Freya Ridings

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Dua Lipa has called for better representation of Women in the British

"Here are More Women That take these steps to attract More Women awards, and More Women in The World ," said Dua Lipa , as she picked up The Best British woman, the 2018 Brit Awards.

A year later, the wish had been granted. The Number of Women nominated in the three mixed-gender categories (best album, best single and best new act) rose from four to 12. For the second time in Brits ' history, Women artists outnumbered men for The Night , the biggest prize, album of the year.

This year, though, it is a different story. The Shortlist for The Best album is exclusively male; while only one woman - Mabel - nominated in the categories in which both men and Women are eligible.

"As you look at the list and go, 'Yeah, this is cool, let's go'?", the NME editor, Charlotte Gunn asks. "I think it's really weird. "

it is Interesting to know the British seem That something is wrong. The Press release of the year's nominees came with a footnote That explains: "The eligibility list was compiled by the Official Charts Company, and includes the artists, the released product-and enjoyed top 40 chart success. The record companies had the possibility to inform to, Brit Awards Ltd (BAL) of the eligible artists you would like to be added, or inform BAL of incorrect entries. "

"in other words," wrote The Paper 's chief music critic, "blame us, it's the record companies That are At Fault . "

And it is true. If you look at The Top 40 of The Best -selling albums of the year 2019, only two were of British Women - Jess, the glynne (for 2018 release), and Dua Lipa (for a release in 2017), both of which were not in this year, the British.

Mabel is The Most successful female candidate in this year's Brit Awards

In The Singles chart, Mabel 's to make Don' T Call Me Up was the only female solo album in The Top 10 - and duly receives a strong in The Best category (US star Miley Cyrus is also nominated as a featured artist on Mark Ronson 's Nothing wrong with it, such As a heart).

One could argue, as argued constantly-have reasonable citizens of Twitter, That "Women would opt for these prices, if their records had to have been good enough". And this is true to an extent: Adele, Emeli Sande , Dua Lipa , Little Mix and Jorja Smith all prizes won, in The Last few years.

But the harsh reality is That the pool of female talent is small, because the record Industry is terrible care of the artists.

Need proof? Now, take a look at The Number of artists That have been expressed, for the British, the' best male and best female awards in The Last three years.

Gender-balance in the case of the British

The Number of artists long-listed for The Best male and best female at the Brit Awards

source: BBC

Similarly, the 193 albums submitted for consideration in this year for The Best album award, only 35 were Women . So, even though 49% of the Brits voting Academy is a female, it's a huge imbalance in the files you get, to choose from.

Why, then, The Music Industry is so bad?

"Anecdotally, I've heard That the labels are so keen on the signing and development of female talent, because it costs More ," says Rhian Jones, editor of music Business Worldwide.

"There are stylists, there are make-up artists, and the shows tend to be larger productions. Whereas Lewis Capaldi from just a guitar, put a t-shirt, and everyone loves it. "

Little Simz was frozen from the Brit nominations, despite releasing one of the year's most acclaimed albums,

An underlying problem is That the upper ranks of the Uk Music Industry still dominated by men.

in 2016, A study by Uk Music shows That Women , roles, instead of only 30% of the senior executive, although at the same time, More Than half of entry-level positions. An updated version in 2018, don't even break the gender Gap - just stating That it was a "smaller number of Women and men in leadership positions" (UK-music was not able to share their latest data with the BBC on demand).

'Change the criteria'

The result is That the "vast majority" of the people, "and investing" in new artists are still men, says Jones, "and the trends suggest That all of these men, among many other men."

In fact, only 19% of artists signed to labels in the UK Women of The Music -Industry consultant, Vick Bain .

artist signed to UK Record Label source: Counting music

Even if the female acts to get signed, they are faced with additional pressure, says rapper Little Simz .

"It's almost like you have an album to put it in the bag, and if you people don't go", "That 's too bad, because I don't believe, you're always going to get it right That one time.

"wasn't My first album, my breakthrough. Then, when I'd already signed to a big record company, it would be the end of my career. "

The Star is the latest entry in the grey zone, was nominated for the Mercury Prize last year, and showed some of the critics' Best-Of-2019 -; but it was not considered for the British, because they crack The Top 40.

"we need The British to take a look at their eligibility criteria, because [success] is not necessarily about sales figures," says Jones.

she suggests That the organizers of factors, such as applause, Social Media following and live ticket sales could ", because That is where the actions are, the money and break into these days".

"The System has changed completely and I don't think the British' of the eligibility criteria has changed," she says.

Bebe Rexha , the Women In Harmony events objectives created to address The Music Industry 's gender imbalance

In recent years, a number of initiatives, the Industry -Inequality - The Most high-profile, Bebe Rexha , the Women In Harmony programme, which hosts dinners where female artists, songwriters and producers can build relationships and support.

"The way we do [things] better, we make More space for us,"

"How do you do That ? You build relationships. She supports other Women . They call each other, they have with each other, they cooperate with each other.

"I want to support artists That are yet to come in the Industry , because I don't feel That I get support when I came. "

'Trying to awake'

In the UK, the PRS Foundation operates a Women 's music Fund, and the spear tips of the Keychange initiative, has seen More Than 300 festivals and music organizations promise to achieve a 50/50 balance between the sexes up to the year 2022.

"We have found That positive action is essential if we are serious about the creation of equal opportunities as an Industry ," says Maxie Gedge, who runs The System .

"We don't recognize this of one organisation alone, so That we can continue to support and encourage everyone to work together, take responsibility and change something, where ever you can. Artists such as Freya riding and Joy Crookes , of triumph, despite the odds, give us hope, while we value the important allies, like Sam Fender and 1975. "

The NME is also a role to play, with a series of free concerts under the Motto "girls To The Front ".

"to help you are small shows with two female bands or artists, to showcase female talent," says Gunn.

"In all honesty, some people thought it was tokenistic, and the NME is attempting to be aroused" but we need More things like That - More people are getting behind new artists - And Then , hopefully, in 10 years, maybe sooner, is it really a fair, balanced, level playing field. "

So, what does this mean for the British? The organizers indicate That this year will be a break, while the General trend is for Women to be better represented; and That all three of the Rising Star candidates were to get artists (The Winner , Celeste, also, to attend The Ceremony ).

But Gunn warns against complacency.

"I think we need to do to take care of it," she says. "After the #MeToo movement, each of the female representation was suddenly very aware of and now it's like, 'OK, we have something and we can all move on".

"But it is a systemic problem, That takes time to change for a long time. And really, from top to bottom, the British people would go, 'Is That fair? This is representative? Maybe we should look at here. '"

Full Disclosure : The author of this article is a member of the British " Academy.

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Source of news: bbc.com