BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour has revealed its Power List profiling the 40 most powerful women currently working in the music industry.
Alongside superstar artists Beyoncé, Adele and Taylor Swift, the Top 5 includes Vanessa Reed, CEO of the PRS Foundation, and Stacey Tang, MD of RCA UK.
The full list features appearances from digital execs, including Spotify’s Sara Sesardic and Julie Pilat of Beats 1, as well as Decca president Rebecca Allen, Annie Mac, Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, Nadine Shah, CAA’s Emma Banks, BASCA’s Vick Bain and Dua Lipa.
The list was announced live in a special programme hosted by Jenni Murray and broadcast from the BBC’s Maida Vale studios on BBC Music Day. Its celebrates women who are demonstrating power in the music industry, innovators and ground-breakers supporting and championing the work of other women or changing the industry from within.
This year’s judging panel is chaired by BBC journalist and presenter Tina Daheley. Judges included music TV producer and columnist Jasmine Dotiwala, classical music writer and novelist Jessica Duchen, UK producer of the year 2018 Catherine Marks and BRIT award-winning singer, songwriter and musician Kate Nash.
Praising Reed's work on festival line-up diversity, Duchen said: “She’s had a huge impact across the board, and the Keychange initiative which involved getting so many international festivals to sign up to a pledge to gender parity, is a stunning development in the music world as a whole.”
Karen Dalziel, editor of Woman’s Hour, said: “I am delighted to celebrate and champion the 40 remarkable women on the Woman’s Hour Power list 2018. All are experts in their chosen field and each individual has demonstrated the leadership and perseverance to change the music industry from the inside. Their passion and commitment is truly inspiring and inclusion on this prestigious list acknowledges their role in paving the way for other women to have opportunity, profile and power in this exciting industry.”
The full list is below:
1. Beyoncé (musician)
2. Taylor Swift (musician)
3. Vanessa Reed (Chief Executive of the PRS Foundation)
4. Adele (musician)
5. Stacey Tang (Managing Director of RCA UK)
6. Gillian Moore (Director of Music at Southbank Centre)
7. Rebecca Allen (President of Decca Records)
8. Marin Alsop (conductor)
9. Chi-chi Nwanoku (musician, founder of Chineke! orchestra)
10. Maggie Crowe (Director of Events and Charities at BPI, Administrator of the BRIT Trust)
11. Olga Fitzroy (Recording and mix engineer)
12. Annie Mac (DJ)
13. Desiree Perez (Chief Operating Officer, Roc Nation)
14. Cardi B (musician)
15. Sia (songwriter, musician)
16. Ellie Rowsell (musician)
17. Sarah Stennett (CEO at First Access Entertainment)
18. Nicola Benedetti (musician)
19. Hattie Collins (journalist)
20. Dua Lipa (musician)
21. Kathryn McDowell (Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra)
22. Julie Pilat (Global Head of Operations for Beats1)
23. Alice Farnham (conductor and co-founder of Women Conductors)
24. Fiona Stewart (Director of Green Man Festival)
25. Taponeswa Mavunga (Head of Publicity at Columbia Records)
26. Emma Banks (Co-head at Creative Artists Agency)
27. Edwina Wolstencraft (Editor at BBC Radio 3)
28. Linda Perry (songwriter, musician)
29. Vick Bain (CEO of British Academy of Songwriters, Composers & Authors )
30. Jasmine Sandlas (musician)
31. Anna Meredith (composer)
32. Amber Davis (A&R Director at Warner/Chappell Music)
33. Deborah Annetts (Chief Executive at Incorporated Society of Musicians)
34. Sas Metcalfe (President, Global Creative, of Kobalt Music)
35. Fiona Dalgetty (Chief Executive of Feis Rois)
36. Grace Ladoja (founder of Metallic Inc and artist manager)
37. Mandy Parnell (mastering engineer and founder of Black Saloon Studios)
38. Issie Barratt (composer)
39. Nadine Shah (musician)
40. Sara Sesardic (Music Editor at Spotify UK)
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