Gender Pay Gap in der Kulturbranche – Same Stage, less Pay?

Anne Haffmans, Lisa Mangold, Christoph Reimann & Juliane Reil (Mod.)

»Same stage, less pay?« The stage may be the same, but the fees rarely are. While the cultural sector often sees itself as progressive, open, and diverse, the numbers tell a different story: women in the independent cultural sector still earn significantly less than men. Among freelance artists, the gender pay gap currently stands at around 25 per cent – and in the music industry, it is even higher. Here, women earn an average of 27 per cent less than their male counterparts. Why is that?

Behind these figures lie not only individual inequalities, but deeply rooted structures: informal networks, entrenched role models, a lack of transparency, and an industry that too often confuses visibility with value. What needs to change for female artists to be paid fairly?

This conversation brings together people who understand the mechanisms behind these inequalities from very different perspectives – from union work, label politics, musical practice, and media discourse. Together, they ask why fair pay in the cultural sector is still treated as the exception rather than the norm, how economic power is distributed, and which forms of solidarity, organisation, and structural change might genuinely shift existing conditions. The discussion centres on money, visibility, and labour – and ultimately on the question of who is able to work in pop culture, and under what conditions.

Among the speakers is Lisa Mangold, trade union secretary at ver.di, who has worked with colleagues to develop models for transparent and fair remuneration for self-employed cultural workers. She is also a co-initiator of the initiative »Verlage gegen Rechts« and part of the collective MF 3000.

The panel features Anne Haffmans, Senior A&R Manager at Domino Records, one of the world’s most renowned independent labels. Throughout her career, she has supported artists over the long term and has been involved in shaping the careers of Depeche Mode, Moby, Franz Ferdinand, and Wet Leg, among others.

The discussion is moderated by Juliane Reil and Christoph Reimann. Reil – once jokingly nicknamed »Miss Real« by Chilly Gonzales – is a music journalist and author. After many years as a presenter at ByteFM, she joined Deutschlandradio, where she hosts radio programmes and regularly contributes criticism and commentary on music, culture, and socio-political issues. Reimann has worked for years as a journalist, host, and producer for outlets including Deutschlandfunk Kultur and ByteFM.