#GAReads | Music's biggest stars are women. Music festivals would make you think otherwise.
photo credit: Aribest10 [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
“Music's biggest stars are women. Music festivals would make you think otherwise.”:
…events like Coachella, Glastonbury, and Lollapalooza are more than just weekend-long celebrations of the biggest names in music — they also help define who those biggest names are in the first place. In their most basic state, they’re an encapsulation of what music is right now.
When a festival’s lineup is announced, its promotional poster of performers revealed, its impact on music at large becomes that much more apparent. Lineup posters are a visual presentation of who matters in music right now; if Coachella places Childish Gambino in the topmost spot and renders his name in a bigger font size, you know you better pay attention to him and his performance.
But to many female industry vets and fans, the presentation of a festival lineup is more than a catalog of who to listen to. It’s a resounding reminder of one of music’s biggest problems: a continued lack of gender equity on festival billings and elsewhere.