Women are excluded from recognition by the Songwriters Hall of Fame on a massive scale; In spite of blatant prejudice, the fact remains that disproportionately to the paltry recognition, these creative women have exerted major influence in music globally far exceeding their numbers.
Out of the 24 nominees up for induction in 2020, only six are women. Worse, out of the 439 songwriters that have been inducted since 1970, only 31 are women, according to Billboard. This means women make up a pitiful 7% of the inductees. So, yes, the Songwriters Hall of Fame has an impenetrable problem of inclusion for women. So does all of songwriting: A 2019 report from the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the Annenberg Center, found that women made up only 12.3% of songwriters of the most popular songs in 2018.
Unfortunately, women artists being overlooked is a recurring problem in the music industry. It is more than coincidental that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has substantially ignored women musicians in its 34 plus year history identically to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Out of the 888 artists in the hall of fame, only 69 are women, just 7.7%, according to Longreads. Their exclusion as musicians is identical to their exclusion as songwriters as indicated earlier. Stevie Nicks and Janet Jackson were the only female performers inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019 and Nicks has been inducted twice. Out of the 16 performers nominated for the 2020 class, only three are women: Pat Benatar, Chaka Khan as part of the band Rufus, and Whitney Houston. Unfortunately, women artists being overlooked is a running theme in music. Even more interesting is that Chaka Khan alone or with Rufus and Whitney Houston are not rock artists primarily.
Mission: To honor women whose work represents and maintains the heritage and legacy of a range of the most adored songs from the world's popular music songbook. Women Songwriters Hall of Fame will not only celebrate these established women songwriters, but also serves as a resource for developing new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships. There are many programs designed to teach and discover new songwriters. Founded by Dr. Janice McLean DeLoatch, author, radio/tv personality and songwriter.
The Women Songwriters HOF supports up-and-coming songwriters, having forged important partnerships and hopes of partnering with the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, The Smithsonian Institute and other music institutions. The Women Songwriters HOF conducts songwriting workshops and apprenticeships for young aspiring professional women and affiliated programs in the visual and recording arts.
The Women Songwriters HOF lastly will moving forward induct songwriters voted on by the membership at an Awards Gala that will be recognized by the music industry and the media as one of the most important music events of the year in time.
