In recent weeks, the BRIT awards have come under fire for their category nominee announcements. Last year, the award academy decided to remove pronouns from its categories, stopping gendered prizes in an apparent effort to bridge the equality gap between male and female artists.
This year, for their biggest award, Artist of the Year, no women have been nominated, despite the 70 eligible artists and numerous chart-topping female artists such as Mabel, Florence and the Machine, Charli XCX and Becky Hill. Instead, the nominees were Harry Styles, Stormzy, Fred Again, George Ezra, and Central Cee. This is undoubtedly a huge step backwards and a humiliation for the Brits who thought that they were being progressive. Their only response, and their way of justifying their actions, was the fact that last year Adele won 2022 Artist of the Year – in a still extremely male-heavy list of nominations.
In the Best International Artist nominations however, female artists outnumber male, with Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Lizzo taking the top spots. It is understandable, yes, that less major female artists such as Adele and Dua Lipa have not put out music eligible for these nominations. But completely eradicating the chance for a woman to win Best Artist feels like a huge step backwards, and shows that the Brit’s new method of inclusivity is actually not so inclusive. In an industry where men predominantly hold power, it is powerful when female artists are recognised and celebrated for being women, instead of alongside men.
It is doubtful whether next year the BRITs will reassess their methods, but hopefully they will learn from the 2023 nominations, and not allow the overlooking of female artists for their most important category again.
Written by: Madeleine Rousell
Edited by: Uta Tsukada Bright