Author: sociologyofmusic.com

Women sing, men play? Instrumentation and gender

There are ample differences between male and female metal musicians regarding instrumentation. As can be seen below, instruments such as guitar, drums and bass are dominated by men, whereas vocals, keyboards and other instruments (such as chello, violin) are relatively more often performed by women. These are percentages so take into account that absolute differences show a different picture (as only 3% of total metal musicians are women).

 

Male and female participation in metal’s many subgenres

Male and female metal musicians are active in all metal subgenres, but there are substantional proportional differences between what subgenre men or women tend to play.

Global differences in metal music production

Let’s first see the amount of metal musicians per country (figures with amounts relative to population will follow soon).
Amount of metal musicians per country (World).

Notes:

  • The units of analysis are the musicians, not the bands. A band usually consists of +/- 4 people.
  • As can be seen in the title, the country of origin was used (not country of residence).

Then the percentage of female musicians per country.
Percentage of women in metal bands, per country (of origin).

Notes:

  • Make sure to interpret this correctly as countries with a relatively high percentage of women in metal bands all have a considerably low total amount of bands. It is impossible to extrapolate from such findings if these countries are subsequently more/less gender diverse or inclusive.
  • As can be seen in the title, the country of origin was used (not country of residence).

As Europe is (after the United States) an important hub of metal music production, let’s take a closer look there.
Amount of metal bands per country (Europe).

Notes:

  • The units of analysis are the musicians, not the bands. A band usually consists of +/- 4 people.
  • As can be seen in the title, the country of origin was used (not country of residence).

Europe again, but then only looking at the percentage of female musicians.
Percentage of women in metal bands, per European country (of origin).

Notes:

  • Make sure to interpret this correctly as countries with a relatively high percentage of women in metal bands all have a considerably low total amount of bands. It is impossible to extrapolate from such findings if these countries are subsequently more/less gender diverse or inclusive.
  • As can be seen in the title, the country of origin was used (not country of residence).