Kate Nash has called for a change within the music industry amid a lack of non-male acts on festival line-ups.
The 33-year-old singer has taken to Instagram to express her disappointment after a host of festival line-ups were recently revealed to be dominated by male artists.
Alongside a Guardian newspaper article about a lack of female artists at festivals in 2021, Kate wrote on Instagram: “Really f****** bummed about this to be honest. (sic)”
Kate also highlighted the recent comments of Kendal Calling’s programming director Emma Zillmann, who said that audiences weren’t “clamouring to see those artists”.
The festival organiser observed that this year’s line-ups reflect “the hierarchy of the music industry”.
She said: “I don’t dispute that everyone should be trying harder.
“It’s not just festivals – we’re just the endpoint. We’re an easy target because we have a poster that clearly shows the hierarchy of the music industry.”
Kate admits to feeling bitter about the situation and described Emma’s comments as “passing the buck”.
She said on the photo-sharing platform: “This is the reason things don’t change cause everyone makes some lame excuse.”
Kate suggested that people like Emma have a responsibility to help instigate change within the music industry.
The singer – who released her debut album, ‘Made of Bricks’, in 2007 – explained: “Blaming our industry on a whole instead of each taking responsibility for making change allows for the people in power to stay at the top. We need people like you to help us change the industry.”
Kate also observed that the pandemic is set to have a particularly damaging impact on female artists.
She said: “Discrimination post-pandemic could mean the end for so many female/LGBTQ+/POC artists. We already don’t get paid fairly for our recorded work. It’s unacceptable to make steps backwards in terms of booking us.”
