Is Country Music Stifling Female Artists?
A genre firmly established by trailblazing women is now dominated by male artists
By Kent Anderson
Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Dottie West, The Judds, Pam Tillis, Rosanne Cash, Patty Loveless, Emmylou Harris, Trisha Yearwood, Crystal Gale, Connie Smith, Tanya Tucker, Barbara Mandrell, Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline, Shania Twain — the list of iconic female country stars is long and illustrious. Their daring songs, soaring vocals, and strong personalities made them legends. The power of female country stars exists today, with Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Faith Hill, and Maren Morris as just a few examples.
But it ain’t what it used to be.
In the recent Ken Burns “Country Music” documentary, the importance of female stars in the firmament of country music is celebrated and undeniable.
But people have sensed a problem as country music has gradually become more male-centric. Some were optimistic things would improve.
In 2018, Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town was quoted as saying:
Women’s perspectives, voices and art are needed right now in culture, period. The tide is turning. And it’s turning in a good way. Where people can tell their stories and their truths and live without being afraid of telling that truth. And that’s a beautiful thing.
However, in a recent interview with Dan Rather, Fairchild noted that on the current country charts, female artists remain severely underrepresented:
Unfortunately, right now, we are still having a tired conversation about equality for women, especially in terms of the commerciality of music in country music. I looked on Spotify a few weeks ago, and there were on three women out of 60 songs on the “Hot Country” playlist. Three women of 60 songs that were highlighted. On country radio, we just had — luckily — Kelsea Ballerini just had a #1. We hadn’t had a female #1 in a year-and-a-half. . . . As much as we talk about the tide is turning, I am ready for the tide to turn. Women want to hear women. I mean, what would we do without Tammy and Loretta and Dolly and Reba and Trisha and Martina . . .
Reba McEntire has also called out what she refers to as the “bro culture” of modern country music.
The effects are clear to observers. For instance, in 2019, for the second year in a row, every artist nominated for Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association (CMA) was male.
Fairchild’s and McEntire’s observations are backed up by data. In April 2019, the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative published an analysis showing that only 16% of country artists are female, and only 12% of country songwriters are women. More damning, the Annenberg team wrote:
Not one of the top-performing women was over the age of 40 while all but one of country’s top-performing men had reached or exceeded that age.
The team found that the average age of top female artists is 29 years old, while for men, the average age is 42.
In a story on NRP covering the study, the reporter writes:
For its data, the Annenberg team looked at 500 songs on Billboard’s Year-End Hot Country charts (which measures a combination of sales, streams and radio airplay) over a five-year span, from 2014 to 2018, and looked into the gender of both artists and songwriters of those songs. They also examined the nominees across four categories at the Academy of Country Music Awards (whose voters work full-time in the country music industry, from artists to managers to people who work in venues) across the same time frame, and found that only 15 percent of the nominees in those categories — entertainer of the year, song of the year, duo of the year and group of the year — were women.
Whether the algorithms of Spotify are disadvantaging female artists, sexism is tainting radio airplay selections and awards lists, or some sort of social retrenchment is leading to a “bro culture” that’s driving streams and sales, it’s hard to tell what is causing this. But it seems more top-down than grassroots, as my experience is that female country artists are in high demand, their music is sensational, and their voice (both singing and lyrical) completely transportable to human experience writ large.
Where are the female country artists today? A smart and enterprising producer would sense an opportunity. There’s clearly a gap in the market, and only so many hats and bros to go around.