Kate Nash, a 33-year-old singer, has taken it to social media to express her frustration regarding the lack of female, non-binary and POC artists in this year’s music festival lineups. On her Instagram story, she said: “discrimination post-pandemic could mean the end for so many female/LGBTQ+/POC artists. It’s unacceptable to make steps backwards in terms of booking us.”
I woke up BITTAH about the music industry. If we don’t make a stand we’ll see discrimination on a whole new level post pandemic. Everyone must be held accountable for making the music industry a fairer place to work. Book women/non binary folk & POC at your festivals. pic.twitter.com/TuaGA0ntFJ
— Kate Nash (@katenash) March 27, 2021
Nash has criticised the music industry on her Instagram, noting how last year has left so many artists struggling due to the pandemic and that “70% of musicians income come from touring” as they are “paid so badly for recorded works”. She has also noted how lucky she was to have a number one record in 2007, ‘Made of Bricks’, saying that it gave her “a position that a lot of people don’t get”.
Many festivals around the UK have already announced the lineup for this year including All Points East, Parklife, TRNSMT, Kendal Calling and Isle of Wight, to name a few. An article by The Guardian has revealed that 73% of the lineup are male for Isle of Wight, which is headlined by Liam Gallagher, Snow Patrol, David Guetta and Duran Duran. It has also been revealed that Kendal Calling, which is headlined by Stereophonics, Supergrass, The Streets and Dizzee Rascal, consists of 79% male artists and groups in their lineup so far.
Emma Zillmann, Kendal Calling’s programming director, has defended their choice of lineups this year, saying: “I don’t dispute that everyone should be trying harder. It’s not just festivals – we’re just the endpoint. We’re an easy target because we have a poster that clearly shows the hierarchy of the music industry.” However, Kate Nash criticised her response, saying: “This is the reason things don’t change, cause everyone makes some lame excuse.”
Whilst most have welcomed the return of music festivals in the UK this year, many more have been outspoken about their disappointment regarding the lineup announcements, especially after such a difficult year. Maxie Gedge, project manager of Keychange, an initiative aiming to bring “underrepresented genders in the music industry to the main stage” as stated on their website, said: “It’s totally unacceptable that after a year of turmoil, women and minorities are being excluded from this return to live. We usually stay on the positive side instead of calling people out, but we’re getting tired. It’s not an accident any more, it’s a statement of exclusion. The fact that this keeps happening shows that there are certain festivals that just aren’t taking responsibility, or they’re not viewing it as their responsibility when, in actuality, it’s everyone’s.”
