In the second year since Brits abolished the male and female categories, the shortlist for the top prize – Artist of the Year – consists entirely of male musicians. Only one in five Album of the Year nominees is a female group – Wet League.
Harry Styles, Stormzy, George Ezra, Fred Again, and Central C are some of the most sought after characters, which raises the question of whether gender-neutral categories are at the expense of female artists.
But last year, the awards ceremony was dominated by women, with Adele taking home Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year.
Despite her accolades, the Tottenham-born singer made headlines with her passionate defense of female artists.
She said, “I understand why that has changed, but I really love being a woman and an artist. I’m really proud of us.”
The women beat out the men in the Best New Artist category, with Whit Legg, Mimi Webb and Rina Sawayama pitted against British Eurovision star Sam Ryder and rapper Koji Radical.
Women also lead the way in the International Artists category.
Beyoncé, Lizzo, and Taylor Swift were also nominated, with the lineup completed by Kendrick Lamar and Burna Boy.
Sam Smith, who is due to perform at London’s O2 Gala on February 11, said at the awards ceremony in 2014 that all artists should be honored “regardless of gender, race, age, ability, gender and class”.
Twitter users rallied against the Artist of the Year shortlist.
Composer Emer Landers said: “Because of the lack of female candidates in Egypt #BRITs This year is just a shock in this day and age.
“Particularly in the seemingly gender-neutral ‘Artist of the Year’ category, which now includes 5 male artists”.
“Unless Adele makes another album, enjoy erasing you female artists,” another user wrote.
While another said, “BRIT got rid of the male/female Artist of the Year to be more ‘inclusive’, so the shortlist for this year’s new ‘inclusive’ Artist of the Year is….all the guys who thought so!!
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