The Brit Awards failed to nominate a single woman in the best artist category

Harry Styles

Credit: Getty Images

Entertainment


The Brit Awards failed to nominate a single woman in the best artist category

By Katie Rosseinsky

3 years ago

1 min read

The Brit Award 2023 nominations for best artist paint a pretty bleak picture for women in music.

For the second year running, the Brit Awards categories for best artist and best international artist are gender neutral, a move that was introduced in order to make the awards “as inclusive and as relevant as possible”.

The 2022 ceremony ended up being a banner event for female artists. Adele cleaned up, taking the best artist, best album and best song trophies (“I understand why this has changed, but I really love being a woman and a female artist – I’m really proud of us,” she said in one acceptance speech) while Wolf Alice were crowned best group. Fast-forward just under a year to the announcement of the 2023 nominations, though, and the latest shortlist presents a very different picture.

While women like Lizzo, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have been recognised in the best international artist category, not a single female artist appears in the shortlist for best artist.

Instead, the Brits have celebrated five male acts: Central Cee, Fred Again, George Ezra, Harry Styles and Stormzy; worthy, successful artists, no doubt, but we could think of plenty of women who are equally deserving of a spot on the list. How about Florence & The Machine or Charli XCX, to name just a few? 

Over in the best album category, things aren’t much better. The only female act to feature on the list is Wet Leg who, admittedly, have done pretty well this year, tying with Styles as the most recognised artist with four nominations. But should we really be scrabbling around for single female success stories in the year 2023?

The Brits are following in the footsteps of ceremonies like the Grammys and the MTV Awards by introducing gender-neutral categories.

In a statement provided to HuffPost UK, the awards show said that the ceremony promised “to again showcase the very best of music talent from the UK and around the globe” and that the nominations “reflect[ed] artists of all backgrounds and a wide breadth of music genres”.

Wet Leg

Credit: Getty Images

They also argued that there were “fewer high profile women artists in cycle with major releases” in 2022 (the eligibility period for this year’s Awards ran from December 10 2021 to December 9 2022) and highlighted a study by the BPI (the body behind the Brit Awards) that is seeking to explore the barriers that “may inhibit more women becoming successful in music”.

“Last year’s introduction of new categories aimed at making the awards even more inclusive, recognising exceptional work rather than how artists identify,” the statement said. “It saw women artists thrive, winning 10 of the 15 awards on the night and Adele being crowned inaugural Artist of the Year.

“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 [female] nominations in the artist of the year category, we also have to recognise 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.”

The Brit Awards are set to take place on 11 February. 


Images: Getty

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