mission

Creating intentional spaces of high achieving girlies through mentorship, education, shared experiences and meaningful industry access.

ABOUT US

Girls Who Listen is a Black woman-founded, global network created in response to the underrepresentation of women in the music industry. While our work is rooted in music, we have expanded to include programming across broader entertainment and cultural spaces, giving members a more complete view of the industry. We support ambitious women (18–34) in college, post-grad, or making a career pivot, helping them explore and grow in their chosen paths.

Adulting can be hard, and figuring out your next step on your own can feel overwhelming. Girls Who Listen offers mentorship, education, shared experiences, and meaningful industry access, an intentional space where you don’t have to do it alone, with a community cheering you on as you shape your career and your future.

For the girls. For the women shaping what’s next.

usc stats.

According to a USC Annenberg study, women remain significantly underrepresented in the music industry, a gap Girls Who Listen works to close by providing tangible opportunities, mentorship, and community for women navigating these spaces. See below the statistics from past years.

The ratio of men to women producers across 900 popular songs was 30:1.

19 out of 1,972 producing credits went to women of color.

Songwriters: 441 songwriters credited in 2023. Of those, 80.3% (n=355) were men and 19.5% (n=86) were women. There was one gender non-binary songwriter in 2023 (0.2%). 

The report also notes that 56% of songs in 2023 included at least one woman songwriter—an increase from 2022 and the highest percentage in 12 years.

Of those 441 credits, 80.3% were men and 19.5% were women. There was one gender non-binary songwriter in 2023 (0.2%). 

In comparison to 2022 (30.2%), the percentage of women artists has increased in 2023 (35%), though this is just shy (0.2 percentage points) of significance.

Looking to genre, across 12 years, women were most likely to write Pop (20.1%) and Dance/Electronic (19.6%) songs, and least likely to write Hip-Hop/Rap (7.5%) and Country (9.9%) songs.

Grammys: 2024 saw a significant increase in the percentage of women nominees, from 15.5% in 2023 to 24% in 2024. This was also significantly higher than 2013 (7.9%), but remains below the highest percentage of women nominees, which was reached in 2021 (28.1%).

Billboard Hot 100 Year Charts

In 2023, 61% of the artists on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Charts were from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group while 39% were white. Nearly two-thirds of women artists (65%) with a song on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Chart were women of color. Nearly one-quarter (24%) of nominations across these 6 categories went to women in 2024—a significant increase from 2023 (15.5%)

offers

Girls Who Listen provides multiple ways for ambitious women to connect, learn, and grow in music and entertainment.

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Membership Programs

Access mentorship, workshops, panels, office hours, and curated opportunities.

Experiences & Events

Networking events, panels, songwriting sessions and curated cultural moments that bring the industry to life.

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Your donations will fund our programming budget, which includes panels, workshops, masterclasses, songwriting sessions, and accommodations for developmental conferences across the NYC and LA areas.

Your involvement will also help kickstart Girls Who Care, our newest health services and mental health division.