Since 2017, companies in the UK with more than 250 employees have been legally required to publish their gender pay gap stats by April 4 each year.
Last year, MBW revealed that the average gender pay gap (as of April 5, 2018) across all three major record companies in the UK was 29.6% – with 29.1% at Universal Music, 20.9% at Sony Music and 38.7% at Warner Music.
Overall, that was a slight improvement on the previous year (as of April 2017), when the average gender pay gap across all three companies was 33.8% – with 29.8% at Universal, 22.7% at Sony and 49% at Warner.
This year, due to the disruption caused by COVID-19, enforcement of gender pay gap reporting deadlines did not apply to UK-based companies for the latest reporting year.
However, at the height of the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown in April, two out of three of the major music companies, Sony and Warner, did file their UK gender pay gap reports, as did a run of other top music companies, including Spotify and Live Nation.
The main headline: the average gender pay gap as of April 5, 2019 at Sony Music UK was 26.0%, while at Warner Music UK, it was 31.5%.
At Spotify UK, it was 9.9%, and at Live Nation UK it was 44.5%.
(Universal Music UK, which wasn’t required by law to file its report this year, will legally need to do so for the following year by April 4, 2021.)
Here, we break down Sony and Warner’s gender pay gap numbers, in addition to those submitted by Apple, Spotify, Live Nation and the public performance joint venture, PPLPRS.
The figures below also show the gender split between males and females across all levels of the businesses, as well as the difference in bonuses paid out to both genders.
All of these figures are based on statistics collected by the UK Government as at April 5, 2019 and published on April 4 this year.
In the top-earning quartile of Sony Music UK’s business, 58% of employees are male and 42% are female.
The average hourly rate of pay across the whole business is 26.0% lower for females vs. males.
(Taken as a median %, this figure falls to 9.1%.)
When it comes to bonuses, female executives are paid 53.9% less on average than their male counterparts.
(Taken as a median %, this figure falls to 15.6%.)
Bonus pay is given to 71.2% of males and 64.2% of females.
In the ‘upper middle quartile’ of Sony Music UK (ie. the second tier of executive pay), 55% of employees are male and 45% are female.
In the ‘lower-middle’ quartile (ie. the third tier) there are 56% male employees and 44% female employees, while in the bottom quartile (ie. the lowest-paid/entry level), those stats stand at 40% male and 60% female.
Warner (Warner Music UK Ltd)
In the top-earning quartile of Warner Music UK’s business, 66% of employees are male and 34% are female.
The average hourly rate of pay across the whole business is 31.5% lower for females vs. males.
(Taken as a median %, this figure falls to 18.2%.)
When it comes to bonuses, female executives are paid 69.3% less on average than their male counterparts.
(Taken as a median %, this figure falls to 35.3%)
Bonus pay is given to 87% of males and 75% of females. Bonus eligibility is explained in Warner’s Gender Gap Report 2020.
In the ‘upper middle quartile’ of Warner Music UK (ie. the second tier of executive pay), 51% of employees are male and 49% are female.
In the ‘lower-middle’ quartile (ie. the third tier) there are 45% male employees and 55% female employees, while in the bottom quartile (ie. the lowest-paid/entry level), those stats stand at 48% male and 52% female.
Spotify (Spotify Ltd)
As at April 5 2019, in the top-earning quartile of Spotify’s UK business, 64% of employees are male and 36% are female.
The average hourly rate of pay across the whole business is 9.9% lower for females vs. males.
(Taken as a median %, this figure increases to 14.4%.)
When it comes to bonuses, female executives are paid 29.5% less on average than their male counterparts.
(Taken as a median %, bonus pay for females is 0.2% higher)
Bonus pay is given to 40.9% of males and 42.3% of females.
In the ‘upper middle quartile’ of Spotify UK (ie. the second tier of executive pay), 56.5% of employees are male and 43.5% are female.
In the ‘lower-middle’ quartile (ie. the third tier) there are 54.1% male employees and 45.9% female employees, while in the bottom quartile (ie. the lowest-paid/entry level), those stats stand at 51.2% male and 48.8% female.
Apple (Apple UK Ltd)
As at April 5 2019, in the top-earning quartile of Apple UK, 87% of employees are male and 13% are female.
The average hourly rate of pay across the whole business is 22% lower for females vs. males.
(Taken as a median %, this figure falls to 21%.)
When it comes to bonuses, female executives are paid 26% less on average than their male counterparts.
(Taken as a median %, bonus pay for female executives is 48% lower than men’s.)
Bonus pay is given to 82% of males and 76% of females.
In the ‘upper middle quartile’ of Apple’s UK business, (ie. the second tier of executive pay), 87% of employees are male and 13% are female.
In the ‘lower-middle’ quartile (ie. the third tier) there are 80% male employees and 20% female employees, while in the bottom quartile (ie. the lowest-paid/entry level), those stats stand at 60% male and 40% female.
Live Nation (Live Nation Music UK Ltd)
In the top-earning quartile of Live Nation UK’s business, 64% of employees are male and 36% are female.
The average hourly rate of pay across the whole business is 44.5% lower for females vs. males.
(Taken as a median %, this figure falls to 25.7%.)
When it comes to bonuses, female executives are paid 85.8% less on average than their male counterparts.
(Taken as a median %, this figure falls to 41.2%)
Bonus pay is given to 76% of males and 70% of females.
In the ‘upper middle quartile’ of Live Nation UK (ie. the second tier of executive pay), 45% of employees are male and 55% are female.
In the ‘lower-middle’ quartile (ie. the third tier) there are 43% male employees and 57% female employees, while in the bottom quartile (ie. the lowest-paid/entry level), those stats stand at 28% male and 72% female.
PPL PRS
CORRECTION: An earlier version of PPL PRS’s figures were incorrect on the UK government website (and republished here). Please see below for the now-corrected figures.
Meanwhile at public performance joint venture PPL PRS, in the top-earning quartile of the business, 50.9% of employees are male and 49.1% are female.
PPL PRS reports that its workforce in April 2019 consisted of 269 employees, of which 58% were male and 42% female.
The average hourly rate of pay across the whole business is 16.8% higher for females vs. males.
(Taken as a median %, this figure falls to 9.6%.)
When it comes to bonuses, female executives are paid 49.7% higher on average than their male counterparts.
(Taken as a median %, bonus pay for female executives is 0% lower than men’s.
Bonus pay is given to 80.6% of males and 78.9% of females.
In the ‘upper middle quartile’ of PPL PRS (ie. the second tier of executive pay), 62.5% of employees are male and 37.5% are female.
In the ‘lower-middle’ quartile (ie. the third tier) there are 54.6% male employees and 45.4% female employees, while in the bottom quartile (ie. the lowest-paid/entry level), those stats stand at 72.7% male and 27.3% female.Music Business Worldwide
