Despite a steady stream of headlines celebrating female superstars, women and nonbinary artists continue to face significant structural barriers in the music industry, from recording studios to festival stages. A new five-city tour from Women That Rock aims to create more tangible performance opportunities for independent femme artists.
Persistent Gaps in Representation
Data from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative shows that women accounted for 37.7% of artists on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 chart in 2024. Behind the scenes, the numbers were far lower: women made up 18.9% of songwriters and just 5.9% of producers on those same hits. Over a 13-year span, more than 93% of charting songs were created without a single woman producer.
On the live circuit, the imbalance is equally stark. A 2025 audit of nine major U.S. festivals found that women held only 21.6% of headlining slots. Coachella’s 2025 lineup was roughly 75% male, and the Book More Women initiative reported that female and nonbinary representation at major festivals declined in 2025, reversing years of incremental progress. The global Keychange network now includes over 750 organizations committed to gender-balanced programming.
A Tour Built on Opportunity
In response, Women That Rock, an organization dedicated to consistent advocacy for women and nonbinary artists through marketing and revenue-generating performance opportunities, is launching a five-city tour in August 2026. The tour will be co-headlined by independent artists Abby Holliday and Charli Adams, with each stop featuring a local femme opening act selected through an open call promoted on the headliners’ social media.
Abby Holliday has toured with acts including Men I Trust, The Japanese House, and James Bay. Charli Adams has received recognition from NPR, Billboard, and The FADER, and her catalog has reached millions of listeners. Both artists have built sustainable careers through independent channels.
The tour begins August 7, 2026, with stops in:
- New York City
- Boston
- Washington, D.C.
- Chicago
- Nashville
The initiative seeks to expand the number of stages available to women and nonbinary performers, challenging a landscape where such artists are often limited to a small number of token slots. By creating additional opportunities, the tour aims to demonstrate a model for more equitable investment in emerging talent.
