Gendered music institutions: a feminist critique of contractual levers of power

Introduction In the UK, the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) found, in their 2024 report on “Misogyny in Music” that gender discrimination in the music industries is endemic, and systemic. Recognising that women do not have access to the same opportunities, and for those that do get to enter the sector, we see their experience is laced with discrimination and sexism, WEC looked at, among other things, at the practice of Non-Disclosure-Agreements (NDAs) to create a culture of silence. WEC did not recommend an all-out ban on NDAs, accepting the claim that there might be some legitimate use of NDAs, to protect commercially sensitive information, including copyright. The F-List for Music CIC, where I sit on the Board, and its sister organisations, have on 30 January 2025, asked the WEC to investigate the role of copyright and music contracts in the creating, or maintaining the intersectional discrimination in the sector. Methods In this contribution, I draw on my new, interdisciplinary framework FIPS (Feminist Intellectual Property Studies) and the lived experience of women (twenty-six interviews) to evaluate the effects of music contracts on women and gender-diverse people’s autonomy, creativity and well-being when making music. Results I argue that music contracts are used to control women and gender-diverse artists, by placing them in commercially tailored boxes (i.e., pigeonholing). Moreover, I argue that the commercial fixation of copyright rules creates gendered bias in the system, resulting in gendered institutions. Discussion Interviews have shown that women are not taken seriously as experts in music-making and their creative expertise is not considered, because they are women. Women are controlled in their image and sound. Moreover, evidence shows that music organisations, such as record labels and music publishers are dominated by men. These organisations accumulate power, because of the copyright rules that allow for transfer of copyright in original works and acquisition of sound recording copyright, when statutory conditions are met. In addition, rules on commercial exploitation, licensing and participation in collecting management organisations, such as the PRS for Music are built to favour the men in the system, who earn more money from music, than women.