Musicians Should Have Inclusion Riders Too

Frances McDormand started a fire in the film industry when she ended her passionate Oscar acceptance speech with the phrase "inclusion rider." The term — which NPR succinctly defines as "a stipulation that actors and actresses can ask (or demand) to have inserted into their contracts, which would require a certain level of diversity among a film’s cast and crew" — was quickly embraced by McDormand's peers. Oscar winner Brie Larson of Room and Community said she's "committed to the inclusion rider," Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan said his production company Outlier Society Productions would include an inclusion rider on all its projects and the Telegraph reports that talent agencies are already seeing "the biggest change they have seen in years." 

But film isn't the only business that could benefit from some thoughtful, active steps toward inclusivity. 

I've written about the lack of diversity at music fests over and over and over again for nearly half a decade. I've heard all the defensive arguments — "More men play music than women," "Women shouldn't be booked just because they're women," "If a band wants to get popular enough for a fest, they just need to work harder" — and I address a lot of those misguided statements here. I've talked to bookers who say they'll book what sells. I've talked to fans who say they'll buy tickets to what's booked. I've talked to bands who say they want to see change, while also claiming "it's not [their] job" to ensure women, people of color and/or people in the LGBT community are being included.

It's turned into an exhausting blame game, and it's clear that nothing will ever change if no one takes responsibility for the problem. So let's start by admitting that, yes, there is a problem.

For the fifth year in a row, Bonnaroo's top headliners are all men. And this year they're all white men: Eminem, The Killers and Muse. There is some variety further down bill — Future, Paramore, Khalid and Dua Lipa all snagged top spots on the poster, and there is noticeable racial diversity throughout — but the fest's lineup is still pitiful in regard to gender balance. Of the 148 artists listed, only 35 of them include or are women. Just 35! That's not even a quarter of the full lineup. (And that number includes the annual Superjam and the new Grand Ole Opry set, neither of which have announced their lineups yet — let's give them the benefit of the doubt.) Below, see a picture of what Bonnaroo's lineup would look like if you remove the all-male acts.

Compare that to Bonnaroo's fan ratio, which was 54.79 percent women to 41.26 percent men (and 3.95 percent "irrelevant") according to their 2013 census, the most recent one we could find with a gender breakdown. Women make up more than half of the audience, so why aren't they good enough for the stage?

Atlanta's Shaky Knees Music Festival isn't any better — their 2018 headliners are Jack White, Queens of the Stone Age and The National. Of the first 10 artists listed on the poster, nine of them are 100 percent male (and mostly white, to boot). Warped Tour's final lap, which comes to Nashville July 10, is more of the same: Of the 52 bands currently listed for the Nashville date, only three (THREE!) bands aren't all dudes. (And like with Shaky Knees, the overwhelming majority of them are white.)

Things need to change. So here's an idea: Bands and musicians should consider inclusion riders too. Especially those high-profile acts being asked to headline festivals and large package tours.

What would Bonnaroo, Shaky Knees and Warped Tour look like if Muse, Eminem, The Killers, Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, Taking Back Sunday, The National, Jack White and all the others refused to play until the talent buyers built a bill that better represents the diversity of the music community? There are a gazillion women, people of color and LGTBQ folks making fantastic music right now, and they're easier to find than ever before. Any booker worth their paycheck should be able to turn to their Rolodex or Google spreadsheet and pull out 10 talented and sellable acts that represent all walks of life. If they say they can't, if they claim those artists just aren't out there, then they are bad at their job.

Imagine how much more quickly things would change if the bands holding the "power” refused to play until the rest of the music industry caught up.

We, as fans, should demand more too. We should hold artist's feet to the fire. When we see someone headlining a festival that appears to blatantly ignore the diversity of its fan base, we should ask those artists if they're OK with representing a mostly male and/or mostly white festival or tour. 

No one gets to skate by any longer. We're all at fault — talent buyers, bands, fans — and we all have work to do.

Note: The original Bonnaroo poster still accidentally included Pond, an all-male band from Australia. We've updated both the poster and the numbers in this post.