2018 and now.
Six have had none at all since then – Isle of Wight, Download, Kendal Calling, TRNSMT, Slam Dunk Festival and Bloodstock Open Air.
With half of the worst offenders coming under rock and heavy metal, John Rostron, of AIF, which represents Bloodstock Open Air, says things are “particularly difficult” across those genres as there is a “much smaller talent pool”.
Bloodstock’s festival director Adam Gregory shares his view.
“There is a shortage of female-fronted bands coming through the ranks,” he says, adding that headline slots are booked according to the “strongest available offering”.
John also points to the way some major festivals sign up artists exclusively – preventing them from playing other events.
“Someone playing third at Reading might be perfect to headline one of our smaller festivals, but they can’t. Both organisers and artists have a responsibility to say no to exclusives.”
‘Ethical’ promoters
There are groups trying to make a difference.
Not Bad For A Girl, a DJ collective based in Manchester and London, formed four years ago to “create a platform for female and non-binary DJs” – running their own events, performing at others, and on the radio.
Pic: Not Bad For A Girl
They wear signature pink balaclavas in a bid to “eliminate conventional beauty standards” after members were denied opportunities on account of their gender.
Founder Martha Bolton says they actively support diverse talent, for example by “having two events and using one as a cash cow, so the other can promote an up-and-coming artist”.
She adds that big organisations like Glastonbury have a responsibility to set the standard for the industry.
“It needs to be the bigger people taking that jump for the rest of us who can’t afford the risk.”
No accountability
There is no official regulator of the music industry in the UK, so no official means of accountability when it comes to gender diversity.
UK Music, which has its own diversity taskforce, acts as a trade union, and connects smaller associations that represent specific parts of the industry.
Read more:
Glastonbury: Arctic Monkeys and Guns N’ Roses join Sir Elton John as headliners
Sir Lenny Henry ‘surprised’ by lack of black people at UK music festivals
Keychange is an EU-funded diversity programme that asks its 600 signatories (41% of which are festivals) to commit to at least 50% female inclusion. By the end of 2021, 64% of signatories had met the target.
But neither body is legally binding.
Lizzo at Glastonbury 2019. Pic: James McCauley/Shutterstock
In an interview with The Guardian in March, Emily Eavis said Lizzo, who will perform just before Guns N Roses on the Pyramid Stage, could “totally headline” but the rock band were already booked.
She reiterated that female inclusion is “top of our agenda”, having committed to 50:50 representation in 2020 and secured more than half female and non-binary acts for 2023 so far.
In its diversity statement the festival says it is “working alongside experts in equality and anti-discrimination” on an internal review.
“We try our best and we obviously aim for 50:50. Some years, it’s more, some years, it’s less,” Eavis told the BBC earlier this year, adding it’s “looking like we’ve got two female headliners” for 2024.
But she added that despite being the biggest festival in the country, it is not just down to her to make change.
“We’re trying our best so the pipeline needs to be developed. This starts way back with the record companies, radio. I can shout as loud as I like but we need to get everyone on board.”
Sky News has contacted Glastonbury for further comment.
Entertainment
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs guilty of prostitution offences – but cleared of sex trafficking and racketeering
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been found guilty of transportation for prostitution following a landmark trial in New York – but cleared of more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
The 55-year-old hip-hop mogul was accused by prosecutors of abusing and coercing three alleged victims, including his former long-term partner, singer and model Cassie Ventura, and other crimes including kidnapping, arson and blackmail.
Jurors decided not all the allegations were proven – but Combs still faces up to 20 years in prison after being convicted of transporting people across the US, including Cassie and another former girlfriend, Jane*, and paying male escorts to engage in sexual encounters.
However, with the not guilty verdict on three other more serious charges – racketeering conspiracy and two of sex-trafficking – he has avoided a maximum possible sentence of life behind bars.
Combs appeared upbeat in court as the verdict was announced. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
The mixed result from the jury came not long into their third day of deliberations. In the courtroom in Manhattan, New York, there were cheers from Combs’s family, and the rapper himself held his hands up in a prayer motion, looking at the jury, and hugged his defence lawyer Teny Geragos.
His mood seemed very different to just a day earlier – when he learned the jury had reached a verdict on four of the five charges, but were split on the racketeering charge. After deliberating for longer on Wednesday, they came to a unanimous decision.
Combs later seemed to become overwhelmed with relief. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
Judge Arun Subramanian adjourned the court while he considered whether to grant Combs bail before sentencing. The rapper has been in prison since his arrest in September 2024 – but his lawyers argue his acquittal on the most serious counts has changed the legal landscape enough that he should now be released.
As the verdict sunk in, Combs appeared overwhelmed, kneeling at his chair and bowing his head in prayer once again.
