GENDER PAY GAP STORM HITS U.K. MUSIC BUSINESS

A gender pay gap storm has hit the British music industry today with the three U.K. major labels revealing the difference between the hourly earnings of men and women at their respective organizations, as ordered by the Government for firms with over 250 employees.

The figures are published using the mean calculation, which is the total of all salaries earned by men and women seperately, divided by headcount. In short: women are paid 29.8% less than men per hour at Universal, 22.7% less at Sony and 49% less at Warner. When it comes to bonuses, women take home 49.2% less than men at Universal, 45% less at Sony and 82% lower at Warner.

On average across all three, that’s 33% less cash per hour for women and a 59% lower bonus than men working at the labels.

All figures will be swayed by the fact there are more men in leadership positions, and therefore earning higher salaries, than women in the U.K. music industry. Across all three majors, women hold an average of 31% of positions in the highest paid quartile. The companies have pledged commitment to bettering the stats, which were taken in April 2017. Efforts have since been made— there have been multiple promotions for female executives over the last year. Will that be enough to level out the numbers in time for next year's report?