New report shows number of women and nonbinary producers and engineers still “alarmingly low”

Fix the Mix has released its inaugural report on gender representation of producers and engineers in the music industry. Its findings show that representation for women and nonbinary individuals in these roles varies only from 0–17.6 percent in specific sectors, proving the overall numbers remain “alarmingly and unacceptably low.”

The study looks at the top 10 streamed tracks of 2022 across Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, and TikTok, revealing a major gender gap. Across the five digital streaming platforms, only 16 of 240 producers and engineers in key roles are women and nonbinary people. TikTok (3.6 percent) and Spotify (3.7 percent) have the lowest representation while Apple Music (8.9 percent) has the highest. The number is significantly higher in assistant roles, a fact that Fix the Mix hypothesizes could either mean we’ll see growth in the coming years or there’s a glass ceiling.

Examining the top 50 songs across various genres, the study dives deeper into what sectors could improve on diversity and inclusion. Metal (zero percent), rap (0.7 percent), and Christian & gospel (0.8 percent) have the lowest number of women and nonbinary people in key technical roles, whereas folk & Americana (16.4 percent) and electronic (17.6 percent) have the highest.

While the GRAMMYs promised to commit to an inclusion rider for its 2022 awards, the Academy’s statistics for women and binary producers and engineers are still extremely low. 17 of the 28 award-winning albums in each best-in-genre category credit zero women and nonbinary people. And out of 249 people in key technical roles on these records, only 19 were women and gender-non-conforming folks.

Fix the Mix ends its report with a few recommendations for the industry, including accurately crediting all technical contributors, diversifying hiring practices, educating the industry, and supporting changemakers.

Read the full report here.