Research Outline

Stock Music Libraries: Women

Goals

To obtain the percentage of the composers of stock music libraries that are female.

Early Findings

After a thorough analysis of the different key players in this industry, the research team was unable to provide this data for three of the 15 key players listed below. The assumption here for the unavailability of this data is that employers may not make this information publicly available. In addition to other content, the research team will propose the next research steps based on each key player's attitude/convictions/sentiment toward female participation.

Music Production Statistics

  • A study conducted by USC Annenberg between 2012 to 2018 discovered that "21.7% of artists, 12.3% of songwriters, and 2.1% of producers were female." Among producers, this means that for every woman, there are 47 men.
  • Additionally, out of every 871 producers, only four are women of color. The Production Music Association (PMA) formed a committee in 2020 that would address the participation of women in the production music industry and also the greater media industry.
  • Women make up only 3% of the music composers in media. The percentage of women could even be lower in production music.
  • In the UK, about 18.4% of the members of the Performing Right Society (PRS) are female. Furthermore, out of the top 20 highest earning songwriters in this region, only one is female.

Stock Music Market

  • In one report, the key players in the Global Stock Music industry include Envato, Entertainment One (eOne), Getty Images, Musicbed, and Shutterstock.
  • In another report, the key players in the global Stock Music industry include "Audio Network Ltd., Envato Pty Ltd., Epidemic Sound AB, Footage Firm Inc., Inmagine Group, Pond5 Inc., Shutterstock Inc., SoundCloud Ltd., The Carlyle Group Inc., and The Music Bed LLC."
  • For the 2019 to 2024 period, the CAGR of this industry is estimated to be 4.57%.
  • The key regions for this industry include the US, the UK, Japan, Germany, China, and France.

Music Composed by Women

  • According to an article released in 2018, only about 6% of top shows use music that was composed by female musicians.
  • In celebration of International Women's Day and Women's History Month in 2019, Audio Network LTD published an article that addresses the issues in the stock music industry faced by women from the perspective of those thriving in this industry: Kelly Mac, NEMI, Sonia Slany, and ILL-Esha.