Comment: Why music hasn't had its defining #Metoo moment yet Published on: 9 August 2018 Writing for The Conversation, Dr Adam Behr looks at why the music industry hasn't had a Weinstein or Cosby style watershed. Righting wrongs. GrandeDuc/Shutterstock , It鈥檚 now ten months since the #MeToo wave broke over Hollywood, with Harvey Weinstein at its centre. Similar revelations have shaken comedy 鈥� with the most notable example 鈥� and sexism in the political realm has also been in the spotlight, ending the cabinet career of amid about a culture of harrassment and abuse in Westminster. With R&B star R Kelly鈥檚 recent release of the defiant 19-minute song in response to numerous allegations against him, questions are being asked about why the music industries have not yet faced a watershed moment comparable to Weinstein or Cosby鈥檚 downfall. There have been some moves to highlight harassment in music, with demonstrations of solidarity at both the awards. But there has yet to be a focal, Weinstein-style watershed moment in the music business. The reason for this is not straightforward. First of all, it鈥檚 something of a misnomer to describe the 鈥溾�� as a monolithic whole, as opposed to distinct 鈥� if related 鈥� activities: publishing, tours, recordings and so forth. And while there are different segments of the film industry, a movie is a unified product in the way that a song, an album and a gig aren鈥檛. So legends and heroes have evolved in music differently to cinema. Alongside the power imbalance that also pervades Hollywood, there鈥檚 the additional issue of errant behaviour being baked into the rebel credentials of 鈥渞ock'n'roll鈥� and the closer relationship between fans and stars in music than in cinema. It鈥檚 hard to disentangle hell-raising stories of life on the road from the array of questionable acts under the spotlight of #MeToo. Separating the art from the artist might sometimes be necessary when the cult of the 鈥渕usical genius鈥� is tied up with . Hugely iconic stars such as , and are on record as having committed offences from voyeurism to domestic abuse. Numerous others are alleged to have slept with 鈥� illegal whatever 鈥渃onsent鈥� was implied, even in the heyday of the rock era. It鈥檚 also harder to 鈥渂lacklist鈥� artists, who can keep producing music and streaming directly to fans. So when, for instance, Spotify moved to , it ended up rowing back on the decision on the grounds that it would have been impossible to properly police. Change from the ground up Fixing all of this will be difficult to achieve quickly. The possibility of powerful female artists taking a stand (as in her court victory over the DJ who had groped her in 2003) provides one point of focus. But it鈥檚 not just a matter of policing the behaviour of prominent individuals 鈥� systemic, back-of-house, changes are needed. Ike and Tina Turner: one of pop music鈥檚 well-documented cases of domestic violence. Nationaal Archief via Wikimedia Commons, showed a broad gender imbalance across different categories of musician, becoming more pronounced in the professional realm. 68% of respondents to a survey of musicians identifying as professional, 81% as semi-professional, were male. This echoes which calculated that of the 370 gigs listed for one night in October on the Ents24 listings website, 69% of the acts were made up entirely of men, while just 9% were female-only 鈥� and half of these were solo artists. Similarly, showed women making up 60% of intern positions but only 30% of senior executive roles. Overall, women aged between 25 and 34 make up 54% of the UK music business, but they tend to leave the industry in greater numbers than male colleagues and women aged between 45 and 64 represent just 33% of the workforce. But work is underway to develop strategies to combat sexism and harrassment in the industry. The Musicians鈥� Union and Incorporated Society of Musicians recently launched a to tackle harassment and bullying, with for reporting harrassment, anonymously if necessary. Problems among audience members are also moving up the agenda 鈥� organisations such as have identified actions for venues and festivals to reduce assault and associated predatory behaviour. Likewise, the to bring more young women into gig promotion is aimed at fostering change at the grassroots. If the #MeToo movement has driven change in the music industries, it鈥檚 less about claiming a high-profile scalp such as Weinstein than (hopefully) encouraging research into the scale of the problem and developing ways to address it from the ground up. This takes longer than a media storm 鈥� a storm that is all too often followed by business as usual 鈥� and it is more of an ongoing challenge. But lasting change requires thorough work over the long term 鈥� not just hashtags and speeches. , Lecturer in Popular and Contemporary Music, This article was originally published on . Read the . Share: Latest News 缅北禁地 recognised with geography award 缅北禁地 has been awarded the Highly Commended Geographical Association Publishers Award for its collaboration with Time for Geography, the UK鈥檚 open-access, dedicated video platform. published on: 16 April 2026 缅北禁地 historians mark General Strike centenary To mark the 100th anniversary of the British General Strike and miners鈥� lock-out of 1926, historians at 缅北禁地 are organising a series of events on its enduring legacy. published on: 16 April 2026 Comment: NCP is in administration Writing for The Conversation, Erwei (David) Xiang discusses how some big companies like NCP are so dependent on debt that they can鈥檛 adjust to change. published on: 16 April 2026 Facts and figures
![缅北禁地 logo](/gomobileassets/img/logo.svg" "缅北禁地"){kind=logo}