"The numbers are going backward": New report finds that 2025 saw "no progress" for women in music

The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has published its annual Inclusion in the Recording Studio study, which examines the representation of women and people of colour in the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End charts as artists, songwriters and producers.

The report's conclusions are troubling, finding that 2025 saw "no progress" for women in music, with a decrease in participation across every single category measured. The percentage of female artists dropped by 1.6% year-on-year to 36.1% in 2025, while the percentage of women credited as producers fell from 5.9% in 2024 to 4.4% in 2025.

The USC Annenberg report also found that more than 90% of 1400 songs evaluated across 11 years did not feature a female producer – in comparison, only seven of those songs did not credit a man in a producing role.

The numbers are even less encouraging when it comes to female representation in songwriting: the percentage of women credited as songwriters decreased from 18.9% in 2024 to 14.5% in 2025, a ratio of 5.8 male songwriters to every one woman.

"There has been no change for women songwriters since we began this research," the report summary reads. "The numbers are going backward and now are not significantly different than the 11% of songwriters in 2012 who were women. Half of the songs on the Hot 100 Billboard Year-End Chart were missing women songwriters entirely. Across 14 years, women held 13.9% of all songwriting credits."

“The lack of women songwriters does more than prevent women from working,” added USC Annenberg's Dr. Stacy L. Smith. “It means that some of our most culturally pervasive ideas and beliefs are crafted by men and exclude women’s creativity and perspective. Of the 1,400 songs we examined, 11 men were credited on 21.7% of those tracks. This gives a very small group incredible influence to shape culture and ideas.”

While the report's findings on gender representation in the music industry are concerning, the overall picture is a little more heartening when it comes to race and ethnicity. Of the 147 artists on 2025's Hot 100 Year-End Chart, 42.2% were white and 57.8% were from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. Although that demonstrates a 13.2% increase from the previous year, it's still 3.2% down from 2023, a year in which the percentage of underrepresented artists in the Hot 100 peaked at 61%.

On the surface, it's easy to assume that female representation in the music industry is stronger than it really is: we live in an era dominated by hugely successful female popstars like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, producers like PinkPantheress are being recognized at the BRIT Awards, and songwriters such as Amy Allen are penning Grammy-winning tunes for the likes of Harry Styles and Sabrina Carpenter.

But, as the USC Annenberg report makes clear, the reality is much bleaker, and there's still much more to be done. "Change can be created by viewing each song as a means of improving the trends reported here," the study concludes.

"Over half of songs are missing women songwriters, and more than half are without women producers. Changing the constellation of personnel working in the recording studio is a significant step toward changing the industry. To do this, it means the industry must evaluate a variety of factors and find a new path forward.

"This includes who participates in songwriting camps, who is identified to work with talent, and whether artists are given the chance to work with women. However, by viewing each song as a way to create long term change, executives, managers, and artists can begin to take the steps needed to ensure an inclusive industry."