Last year’s Sound Of The Next Generation report, commissioned by the Youth Music organisation, found that although 55% of young people in the UK say that they feel as if they are musical, this figure had gone down 9% since 2018, with the problem particularly acute among girls in the north of England. The report identified that these gender imbalances become worse as women move from education into the music industry. This fits a pattern suggested by a further report from Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee. Their Misogyny in Music (MiM) study found that 78% of all reported discrimination in the music sector was against women, that 51% of women in the music industry have experienced it and a third have been sexually harassed. The Committee made recommendations to the UK government, recommending investment in schemes to support diverse talent, unfortunately the new Labour government has not yet taken any of these up. It is frustrating to see that institutions are slow to help bring about this much-needed change.
As a female music journalist and musician who spent some years living and working in Manchester, I was interested to see the northern dimension to the Sound Of The Next Generation report. My time in the city suggested that among the grassroots, and away from the centralised institutions, the picture is beginning to shift. The evidence from women and gender diverse people involved in its current musical ecosystem suggests that Manchester is questioning the relationship it has to its own rich musical heritage, and breaking new ground.
The issues facing women involved in Manchester’s local music scene arguably have a particular historical context. Audrey Golden’s essential 2023 book I Thought I Heard You Speak revealed how female voices were minimised and trivialised in the days of Factory Records and The Hacienda, with their creative and visionary approaches assumed to be the work of men. The narrative has shifted in the intervening decades, and especially more recently – but not without teething pains. Artist manager Maria Torres broke into the industry by managing queer and/or female artists, before moving to Manchester and working with the likes of IDLES, The Maccabees, Blair Davie and TTSSFU. She says that she’s been fortunate that the men in Manchester’s music community have been supportive of her growing career and is adamant that the city’s tight network has given her the right support for her to develop professionally. However she does still believe that the city’s historical male-dominated networks create a glass ceiling: ”it needs to change from the ground up in terms of the balance in these [Manchester music companies], providing opportunities for women,” she says. “If it’s being run by the old guard, it’s going to be mostly them who get the jobs, right? And they might have more old-fashioned views about the role that women are going to play.”
Another pivotal figure behind this change is Fat Out’s Emma Thompson. She represents a close, powerful network of Manchester and Salford’s independent and experimental visionaries, including From The Other and Salford’s Sounds From The Other City festival. Fat Out are a fantastic events and festivals promoter and have supported musicians like Nuha Ruby Ra, Third Kulture, Nat Sharp, Luce Mawdsley, Hatis Noit alongside drag artists like Cabbage the Clown and Bobbie Twaddle. From The Other is 75% owned by all-female directors, and their core team is 77% female and non-binary. While other venues in the area may struggle to stay going, Sounds From The Other City is fortunate to be reaching its 20th edition this year – an amazing milestone for an independent, grassroots music festival.
“It’s about making sure that there’s a strong representation of female selectors out there, and that can be record labels, you know, promoters, collectors, organisations, radio stations,” Thompson enthuses. “It’s all about empowering female and gender diverse people to take hold of these positions of power”.
Some of contemporary Manchester’s biggest breakthrough artists are Black artists, and Thompson is emphatic that “We should always be looking at that and celebrating that as much as possible”. Manchester’s queer scene has also gained more prominence, continuing a legacy laid down decades ago. Audrey Golden’s I Thought I Heard You Speak rightfully establishes that women in the scene were integral to the queer spaces in The Hacienda and beyond.
In the 1990s, DJ Paulette would be a regular fixture at The Hacienda’s Flesh, a gay night inspired by London’s Blitz club – Manchester’s gay scene saw an early acceptance of women DJs. The after-hours clubs at The Hacienda became hotbeds of creative production, according to DJ turned arts curator Clare Cumberlidge. They operated like gentlemen’s clubs – just not for gentlemen.
Today, Manchester is known for its drag stars, with those like the retro-futuristic cartoonish Juno Birch becoming international household names. Thompson celebrates this shift: “We house some of the most incredible drag performers in the country within Manchester. For me, there’s so much more pride in what’s coming out to Manchester than like, you know, thinking about how it was back then”.
Thompson also says that the key to progress will be in getting the city’s more established music industry figures to recognise this shift rather than simply celebrating what has been.
Manchester’s club cultural past also intertwines with the present for Rosa Bee Da Silva, a costume designer and wardrobe assistant who has worked with Paul McCartney and Elton John, as well as local musicians like PISS KITTI. She represents a new, bold group of young artists who echo the punk ethos of Linda Sterling and Clare Cumberlidge, while inspired by the city’s club and gig culture today. Da Silva says that: “[Manchester and Salford] club culture is so welcoming and still has the ethos of old school acid raves my parents went to and helped run. It felt especially safe and was a relief from coming from the gig scene where I witnessed and experienced some horrible things from some of the boys in bands. It’s more open and accepting, it’s probably to do with how queer it is and how it attracts people from all walks of life.”
