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.
Image: 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.
Image: 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.
Image: 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.
Image: 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.”
Image: 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.
Image: 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.
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.
Image: 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.
The Israeli embassy has said it’s “deeply disturbed” by chants of “death to the IDF” at Glastonbury – as police also investigate the incident.
Video shows one of the members of Bob Vylan shouting the slogan into the mic and some of the crowd joining in.
The duo were performing ahead of a performance by Kneecap, the Irish act who the prime minister said should be ditched from the line-up.
“The Embassy of Israel in the United Kingdom is deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival,” a statement said.
It said slogans like Saturday’s chant “advocate for the dismantling of the State of Israel”.
Image: The BBC said some of the comments by Bob Vylan were ‘deeply offensive’. Pic: PA
The post on X added: “When such messages are delivered before tens of thousands of festivalgoers and met with applause, it raises serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence.”
Avon and Somerset Police said they are looking at whether a criminal offence was committed.
Bob Vylan also performed in front of a screen quoting a claim that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to BBC boss Tim Davie for an “urgent explanation” about what due diligence it carried out into Bob Vylan.
Image: Thousands watched the set on the West Holts stage. Pic: PA
A spokesman said the government strongly condemned the “threatening comments” by the group, whose X bio describes them as a “punk/rap/alt thing”.
A BBC statement said: “Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive.
“During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language.
“We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch re-posted a clip of the incident and called it “grotesque”.
“Violence against Jews isn’t edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked,” she said on X.
A statement from Glastonbury Festival said it “does not condone hate speech or incitement to violence of any kind from its performers”.
Image: Kneecap also performed – with the BBC not showing them live. Pic: Reuters
Irish group Kneecap followed Bob Vylan – with the broadcaster not carrying their performance live amid concern over what they might do or say.
However, it’s understood their show will be made available on demand after a review.
One of its members, Liam Og O hAnnaidh, was charged with a terror offence in May after being accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terror group Hezbollah at a gig.
Image: Pic: Reuters
Image: There were Palestinian flags among the crowd for Kneecap’s show. Pic: Reuters
Bandmate Naoise O Caireallain told the packed Glastonbury crowd they should “start a riot outside the courts”, before clarifying: “No riots just love and support, and support for Palestine.”
O hAnnaidh – also known as Mo Chara – wore a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf for Saturday’s set and told fans he was a “free man”.
There was a moment in Calum Scott’s life when he found himself contemplating taking his own life.
The 36-year-old singer-songwriter tells Sky News: “I did get to a point where I had a very low self-esteem, very low self-worth… I thought, ‘I can’t see how my life will get any better from this moment’.”
He says it was only the thought of the “shattering” impact his death would have on his mum Debbie that pulled him back from the edge and gave him the momentum to reach out for help.
“What I thought was my lowest moment was probably my most defining moment in terms of being able to pick myself up… and to walk away, albeit with lots of tears and a lot of emotion.
“That was the moment that I needed to pursue better mental health.”
Image: Calum Scott has achieved a billion streams of his music. Pic: Tom Cockram
He’s since racked up a billion streams of his music, joining the likes of The Rolling Stones, Whitney Houston and ABBA in his achievement.
His biggest UK chart hit – a cover of Robyn’s Dancing On My Own – reached number two in the singles chart, with the video having been viewed more than half a billion times on YouTube.
It’s a future he would have found hard to comprehend just a decade ago.
Scott was working in the HR department of Hull City Council when Britain’s Got Talent made him an overnight star after receiving a “golden buzzer” (an automatic pass into the semi-finals) from judge Simon Cowell.
Scott reached the final – which was won by Jules O’Dwyer and her dog Matisse – and the singer’s success was the things dreams are made of. But he admits, it wasn’t all roses.
Image: Calum performing with Take That at the King’s coronation. Pic: PA
“That was when I first started having panic attacks,” he says. “For me to suddenly start down that road was scary.
“There’s no handbook on how to deal with fame. That doesn’t exist, as far as I know.”
A notoriously tough business, Scott says the music scene is one where “people constantly want something from you”.
The death of One Direction star Liam Payne – who rose to fame on talent show X Factor – last year was a stark reminder of the pressure on those in the public eye.
Image: Liam Payne died last year. Pic: Reuters
Scott says Payne’s death could be the “wake-up call that the industry needs” to highlight “the pressure, the expectation (and) the workload” on young artists.
“You need that balance to be able to be creative, and the industry is where art meets consumerism,” he says.
“I think you’ve got to be careful that that line doesn’t start to impose on your soul and in your heart.”
‘A prisoner in your own body’
For Scott, his desire to perform in front of thousands has lived alongside his battle with the debilitating mental health condition, body dysmorphia.
“It’s an industry where people are not only listening to the music, but they’re looking at you and scrutinising you, and it’s difficult to put yourself out there – to be enjoyed and to entertain people – but also to be criticised,” he says.
