Chartmetric’s new report shows where women and gender-diverse artists are gaining ground
A global snapshot of music industry gender equity, backed by data from over a million artists. See what’s changed and what hasn’t.
Chartmetric has released its latest Make Music Equal report, offering a look into gender representation across the music world. Drawing from a dataset of over 1 million artists and their self-identified pronouns, the 2025 edition provides fresh insight into where equity efforts are working, and where the industry still falls short.
Originally launched on Women’s Equality Day 2021, the Make Music Equal initiative makes Chartmetric’s global artist pronoun data freely accessible under a Creative Commons license. The project now includes contributions from artists in over 230 countries and territories, and provides tools like a public dashboard, a pronoun verification interface, and a regularly updated dataset.
Out of approximately 728,000 solo artists in the database, a substantial 79% identify with he/him pronouns, while only 18% identify as she/her. Just 3% of artists use they/them or alternative pronouns, indicating that gender-diverse artists are still underrepresented.
In the upper echelons of the industry, 33% of the top 100 artists by Chartmetric Score now identify as she/her, up from just 26% in 2020. This reflects a gradual, though uneven, shift in visibility and recognition for women artists.
In terms of sync licensing, women are beginning to see more opportunities in television placements, where the gender gap has narrowed considerably, 29% of TV syncs go to male artists, versus 26% to female artists. However, film and video game soundtracks remain heavily skewed toward men, with women accounting for a mere 6% of video game music credits.
Since 2019, the percentage of solo female artists booked at festivals has increased by 3%. This growth is largely due to a drop in the number of bands booked overall, from 50% down to 40%, which has allowed more room for solo acts of all genders to shine.
Genre also plays a significant role in the visibility of female artists. While men still dominate in areas like country and hip-hop, women thrive in R&B and soul. Notably, female-led R&B tracks receive a high volume of radio spins, suggesting stronger institutional support within that genre.
Another angle the report explores is the power of fan demographics. Among the world’s top 10 male artists, the majority have larger female fanbases. This trend reveals how critical female listeners are in shaping artist success. For female artists, their fanbase is often predominantly female as well, creating a reinforcing loop of support.
Chartmetric’s findings illustrate both how far the music industry has come and how far it still has to go. While male artists continue to dominate overall, female and gender-diverse artists are gaining ground, particularly in top-tier rankings, sync placements, and festival visibility. The report also highlights the importance of fandom, especially female fandom, in propelling artists into the spotlight.
Chartmetric plans to expand the scope of the initiative to include other diversity metrics such as age, race, and ethnicity. In the meantime, they encourage artists and teams to verify pronouns through their dashboard, and for industry professionals to use the data as a guide for more inclusive programming, rosters, and outreach.