RESEARCH AND REPORTS
I am an experienced researcher and report writer. As well as writing my PhD I have also been commissioned by numerous arts organisations over the past few years to produce a variety of reports. Some of them have been internal and confidential business strategies, impact reviews and analyses. Some of them have been academic literature reviews for a variety of clients, mainly so that their creative strategies are grounded in good research and evidence.
Some of my most rewarding work has been diversity research for public consumption, that ultimately informs campaigning and culture change for the music industries. Although the topic was difficult and reveals the negative side of the music industry, I was proud to co-author Dignity At Work 2: Discrimination in the Music Sector with Dr Kathryn Williams.
Reported here in the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/29/sexual-harassment-and-racism-endemic-in-uk-music-sector and available to download here from the ISM website https://www.ism.org/dignity-at-work-2-discrimination-in-the-music-sector
In July 22 the government’s Women and Equalities Committee launched a specific inquiry into ‘misogyny in music’. I co-authored a response to this on behalf of The F-List for Music. The commitee call stated:
This inquiry aims to examine what misogynistic attitudes exist in the industry and why. It aims to uncover, in more detail, how these attitudes can filter through to society, impacting attitudes towards and treatment of women and girls, including at live music events. This inquiry will explore what steps can be taken to improve attitudes and treatment of women working in music.
Read our response here https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/110083/html/
I have co-authored numerous reports for arts management consultancy CounterCulture, most recently a comprehensive 4-year impact review of festival consortium Without Walls.
Without Walls Impact Report
In 2019 I published Counting the Music Industry, a gender gap analysis of over 300 music publishers and record labels in the UK. This research revealed that just over 14% of writers currently signed to publishers and just under 20% of acts signed to labels are female. This gap is surprisingly large and is indicative of widespread discrimination against women in the music industry.
Counting the Music Industry also looked at entry routes into music, particularly through formal education. There has been increased participation by girls and women in music education at all levels over the past five years, to near equity, often gaining better results than their male counterparts. And yet female graduates do not seem to be as successful as their male colleagues in starting careers. This report looks at twelve barriers that exist for women wishing to start and sustain a career in music as well as making recommendations for government, education and music organisations to create a more inclusive industry.
The key findings were published in Music Week https://www.musicweek.com/publishing/read/a-wake-up-call-vick-bain-on-her-report-into-gender-inequality-in-music/077734 and discussed on Radio 3 Music Matters https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009zxy and also raised in parliament by Pete Wishart MP in a key debate regarding diversity in the music industry.
RESEARCH DOWNLOADS
For the full report or the summary please download below. There is also a word file of the text for those who use screen-readers.
| Counting the Music Industry full report 2019 (docx) | Download | |
| Counting the Music Industry summary 2019 (pdf) | Download | |
| Counting the Music Industry in Word 2019 | Download |
OR VIEW PDF OF COUNTING THE MUSIC INDUSTRY SUMMARY HERE
SUPPORTED BY THE ARTS COUNCIL
Acknowledgement
With my full thanks to Arts Council England who have supported the Counting the Music Industry Tour