Estimated to affect up to 2% of the adult population in the UK, according to the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation, sufferers spend hours worrying about perceived flaws in their appearance, which can severely impact work, social life and relationships.
Scott says: “For me, growing up, I had a few issues with my sexuality and my dad leaving when I was young and losing all my friends. A lot of reasons compounded down as to why I ended up with body dysmorphia.”
Image: Pic: Tom Cockram
At his worst, obsessively documenting his perceived flaws, Scott says: “For anybody who’s suffering with body dysmorphia, you feel a prisoner in your own body, and it’s awful.
“With social media, it’s difficult because every facet of every part of our life is documented on Instagram in the perfect way. And that’s just not how life works.
“People aren’t putting their worst parts on social media. Somebody wakes up at six in the morning, they’re beautiful and their hair’s done, but somebody set that camera up to record that moment. It’s not real.”
‘The favourite part of my job’
One thing that is real is Scott’s connection to his fans.
Image: Calum at this year’s Brit Awards. Pic: Reuters
“My favourite part of my job is going to a gig and performing the songs that have resonated with people in such different, vast ways, and watching it happen in real time,” he says.
“It’s like magic, you know? Like the stuff you used to watch – Paul Daniels on the TV, and my god, it just used to buzz you. It’s the same thing.”
With a new album and a 48-city world tour ahead of him, Scott’s story is an inspiring one.
A mental health advocate, his message of hope is one he hopes to share with his fans and beyond: “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t give myself the opportunity to. It’s important to just stay headstrong, believe in yourself. Anything’s possible.”
Calum Scott’s third studio album, Avenoir, is out on 12 September, followed by his world tour, which kicks off on 12 October in Porto, Portugal.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
Declaring a ‘Pulp Summer’ on the screen behind them, the band appeared on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage for another of the festival’s “surprise” performances.
A group of people mysteriously walked on to the stage in waterproof ponchos before the “secret” was revealed and the Pulp homage to fellow Saturday night performer Charli XCX’s Brat Summer appeared on screen.
Like Lewis Capaldi’s unannounced set on Friday, everyone at Glastonbury knew who to expect by the time Jarvis Cocker and co began at 6.15pm, thanks to the bookies’ odds, “secret” sources and whispers around the festival.
The Sheffield band were welcomed with a huge turnout at the festival’s biggest stage.
Image: Jarvis Cocker was welcomed with a huge turnout at the festival’s biggest stage. Pic: PA
In tribute to their headline performance in 1995, when they famously took over from The Stone Roses at short notice, Pulp started with Sorted For E’s And Whizz and then straight into Disco 2000 – two songs played live for the first time on this same stage 30 years ago.
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“It was the very, very first time they were played – you could say they were born in Glastonbury,” Cocker told the crowd.
From the Mercury Prize-winning Different Class, the album that propelled Pulp to topping the charts and platinum sales, and one of the most critically acclaimed records of the 1990s, the songs prompted a mass sing-along – and jump-along from an enthusiastic crowd who knew every word.
“My name’s Jarvis, this is Pulp,” Cocker announced, just in case anyone was in any doubt. “Sorry for people who were expecting Patchwork. Did you know that we were going to play?”
Image: Cocker mischievously asked crowds: ‘Did you know that we were going to play?’ Pic: PA
After their 1990s hits, the band launched into Spike Island, the lead single from More – their first album in 24 years, released earlier this month.
It was a set full of memorable moments – including the Red Arrows flying over – and Cocker picking up an acoustic guitar for the poignant Something Changed.
Do You Remember The First Time? And Babies also featured, before the band of course ended on their biggest hit – Common People.
Pulp’s appearance came after keyboard player Candida Doyle appeared to confirm the band would not perform at the festival in a BBC interview beforehand, despite much speculation that they would fill one of the unannounced slots.
Image: Pulp performed songs including Sorted For E’s And Whizz, Disco 2000 and Common People. Pic: PA
“We wanted to, just because it’s the 30th anniversary and that kind of thing, and they weren’t interested,” she said. “And then we were thinking maybe next year, and then they’re not doing it next year.”
Along with the headliners and the Sunday afternoon “legends slots”, unannounced sets from the likes of the Foo Fighters, The Killers, and Radiohead have become some of the most talked-about performances at Glastonbury in recent years.
As well as Capaldi and Pulp, acts including Lorde and Haim have also popped up as “secrets” this year.
Pulp have a history of surprises at the festival, having performed a secret set on the Park Stage in 2011 following their first hiatus.
Formed in 1978, they released three albums in the 1980s and early ’90s before finding mainstream success with 1994’s His And Hers.
Different Class came 18 months later in October 1995 and Pulp became huge, helped in no small part by their memorable performance at Glastonbury earlier in the year.
Thirty years later, they have entered the festival’s history books once again.