Italy: best-selling music artists of all time as of August 2014
In the ranking of Italian best-selling singers released in 2014, Adriano Celentano and Mina both rank first with 150 million albums sold, Patty Pravo follows with 110 million copies. In this list of 20 best-selling music artists, only four singers are women. This imbalance in the music industry can be observed also on digital platforms: in 2017, 82 percent of worldwide top 30 streams on Spotify were played or sung by male artists.
Presence of women in the music industry
Furthermore, if we look at the global picture, the presence of women in the music industry, especially in pop music, has been quite limited. In the list of twenty top-selling artists worldwide between 1954 and 2016, there are only six women. The highest-ranking of these six women is Madonna, with 164.4 million U.S. dollars dollars in certified sales.
Salary gap
It seems that in general, there is a salary gap in the music industry. For instance, data related to average monthly salaries in Sweden as of 2018 showed a difference in the salaries of men and women, across every age group. Female musicians, singers and composers tended to earn less than their male colleagues.
Presence of women in the music industry
Furthermore, if we look at the global picture, the presence of women in the music industry, especially in pop music, has been quite limited. In the list of twenty top-selling artists worldwide between 1954 and 2016, there are only six women. The highest-ranking of these six women is Madonna, with 164.4 million U.S. dollars dollars in certified sales.
Salary gap
It seems that in general, there is a salary gap in the music industry. For instance, data related to average monthly salaries in Sweden as of 2018 showed a difference in the salaries of men and women, across every age group. Female musicians, singers and composers tended to earn less than their male colleagues.
