‘Indienational’ Women’s Day – it’s time for more recognition of alternative female artists

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Like many music lovers, one of the things about myself that I am most willing to show off about is my music taste. Raised on the likes of Radiohead, David Bowie and Pixies, I suppose I ought to credit my parents here for indoctrinating me to such an extent that I am now a huge indie music fan. As I have begun to carve out my own tastes within the genre however, what stands out to me is the absence of many great female alternative artists, not because they do not exist, but simply because they have not acquired the same levels of recognition as their male counterparts.

Historically, the alternative music genre has been very male dominated, with female-led bands and solo artists predominantly reaching levels of critical acclaim in other genres of music like pop, not without their own challenges of course. Ellie Rowsell, frontwoman of Wolf Alice, has commented on the lack of female role models in alternative music, stating ‘I often wonder why girls who do get into music tend to be just singers, or else play the piano.’ She further comments on women who do pursue guitar gravitating towards bass and not lead, perhaps due to the unconscious belief that they do not deserve to be in the spotlight.

Another problem here of course is that the nature of indie music means it is not mainstream. Therefore, where the pop genre sees a whole host of renowned female artists perhaps because of its inherent popularity, the smaller audience for alternative music results in a smaller space for women producing music in the genre to create and share their art.

However, there are female artists and bands who have been operating within this space and have even seen success as a result of their determination. For example, Exeter-born Beth Gibbons of the band Portishead, has used her music to comment on the inherent inequality in society and subsequently the music industry. The band’s song ‘Glory Box’ is a call for equality demanding that men ‘move over and give us some room’. Nevertheless, Gibbons has described an occasion where the song was misinterpreted as a call for a return to traditional gender roles, something she has called ‘funny, because he was a man’.

While female indie artists are now increasingly popular among the population, they still struggle to get recognition within the industry at award ceremonies. This is one of the key opportunities for artists to have their musical talent recognised on an international scale and grow their fan base. Appallingly, a woman or female-led band has never won the Brit award for Best Alternative/Rock Act. Perhaps even more disheartening is that, in addition to this, they have only scored just over 14% of nominations in the category (this includes the three years when the category was known as The Brit Award for British Rock Act). This clearly demonstrates the additional obstacles women in the indie music genre have to face in order to have their work commended on a national and international level.

A look at the Grammy Awards is not significantly more uplifting. In the 34 years of the Best Alternative Music Album category’s existence, women have only triumphed a total of seven times and have averaged at just over 30% of nominations in the category. While this is much better than the Brit Awards, it highlights a clear disparity between the perception of the quality of indie music produced by women versus men. An indicator for hope though, is that the last 5 winners of the category have been women or female-led bands: St Vincent, now a three-time winner; Fiona Apple; Wet Leg and Boygenius. Hopefully, this is a sign that the culture in the music industry is changing and perhaps even in society more broadly so that the women who have been making waves in the alternative music genre will find critical acclaim more accessible to them.

However, this is by no means an overnight fix, and I am not suggesting that the male bands and artists who did win did not deserve to win. Rather, I desire the world-wide recognition of the incredible art that women are equally capable of producing. One way in which we, as members of the public, can have an impact is by downloading and streaming those great female artists, old and new. With International Women’s Day round the corner on the 8th March, now is as good a time as any to spend some time listening to some fantastic woman-made music and maybe even discover something new!