Tina Arena says it's harder for female singers to make it in Australia Tina Arena: Aussie music industry a man's world Tina Arena is back with a new album and some strong views about women in the Australian music industry. PT4M14S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2z2yg 620 349 December 10, 2013 One of our most successful singers, Tina Arena, has hit out at the Australian music industry's unfair treatment of its female artists, saying they have to work harder to gain recognition. She has been backed up by several prominent female figures, including veteran radio programmer Cherie Romaro who says even legendary female artists will get ignored by stations, regardless of how good their music is, once they are seen to have "aged." Arena's criticisms have also sparked debate about whether it is impossible for Australian female artists to have success overseas if they remained based here. Arena has spent most of the past 20 years living overseas, although in recent years she divides her time between France and Australia. Havana Brown is one example of an Australian female success story who had to go overseas to get recognition. "It is very difficult to be a female in the industry in Australia, yes absolutely," Arena told Fairfax. There are a hell of a lot more stumbling blocks in your path and whether they are there purposely or not women have to work unbelievably hard to have recognition in this country because it is predominantly an industry that is run by men. Romaro, former director of programming for Triple M, 2Day FM, the Mix and Classic Hits networks and now director of International Media, says as women age they tend to be ignored by commercial radio if they don't produce up-tempo pop music. Jenny Morris says its 'very rare to hear women played back to back on the radio'. "They face a range of obstacles, age, music genre, lack of compatible radio formats, [a perceived] old tired brand image or resistance from commercial music directors who believe they "just don't fit," Romaro said. Legendary Australian artists such as Wendy Mathews, Tina Arena, Marcia Hines, Renee Geyer and Kate Cebrano, find it almost impossible to gain significant radio airplay with their new releases ... I know many iconic Australian female artists who have funded their own albums because cannot get the financial or marketing support. Arena's first English language album in 12 years, Reset, was well received critically and spent six weeks in the top 10 of the ARIA album charts despite being largely ignored by major radio stations with a younger demographic. Singer Megan Washington admits she also finds it's a man's world. Photo: Ellis Parrinder Wendy Matthews 2013 release The Welcome Fire was also well received but had even less airplay. "It's very rare to hear women played back to back on the radio where male artists get played back to back as a rule," said Jenny Morris, a 1980s pop star and chair-elect of the Australian Performing Rights Association. Radio airplay has traditionally been a key factor in the success of recording artists, although many younger artists are now relying more on social media and online platforms such as Soundcloud and Bandcamp. "If we cannot have more women at the top of the ladder in record and publishing companies, online delivery providers and in radio, we will never get the percentages [in radio airplay] even," Morris said. Stumbling blocks ... Tina Arena knows how tough it is to make it in music. The manager of a prominent Australian female musician told Fairfax he had been told influential stations like Nova and 2Day FM "does not play women aged over 40." DMG Radio Australia responded with the statement: "There are a number of artists on Nova's playlist who are over 40, Eminem and Pharrell are two that come to mind on the current playlist. When we playlist songs we do so on the basis of their music, we are not provided with biographies with their age, that being said we can only consider playlists based on what the record industry service us. Southern Cross Austereo, home to 2Day FM, responded: "We reflect what the biggest songs of the moment are. We don't discriminate on age, race, gender or genre. We are guided by our target audience and on what they are buying and wish to hear every week. Singer-songwriter Megan Washington likened the treatment of female artists in the Australian music industry to the freight and logistics industry in which her mother works. The challenges women have to face in music industry [are similar] to the challenges women have to face in most industries predominantly run by men. Washington says while "a meritocracy" exists between musicians, "when you start dealing with labels and publishers and venue managers, booking agents and bouncers that's where there's a disconnect." Washington says the language used in boardrooms often excludes women. I think it's largely to do with language, [especially] sports metaphors. Author Jeff Apter, who wrote Up From Down Under: How Australian Music Changed the World, said: "It's hard to be a musician but it's even harder to be taken seriously if you are a woman. Look at it from a business level: the heads of record labels, most of the major promoters, most band managers are all men. The top level is very white and very middle-aged. What happens reflects their musical tastes. While most people interviewed for this article felt that breaking into big overseas markets was equally difficult for men and women, music commentator Glenn A. Baker pointed out that several Australian male acts have achieved major international success while based at home; being INXS, Gotye, Little River Band and Midnight Oil. Arena, who was voted the best Australian female singer of all-time in an online poll this year, followed Australian artists like Helen Reddy and Olivia Newton John in achieving their major successes after relocating overseas. In recent years Melbourne DJ Havana Brown moved to Los Angeles to further her career - and scored the second biggest single by an Australian woman in the US with We Run The Night. Sydney-born singer Iggy Azalea moved to the US at 16. Now 23, Azalea earned an MTV nomination this year and is one of the most highly-regarded female rappers in the US. Where's the evidence of females who have made it overseas while they've been based here and I'm thinking 'ummm'. There aren't any," Baker said. History shows that to really make it overseas for a female it's almost essential to go there and stay there. It's been very very difficult for any Australian artist to make it overseas, but that's exacerbated if you are a woman. ARIA chairman Dan Rosen said "obviously Tina Arena is a legend [but] I think she had pretty good success here before she moved away. It's a difficult industry and you have to be super talented and hard-working to make it, whatever sex you are. But we are seeing fantastic opportunties for artists here in Australia and internationally ... regardless of gender. The most important thing is the quality of the work people produce. Washington said she was hopeful the situation would improve because of a wider trend towards "female empowerment" in Australian society. She was also encouraged that most successful Australian female artists were not overtly sexualised as pop stars were in the US. That makes me really proud and gives me hope.