female:pressure FACTS 2017 FACTS 2017 by the female:pressure Trouble Makers Version: 1.1 / Date: August 31, 2017 / Authors: The Trouble Makers female:pressure Table of Contents: FACTS 2017 1. Introduction 3 2. Methods 4 Aims and Objectives Data Collection Data Analysis 3. Results 5 Gender Proportions of Festival Acts Gender Proportions Over Time Gender Proportions for Different Regions Gender Proportions by Country Gender Proportions by Festival Size 4. Discussion 10 Summary of the Results Comparison With Other Studies Strengths and Limitations of the Survey Questions that Remain Unanswered Suggestions for Festival Organisers, Artistic Directors, Artists 5. Acknowledgements 14 6. Appendices 15 Gender Proportions for all Regions Gender Proportions for all Countries Gender Proportions for all Festivals 2 female:pressure 1. INTRODUCTION FACTS 2017 The female:pressure FACTS survey is a biennial project undertaken by volunteer members of the female:pressure network. Starting in 2013 [https://femalepressure.wordpress.com/facts-graphic/], the FACTS survey was initiated to address and quantify the deficit in equal opportunity and visibility for female artists in the electronic music scene. The result of the 2013 FACTS survey indicated that barely 10% of artists listed in festival line-ups worldwide are female--and opened up an international discussion about the state of women in electronic music. In 2015 [https://femalepressure.wordpress.com/facts-survey2015/], we conducted the sur- vey anew. Although the inequities within the industry had become a popular topic of debate since the 2013 edition, the 2015 FACTS survey demonstrated the continued lack of women on music festival line-ups. While this phenomenon is receiving more media coverage today than ever before, we believe that measuring trends through the FACTS survey is necessary to understand the true state of inequity in the electronic music scene and to hold decision-makers accountable within the industry. We embarked on FACTS 2017 with the goal of assessing the female-male-mixed [i.e., acts comprised of both male and female artists] gender proportions among artists performing at music festivals in the years 2015, 2016 and the first half of 2017 with a focus on the year 2016. Even though we included many new festivals for this year’s edition, our emphasis re- mains on the regions of Europe and North America. In gathering data from these years, we aim to assess both time trends from 2012 to 2017 and country specific female-male-mixed gender proportions. With 229 festival editions, it is the most comprehensive FACTS survey yet. For this year’s FACTS survey, our team asked each one of the included festivals to participate by submitting their own numbers. Twelve of the 133 festivals responded and filled out our data collection form. In surveying more festivals in more countries than ever before, we may see the extent to which inequity is a systemic issue. Structural sexism perpetuates inequality by creating barriers and disincentives for women, which limits women’s success in the arts to genres and media aligned with the status quo.* Although progress is certainly being made with respect to the visibility of women in the industry since the 2013 FACTS survey, we are reminded that mere coverage or visibility can not sub- stitute for systematic change. Cultural change is indeed happening, as we see overt sexism and prejudices “called out”, but structural change is necessary to truly addressing underrepre- sentation.** As musicologist Elizabeth Keenan argues, solutions must simultaneously address gaps in education and access for female artists. Our FACTS survey, like the female:pressure network, is the result of grassroots activism--con- ducted independently from any for-profit organization and without external funding. The 2017 edition of the survey was undertaken by six core volunteers, nicknamed the “Trouble Makers”, with the aid of seventeen helpers. *https://femalepressure.wordpress.com/2017/08/22/womens-representation-in-music/ **https://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=39316 3 female:pressure 2. METHODS FACTS 2017 Aims and Objectives The aim of the present survey was to assess the gender distribution among artists performing at electronic music festivals around the world. Specifically, we wanted to - assess the female-male-mixed gender proportions among artists performing at electronic music festivals taking place in the year 2015 up to mid-year of 2017 with focus on the year 2016 - assess time trends in these female-male-mixed gender proportions from 2012 to 2017 - assess differences in these female-male-mixed gender proportions for regions and countries. Data Collection Data was collected for all countries worldwide with no restrictions. However, the focus was on festivals