Is the money headed in their direction? Men in the city still hold the purse strings – Fat Out’s Emma Thompson warns. They make key decisions, get awards and are “not fairly crediting people who actually did those curations, ran those events, made those events happen successfully”. This means that while key players like Thompson lead the change, keeping these interesting venues and festivals running can be an uphill battle. With venues closing up and down the country, this comes as no surprise. For young women, these venues aren’t just a curio or ‘part of the fabric’ of the city – they’re a lifeline.
According to Emily Mercer, a musician who co-runs Manchester Women Songwriters, there are many venues in Manchester that are very supportive and inclusive, but “the most interesting ones struggle the most… there’s been a few shut down in the last few years, like Deaf Institute for example… these independent venues are on the edge”. While her songwriting group has created a significant and essential platform for talented female songwriters, women shouldn’t feel denigrated to ‘women only’ lineups. This is why the case for inclusive venues is more important than ever.
Rap rock group Third Kulture’s Lashimba explained that while she had encountered flagrant misogyny in the past, she didn’t want this to feel “disempowering to anybody that was thinking of getting into the music scene”, adding that “the more women-led spaces created, the better”. She wanted me to know that while music can feel like an intimidating path for young women not sure of what to expect, there are people ready to welcome them with open arms.
Herchester, a community for female and non-binary rap emcees, also provided a major boost to her musical path. She also says Joe Roche who runs the label, record shop and events brand Do As You Please had really supported her and her DJ partner, as well as creating a non-competitive platform for women generally.
Lashimba explains that female DJs always have a place at “party entertainment service” She Will Provide. Their residencies at SOUP champions Black women and non-binary artists spinning eclectic mixes of Afro house, funk and other genres. She also tips me on to Rebecca Swarray, a DJ in Manchester and co-founder of Rebecca Never Becky, a series of creative workshops for LGBTQ+ communities and beyond. Her alter ego Mixtress is a warm, welcoming supporter of the city’s house, two-step and garage sounds. Like Rosa, Lashimba emphasises that Manchester’s electronic and DJ scene continues to be a safe space for women and gender diverse people.
And what about other genres and scenes? Alphaville promoter and regular Quietus contributor Hayley Scott too has come up against sexism and dismissal. Those in post-punk scenes can have outdated views about who gets to have authority and knowledge about it, despite the fact that the rather nebulous genre has homed plenty of female musicians and bands, including Manchester’s jazzy, genre-eclectic Ludus (fronted by Factory designer Linder Sterling).
Even still, Scott has experienced plenty of support from key sources: “The White Hotel in Salford for me personally has been very supportive and so has Simon [Catling] from Grey Lantern”. Grey Lantern have been early instigators of Manchester shows for Still House Plants, Claire Rousay, Sarah Davachi, Anastasia Coope and many more. Surprisingly, she says, “the most supportive place I’ve encountered in Manchester so far has been the Lloyd & Platt in Chorlton, a big old pub that’s just been taken over by the people who run iconic venues Gullivers and The Castle, with a 180 capacity venue soon to open upstairs. I’ll be doing monthly nights there when the venue opens [this year], and I’m hoping to bring a bit of Wharf Chambers’ ethos to Manchester in the way we run the nights in terms of inclusivity, good vibes and affordable tickets”.
Gradually, it seems, Manchester’s music community is increasingly witness to women and gender diverse people at the top of their game, running venues and promoting new talent. This creates not only important platforms for Manchester’s evolving scene but also can help protect the safety of these performers. However since many of the Manchester institutions that support women, gender diverse people and marginalised groups are relatively new and rely on council funding, they are more precariously placed in the city’s cultural landscape – it is important to fight for their existence.
But those clinging onto certain fragments of Manchester’s more visible past and the ‘old guard’ are perhaps making these changes slower. And as Manchester artist Julie Campbell aka LoneLady rightly points out, it’s hard enough to sustain yourself as an artist, “never mind take on the role of some sort of social worker or nanny”. She’s right: it’s not solely up to Manchester’s women, or any other gender minorities excluded from the white cis-male indie picture, to fix or update any scene. Hopefully more of Manchester’s old guard will join the likes of Grey Lantern’s Simon Catling and Joe Roche in getting the hard work done – and do the honour of relinquishing some creative control.
Correction: This article was amended on 3 June 2025. We had previously stated that the Sound Of The Next Generation report was commissioned by the Youth Music organisation in collaboration with Manchester City Council, which is incorrect. It was an independent report commissioned solely by Youth Music.
