Film composers feature in PRS 100 Women Changing Music list
Film composers Rachel Portman and Isobel Waller-Bridge appear in this year’s list of most influential women in music alongside icons from the worlds of pop and grime
PRS for Music has announced its list of '100 Women Changing Music' in celebration of the female songwriters and composers making music in the UK. The list celebrates artists from a wide range of genres, ranging from pop, grime, dance, classical, TV and contemporary music.
The PRS 100 Women Changing Music chart reflects those who had the most streams, downloads, broadcasts and performances of their music in 2019.
Award-winning television and film composers featured in the list, including Rachel Portman, who wrote the music for Oliver Twist, Chocolat and Never Let Me Go. She is the first female composer in history to win an Academy Award, which she received for the score to the 1996 film Emma.
Film composer Isobel Waller-Bridge is also featured. Working alongside director and sister Phoebe Waller-Bridge, her neo-Renaissance, choral theme is used in the comedy Fleabag. More recently, she wrote the score to the 2020 adaptation of Emma.
Other composers listed include Debbie Wiseman (Father Brown, Land Girls), Anne Dudley (The Fully Monty, American History X) and Carly Paradis (Line of Duty, Moon).
Nearly 2000 women registered as professional songwriters and composers in the UK in 2019, which has risen by 60% each year.
Unfortunately, there is still a large gender gap, as females generated 67% less income than their top male counterparts. Claire Jarvis, director of membership at PRS for Music, said: ‘While it’s encouraging to see an increase in female songwriters and composers joining PRS for Music, this number is still dwarfed by 5,580 male songwriters joining in the same year.’