“I’ll be home soon,” he said as he faced his family members. “I love you, Mum.”
Casandra ‘Cassie’ was heavily pregnant when she gave evidence at the start of the trial. Pic: Jane Rosenberg/ Reuters
Cassie ‘paved the way’
Reacting to the verdict, Cassie’s lawyer Douglas H Wigdor said that although jurors did not find Combs guilty of sex-trafficking Cassie, she had “paved the way” for the other guilty verdicts.
“By coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice,” he said.
“We must repeat – with no reservation – that we believe and support our client, who showed exemplary courage throughout this trial.”
Cassie, who testified heavily pregnant just three weeks before giving birth, displayed “unquestionable strength”, he added, and “brought attention to the realities of powerful men in our orbit”.
Videos of “freak off” sex sessions with male escorts were shown to jurors only during the seven-week trial, with the footage kept private from members of the public and media in court.
Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
Former employees, along with escorts, hotel staff and police officers were among those to give evidence.
Cassie and Jane, who used a pseudonym, also testified. They told the court they were coerced into drug-fuelled freak offs – which were also referred to as “hotel nights” or “wild king nights” – with male escorts, and abused throughout their relationships.
Combs’s defence team presented a very different picture to show that sexual acts, including freak offs, were consensual.
They conceded the music star could be violent, had a bad temper, and used drugs. He also had multiple relationships at the same time. But crucially, they said, while he was “not proud” of some of his behaviour, none of it made him guilty of the charges against him.
After hearing evidence of flights and travel for escorts and Cassie and Jane, paid for by Combs, as well as hotel bookings across the US and the Caribbean, jurors found him guilty of the transportation to engage in prostitution charges. However, they did not find that the allegations against the rapper amounted to sex-trafficking or racketeering.
The Cassie hotel tape
Combs, known variously as Puff Daddy, P Diddy, and Diddy over the years, was once one of the most influential figures in hip-hop – famous as a producer, founder of Bad Boy Records and manager of the late Notorious BIG in the 1990s, as well as a rapper in his own right.
As an artist, he won three Grammys during his career, and had hits including I’ll Be Missing You, Come With Me, and Bad Boy For Life.
In September 2023, he received the “global icon” award from MTV and was given the key to New York City at a ceremony in Times Square, just a few miles away from the streets in Harlem where he spent his first years.
Allegations first came to prominence in November 2023, when Cassie filed a bombshell lawsuit accusing him of coercing her into unwanted sex sessions, as well as blackmail and several incidences of violence.
The suit was settled in 24 hours – for $20m, it emerged during the trial – but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her to the floor in 2016.
He apologised after the video aired, saying: “I was disgusted when I did it.”
Footage from the hotel incident was shown during the trial.
Following the verdict, the rapper now awaits sentencing. He also still faces several civil lawsuits, most of which were filed in the wake of his arrest in September 2024.
Punk rap duo Bob Vylan will no longer headline the Radar Festival in Manchester days after leading chants of “death to the IDF” at Glastonbury.
The performance on the West Holts Stage on Saturday was livestreamed on the BBC – leading the corporation to apologise as it described the chants referencing the Israeli military as “antisemitic” and “unacceptable”.
Avon and Somerset Police announced on Monday that it had opened a criminal investigation after reviewing footage of performances at Glastonbury by Bob Vylan and Irish hip hop trio Kneecap.
The force said the case has been recorded as a “public order incident” and said the investigation will be “evidence-led and will closely consider all appropriate legislation, including relating to hate crimes”.
In a post on Instagram on Wednesday, the Radar Festival, which takes place at the O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, wrote: “Bob Vylan will not be appearing at Radar Festival this weekend.”
The festival has not explained why the duo will no longer appear on Saturday night – with its line-up now reading “headliner TBC”.
In response, the group shared the festival’s statement on their Instagram story, adding the caption: “Silence is not an option. We will be fine, the people of Palestine are hurting. Manchester we will be back.”
It comes after the band were barred from the US, where they were due to tour in autumn with performances in Chicago, Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
US deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau said the duo’s visas were revoked for their “hateful tirade at Glastonbury”.
The band have also been pulled from an upcoming performance at a German music venue.
Bob Vylan with their MOBO award in London in November 2022. Pic: Reuters
In a statement on Tuesday, the duo said they were being “targeted for speaking up” after police opened their investigation.
They wrote: “We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people.
“We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine. A machine whose own soldiers were told to use “unnecessary lethal force” against innocent civilians waiting for aid.
“A machine that has destroyed much of Gaza.”
The statement added: “We, like those in the spotlight before us, are not the story.
“We are a distraction from the story. And whatever sanctions we receive will be a distraction.
