Welcome to the fifth edition of 6MO, our semi-annual report on music industry trends (if you're looking for music trends from H2 2020 and earlier, click here). In this interactive web-based edition, we take a look back at the first half of 2021 (H1 2021, Jan. 1-June 30) to try to get a sense of the future of the music business, uncovering the world’s breakthrough artists and tracks on music streaming platforms and social media.

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In this edition’s main theme, we examine gender equity in the music industry through the lens of artist pronoun usage. Using our newly developed database (a work in progress) of approximately 450K artists whose pronouns are listed in their streaming platform biographies — the first of its kind in the world, as far as we’re aware — we examine the distribution of pronouns overall, by genre, by playlists, and by charts, with the aim of bringing attention to the lack of gender equity and representation in music. In our view, fixing the problem starts with knowing how severe it is and where the music industry needs to focus its energy and resources most. 

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It is important to note that while there is significant overlap between pronoun usage and gender identification for most people, pronoun usage does not necessarily equate to gender identification for everyone. As such, examining the self-declared pronouns of artists is only the first — and very much imperfect — step toward answering the gender equity question. To learn more about our approach, read our purpose and methodology here. If you have any feedback or constructive criticism about this ongoing project, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at equity@chartmetric.com. We want this effort to be as inclusive and sensitive as possible.

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As always, while you make your way through our report, don’t forget to click through the animated infographics, and enjoy the latest important music industry trends and statistics!