The BRIT Awards breaks silence on the ‘lack of female nominated artists’ issue
After being called out, The BRIT Awards officials finally opened up about the reason why no women are nominated for Artist of the Year at next month’s ceremony.
The organization announced the nominations in each category on Thursday. Although Mabel, Florence, the Machine, Charli XCX, Becky Hill, and Rina Sawayama were all eligible for Artist of the Year, none of the phenomenal women made the final list.
Since Thursday, Music fans have been very frustrated after the announcement of the nominations for the BRIT Awards in each category. The announcement was made by Radio 1 DJs Vick Hope and Jack Saunders.
Harry Styles, rapper Central Cee, DJ Fred again, and pop singers George Ezra and Stormzy are all in with a chance to win the Artist of the Year award.
Taking place at the 02 Arena in February, the lack of female artists being nominated for the Artist of the Year at the upcoming awards has sparked a heated debate on social media. Many netizens demand the reason why no women are nominated for this huge honor.
Nevertheless, after receiving criticism from fans the officials of the BRIT Awards have finally broken their silence over the matter. A spokesperson for the Academy told the Mirror,
“We are pleased to see Wet Leg leading the nominations with four nods and FLO winning the Rising Star, and artists such as Nova Twins also included in this year’s shortlists, and while it’s disappointing there are no nominations in the Artist of the Year category, we also have to recognize that 2022 saw fewer high profile women artists in cycle with major releases as was the case in 2021.”
“These trends based around the release schedule are a feature of the music industry, but if, over time, a pattern emerges, then this puts the onus on the industry to deal with this important issue – and the BPI is already carrying out a major study to identify barriers that may inhibit more women becoming successful in music so that there can be solutions that result in meaningful change.”
To note, however, last year, just 17.6% of artists originally shortlisted for the award were women, including Mabel, Florence and the Machine, Charli XCX, Becky Hill, and Rina Sawayama. None of the talented female stars made the final cut this time.
