USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative Releases 2025 Report

Los Angeles, CA (February 3, 2025)—While last year’s USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report documented significant gains for women in the music industry, the latest study finds that there was no improvement during 2024.

Released in the run up to the Grammy Awards telecast, the Inclusion in the Recording Studio?  report, sponsored by Spotify, examines 13 years and 1,300 songs from the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Charts. The study examines artists, songwriters and producers on the most popular songs of the year and in six major categories at the Grammy Awards: record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best new artist, producer of the year and songwriter of the year.

The latest study finds little forward progress made by the music industry in 2024. Women comprised 37.7% of artists across the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Chart last year, the report says, which is only slightly higher than in 2023 (35%), though that does represent a significant improvement from 2012 (22.7%), the report notes. There were no duos or bands with women in 2024. Additionally, more than a third (38.9%) of individual artists were women, compared to 40.6% in 2023 and 35.8% in 2012.

“Women artists in 2024 saw little change,” says Dr. Stacy L. Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. “In fact, it is the number of men that has declined while the number of women in 2024 was consistent with prior years. This suggests that it is fluctuations in the number of men, not gains for women, that is driving these findings. For those interested in seeing change in the music industry, this is not a sign of progress.”

The proportion of women popular music producers saw no significant increase in 2024. A total of 5.9% of producing credits were held by women, compared to 6.5% in 2023 and 2.4% in 2012. Of the 14 women producers in 2024, only two were women of color. Across all 13 years, 93.3% of songs were made without women producers.

“Behind the scenes, women have not lost ground since the gains we saw last year,” Smith says. “However, the numbers are not growing. Programs like Be The Change, Keychange, She Is The Music, Spotify’s EQUAL, Women’s Audio Mission and others are supporting talented women who are ready to take on opportunities. These numbers can continue to grow if the industry looks to these organizations and the many qualified women ready to work as songwriters and producers.”

Grammy Engineering and Production Winners Announced

In the Grammy record of the year, song of the year and best new artist categories, women saw a drop in representation from last year’s nominations. However, the one nomination for a woman in the producer of the year category was a significant jump and reflects only the second woman to be nominated in this category since the study began tracking nominations. Nominees in the songwriter of the year category were also majority women this year.

“The Recording Academy has demonstrated that it can recognize the contributions of women to the music industry—this is clear through the increase we observed last year and that it has continued into this year,” Smith says. “The challenge now is to continue that growth and to see more women receiving acknowledgement of their talent and effort through awards like the Grammy’s, particularly for women in producing roles.”

The percentage of women songwriters in 2024 was 18.9%, similar to the percentage in 2023 (19.5%) and significantly higher than the 11% in 2012. Just over half (54%) of songs in 2024 featured at least one woman songwriter, on par with 2023 and significantly higher than 2012. Additionally, women of color were largely responsible for the gains seen in 2023, but not in 2024. Last year, the number of women of color working as songwriters dipped while white women increased.

The race and ethnicity of artists were also assessed in the report. The percentage of underrepresented artists in 2024 (44.6%) fell significantly from 2023 (61%). Despite the decline, the percentage of underrepresented artists remained on par with the proportion of the U.S. population that is underrepresented. Additionally, it was still meaningfully greater than 2012 (38.4%).

The drop in underrepresented artists affected both men and women of color, though the decline for women was steeper. In 2024, 40.8% of all women artists were women of color, while 46.9% of men were men of color. In 2023, nearly two-thirds of women on the popular charts were women of color (64.9%) as were more than half of men (59.4%).

The report also assessed Grammy nominations in six major categories. Just under a quarter (22.7%) of all nominees in these categories in 2025 were women, similar to 2024 (24%) and significantly greater than 2013 (7.9%). While there were no major gains from last year, women have also not lost ground overall.