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full methodology
2024 METHOD
SUMMARY: Percentages are determined by counting every individual "official" member of every musical act on the festival poster. Each musician is sorted into the three groups using the most accurate representation of their publicly shared identity.
1. The latest complete lineup poster is downloaded from an official source (festival website, festival socials). All musical acts (solo or groups) are copied from the poster.
Acts that may be excluded from the data include: non-musical acts (comedians, visual artists), sets with no publicly announced pre-festival roster (superjams, showcases), large ensembles (orchestras), artists that are completely anonymous
Artists that are playing under the same moniker/project more than once during a festival will only be counted once.
DJs playing B2B sets or collaborations are separated into the two artists individually unless there is music released by and socials, etc. specifically for the collaboration. They then may be counted as a group.
2. Each act is researched to determine the individuals that are official, permanent members of the group. The number of official musicians is recorded in a spreadsheet.
"Official" members of a group are considered those that are referred to when you use the name listed on the poster. Typically, it is the musicians who appear in official bios, promo photos, official videos, interviews, etc. Official members do NOT include touring musicians who are hired solely to play the artist's music live.
Sources used to determine official members include official websites, official social media accounts, label or agency websites, interviews, etc. Assumptions are one of our worst enemies and considerable efforts are made to never get to the point of assuming any musicians gender identity, including contacting an artist's team or the artist themselves if necessary.
Members of a group who are not specifically musicians are not included (art directors, graphic designers, dancers, etc.)
3. Each individual determined to be an official member of a group is sorted into one of three groups: women, nonbinary, men. The count of each category is recorded in the spreadsheet (ex. FLO 3/0/0 = 3 women / 0 nonbinary / 0 men)
Individuals are sorted by the most accurate representation of their publicly shared identity. Typically, this is determined using the individual's pronouns. Pronouns are found using social media profiles, official bios, interviews, or credible, recent written sources. We acknowledge that pronouns and gender are not a perfect 1:1 match, but in order to provide the data, we believe they provide the closest estimation and are largely available to find for most . We also acknowledge that gender can not be broken down into three neat categories, but we find the three categories to provide the most useful data for the current moment in time.
Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Nonbinary folks are nonbinary regardless of assignment at birth.
Individuals included in the nonbinary group may include those who use genderqueer, agender, gender fluid, and other identities
Sorting using pronouns is done as listed below:
she/her/hers are categorized as "woman"
they/them/theirs are categorized as "nonbinary"
he/him/his are categorized as "man"
it/its, xe/xir, any other pronouns or neopronouns are categorized as "nonbinary"
she/they, they/she, he/they, they/he, will typically result in further searching for written or spoken references from the individual or bandmates, but if no further info can be found:
she/they are categorized as "woman"
he/they are categorized as "woman"
they/she are categorized as "nonbinary"
they/he are categorized as "nonbinary"
4. Total count of individual musicians and individual musicians in each gender category are calculated for the festival using the spreadsheet. Percentages are calculated for the three categories by using the number of official individual musicians in each category and total number of official individual musicians on the festival lineup.
5. The official festival poster is edited digitally, and all acts that include only men are removed. Any act that features at least one nonbinary musician or at least one woman musician will remain on the poster.
2018 METHOD
Percentages posted on social media are based on the total number of musical acts booked for the festival and the total number of musical acts who meet the above criteria. Non-musical acts such as comedians or visual artists are not considered. Acts with no set roster such are not considered.
Percentages calculated in this way will be referred to as “Legacy Data” or using the “2018 Method”.
the problem
The motivation behind Book More Women is the pervasive gender imbalance that currently plagues music festivals.
In 2017, 26% of acts playing major US music festivals were or featured at least one woman or non-binary musician (Pitchfork, 2017).
the mission
The goal is to provide a visual representation of the problem, start conversations, and work towards better representation on future lineups.
the approach
49% of women, 40% of nonbinary individuals, and 16% of men working in music say the industry is “generally discriminative” based on gender (Be the Change Report, 2024).
Book More Women aims to change this “perception gap” using data, visuals, repetition, and conversation.
the method
Every act listed on the lineup poster is researched, determining who the official members are, and what each member’s public gender identity is.
Each individual is sorted into one of three gender categories, and percentages calculated for each.
The poster is digitally edited to remove the all-male acts, and posted side-by-side with the original.
history
Book More Women was created March 2018. It was first started on Twitter then was soon moved primarily to Instagram. This website was launched in March 2019. Over 500 festival lineups have been researched, edited, and posted since its inception.
For more about the project and the person behind it:
2018 Amazon Music AmericanaFest Songwriters Roundtable