“The government doesn’t want us to ask why they remain silent in the face of this atrocity? To ask why they aren’t doing more to stop the killing? To feed the starving?
“The more time they talk about Bob Vylan the less time they spend answering for their criminal inaction.
“We are being targeted for speaking up. We are not the first, we will not be the last, and if you care for the sanctity of human life and freedom of speech, we urge you to speak up too.”
Read more:
Chief rabbi condemns BBC over Bob Vylan chants
Bob Vylan have US visas revoked
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy hits out at BBC
During the performance on Saturday, Bobby Vylan, one half of the duo, also led his crowd in chants that included “Free, free Palestine”.
Bob Vylan performed on the West Holts Stage slot directly before Kneecap, whose member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, also known as Mo Chara, appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence.
He is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in the UK, at a gig last year.
Kneecap also led the Glastonbury crowd in “Free Palestine” chants.
The BBC has faced strong criticism for continuing to livestream the Bob Vylan performance on iPlayer with on-screen warnings about discriminatory language.
It has since been revealed that BBC director-general Tim Davie was at Glastonbury when the chants were broadcast.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The director-general was informed of the incident after the performance and at that point he was clear it should not feature in any other Glastonbury coverage.”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy criticised the BBC over its decision not to pull the Bob Vylan livestream during the chants on Saturday and said there is “a problem of leadership” at the corporation.
The group was formed in Ipswich in 2017, and are known for addressing political issues in their albums, including racism, masculinity and class.
The group are scheduled to perform at the Boardmasters surfing and music festival in Newquay, Cornwall in August.
The UK’s YouTubers, TikTok creators and Instagram influencers have been surveyed en masse for the first time ever, and are demanding formal recognition from the government.
The creator economy in the UK is thought to employ around 45,000 people and contribute over £2bn to the country in one year alone, according to the new research by YouTube and Public First.
But, despite all that value, its workers say they feel underappreciated by the authorities.
Max Klyemenko, famous for his Career Ladder videos, wants the government to take creators like himself more seriously. Pic: Youtube
“If you look at the viewership, our channel is not too different from a big media company,” said Max Klymenko, a content creator with more than 10 million subscribers and half a billion monthly views on average.
“If you look at the relevancy, especially among young audiences, I will say that we are more relevant. That said, we don’t really get the same treatment,” he told Sky News.
Fifty-six per cent of the more than 10,000 creators surveyed said they do not think UK creators have a “voice in shaping government policies” that affect them.
Only 7% think they get enough support to access finance, while just 17% think there is enough training and skills development here in the UK.
Nearly half think their value is not recognised by the broader creative industry.
The creative industries minister, Sir Chris Bryant, said the government “firmly recognises the integral role that creators play” in the UK’s creative industries and the fact that they help “to drive billions into the economy” and support more than 45,000 jobs.
“We understand more can be done to help creators reach their full potential, which is why we are backing them through our new Creative Industries Sector Plan,” he said.
Ben Woods said the government needs to “broaden its lens” to include creators
“The UK has got a fantastic history of supporting the creative industries,” said Ben Woods, a creator economy analyst, Midia Research who was not involved in the report.
“Whether you look at the film side, lots of blockbuster films are being shot here, or television, which is making waves on the global stage.
“But perhaps the government needs to broaden that lens a little bit to look at just what’s going on within the creator economy as well, because it is highly valuable, it’s where younger audiences are spending a lot of their time and [the UK is] really good at it.”
Read more from Sky News:
Trump says ‘very wealthy group’ has agreed to buy TikTok in US
Major porn sites to introduce ‘robust’ age verification in UK
According to YouTube, formal recognition would mean creators are factored into official economic impact data reporting, are represented on government creative bodies, and receive creator-specific guidance from HMRC on taxes and finances.
For some, financial guidance and clarity would be invaluable; the ‘creator’ job title seems to cause problems when applying for mortgages or bank loans.
Podcaster David Brown owns a recording studio for creators
“It’s really difficult as a freelancer to get things like mortgages and bank accounts and credit and those types of things,” said podcaster David Brown, who owns a recording studio for creators.
“A lot of people make very good money doing it,” he told Sky News.
“They’re very well supported. They have a lot of cash flow, and they are successful at doing that job. It’s just the way society and banking and everything is set up. It makes it really difficult.”
The creative industries minister said he is committed to appointing a creative freelance champion and increasing support from the British Business Bank in order to “help creators thrive and drive even more growth in the sector”.
The government has already pledged to boost the UK’s creative industries, launching a plan to make the UK the number one destination for creative investment and promising an extra £14bn to the sector by 2035.
These influencers want to make sure they are recognised as part of that.
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