Just 12 of the 68 singers in the Artist of the Year longlist for next year’s BRIT Awards are women.
The awards in February will be the second to feature gender neutral categories, after bosses scrapped male and female specific gongs.
The change drew criticism that women could be overlooked, and the first Artist of the Year winner Adele used her speech to declare her pride at being a female artist.
Adele said on stage: “I understand why the name of this award has changed, but I really love being a woman and being a female artist.”
Just 17.6% of artists eligible to be nominated next year are women, and include Mabel, Florence and the Machine, Charli XCX, Becky Hill and Rina Sawayama.
Artists qualify for the longlist if they have had a Top 40 album or two Top 20 singles in the eligibility period. The BRITs Voting Academy then decides on the nominees.
The introduction of gender neutral categories aims to ensure non-binary artists could be included.
In 2021, non-binary act Sam Smith, inset, was excluded from the gendered categories and urged organisers to “celebrate everybody, regardless of gender, race, age, ability, sexuality and class”.
Critics said the male-dominated music industry could neglect female talent.
In 2020, only one British female artist was nominated out of 25 mixed-gender spots. The Best Group nominees were all men.
Little Mix became the first girl group to win the award last year.
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