Gender pay gap as high as 49% as major music labels reveal statistics

UK law stipulates that a company with more than 250 employees must reveal their gender pay gap

Universal Music UK, Sony Music UK, Warner Music UK and Live Nation have today released their gender pay gap statistics.

A change in UK law means that companies in the market with more than 250 employees must reveal their gender pay gap stats by tomorrow (April 5).

Earlier today, Music Business Week revealed that the average gender pay gap across the three major labels in the UK – Universal Music UK, Sony Music UK, Warner Music UK – was over 30%.

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Warner Music UK reported a gender pay gap of 49%, with women behind men in terms of those receiving bonuses: 74% to 85%. While 42% of the company is comprised of women, those in leadership roles is a low 16%.

Masha Osherova, EVP, human resources, WMG, wrote in the company’s submission: “While we’ve made real progress in many different areas, we’re acutely aware there’s still much more work to do, especially if we are to be as diverse and inclusive as we aspire to be and if we are to increase the number of women in leadership roles. We’re committed to making the right changes and working towards closing this gap.”

Sony Music UK reported a pay gap of 4.6% (median) – better than the national average of 9.1% – with a near-equal proportion of women (75.3%) and men (74.3%) receiving a bonus.

Writing in a statement, Sony Music UK said: “While our gender pay gap is closing, having fewer women in the most senior roles has had an impact.” They also pledged to deliver learning programmes in an “inclusive environment” and to improve their support for working parents.

Universal reported a median pay gap of 16.7% and a mean pay gap of 29.8% while an equal 74% of men and women received bonuses. An equal proportion of men and women – 74% – received bonus pay. However, in the top pay band, the split is 70%-30% in favour of men.

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Universal Music UK said that 1,330 staff are covered by its gender pay submission to the government.

Music Business Week also noted that Live Nation has a gender pay gap of 46%. When comparing mean hourly rates, women earn 54p for every £1 that men earn. Female executives are also paid 88% less on average than men in the same roles. Live Nation are yet to comment on the statistics.

Last year, the BBC gender pay gap was revealed to be 9%, concluding that there’s no “systemic” gender discrimination.

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