taking place in Europe and North America. We used a standardised online form to collect single sets of data for each festival edition. The survey’s focus is on electronic music. Festivals were included if they feature a mainly elec- tronic music program. However, once a festival was included into the survey, all acts were count- ed [regardless of their musical genre]. Potential festivals were searched for online. The search was performed on [but was not limited to] the following sites: https://www.festicket.com/magazine/top-techno-festivals-europe/ https://www.festicket.com/magazine/top-20-music-festivals-Europe/ https://www.festicket.com/magazine/top-10-electronic-music-festivals-uk/ http://icasnetwork.org http://ecasnetwork.org https://www.residentadvisor.net/festivals.aspx http://shapeplatform.eu/festival/ https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/apr/03/10-best-music-festivals-europe-spain-france-croatia https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2939 For each festival, the following data were collected: - Name of festival - Country - City - Date - Number of female acts in the line-up - Number of male acts in the line-up - Number of mixed [female/male] acts in the line-up - Number of unidentified acts in the line-up The number of acts were counted per slot of stage time. For example: Dasha Rush & Donato Dozzy back-to-back DJ-set: categorized as 1 mixed act. Electric indigo [audio] & Thomas Wagensommerer [video] a/v set: categorized as 1 mixed act. Lucrecia Dalt & Gudrun Gut live: categorized as 1 female act. ‘Acts’ include musical and visual artists [if listed in the line-up], with the exception of CTM [Ger- many] which also includes panel and discourse acts. 4 female:pressure FACTS 2017 For the purpose of this survey, gender data is distinguished and collected only as male or female. Transgender artists are assigned according to their chosen gender. If the gender of a trans person is difficult to decide, the person should be listed according to the pronoun s/he uses for themselves. In addition, articles about the artist might be checked to judge, if this person is generally referred to as she or he. Cis male artists with female aliases/monikers were regarded as male artists. In cases which could not be resolved, artists were assigned ‘un- identified’. Data was provided by Trouble Makers members, by female:pressure members, or by festival or- ganisers. Festival organisers were emailed a standardized letter explaining the background and the purpose of the survey along with an invitation to enter their festival data into a short online form. To minimize data entry errors, we were able to verify about one third of all festival editions by double data entry. Data Analysis Data was analysed descriptively. Female, male, mixed, and unidentified gender proportions are presented numerically and graphically: overall, by year, country, and by region. In addition, trends in time for specific festivals [with data for several time points] are presented. Mean [i.e. average] percentages are calculated by adding the number of acts for the specific gender divided by the total number of acts [times 100] for each festival. Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this document may not add up precisely to 100%. Festivals were also categorized and analysed by size [defined by the total number of acts]. To see if gender proportions depend on the size of the festival we used the number of total acts to categorize festivals into 3 groups: small [up to 25 acts], medium [26-50 acts], or large [more than 50 acts], as well as into 5 more refined groups: very small [less than 20 acts], small [20-29 acts], medium [30-45 acts], large [46-90 acts], or very large [more than 90 acts]. 3. RESULTS In the new survey, we collected data for 229 festival editions [of 133 different festivals] from 2015 to mid-year 2017. The focus was on festivals in 2016 with 116 festival editions and on 2017 with 48 festival editions [s. Table 1]. In total, the present and all previous surveys comprised, we col- lected data for 322 festival editions [182 festivals] from 2012 to June 30, 2017. Table 1. Number of festivals [n,%] by year N % 2012 31 9.6 2013 18 5.6 2014 44 13.7 2015 65 20.2 2016 116 36.0 2017 [mid year] 48 14.9 Number of Female Male Mixed Unidentified Festivals 5 2012 31 9.2% 81.5% 9.0% 0.3% 2013 18 10.9% 84.3% 4.5% 0.3% 2014 44 10.7% 81.8% 6.6% 0.9% 2015 65 13.5% 78.1% 7.4% 1.0% 2016 116 14.3% 78.0% 7.0% 0.7% 2017 [mid year] 48 18.9% 75.4% 5.4% 0.3% Total 322 13.5% 78.9% 6.9% 0.7% Country 2012 to mid-year 2017 2015 to mid-year 2017 Number of Number of Female Male Mixed Unidentified Female Male Mixed Unidentified Festivals Festivals Austria 19 18.4% 74.5% 6.8% 0.3% 14 19.2% 73.8% 6.7% 0.3% Belgium 13 6.6% 86.0% 7.4% 0.0% 10 13.0% 77.9%