Grammys could have #MeToo moment but industry has far to go

Pop star Kesha, who continues to battle a high-profile defamation suit launched in 2014 by music producer Dr. Luke after she accused him of sexual and physical abuse, will perform Praying at Sunday's Grammy Awards as a salute to the MeToo movement.

"It felt like an emotional, raw victory for myself,one step closer to healing," she postedin a tweet Saturday about co-writing the song, which focuses on a tormentor's redemption.

White roses insolidarity

It's not the only moment at the annual awards show expected to highlight the growing movement by women to expose abusers.

A group within the music industry, calling themselvesVoices in Entertainment, is asking guests to wear white roses in solidarity withTime's Up, which wasformed by hundreds of Hollywood women and includes alegal fund for those battling sexual harassment in the workplace.

Earlier this month, men and women dressed in black at the Golden Globe Awards to support the cause. Many also wore Time's Up pins.

Numbers don't lie

But themusic industryisfighting its own demons when it comes to imbalances of power, according to a study released by the University of Southern California's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.

Researchers looked at 600 popular songs based on Billboard chartsbetween 2012-2017. They found the artists attached to the tracks were overwhelmingly male 22 per cent were women.

The number dropped even further for key roles behind the scenes, with 12 per cent ofwomen being songwritersand only twoper cent beingproducers.

'Epidemic of invisibility'

"These findings suggest that female producers face an epidemic of invisibility when it comes toworking in the top leadership positions inside the recording industry,"director Stacy L. Smith and board chair Leah Fischman said in the report.

These findings suggest that female producers face an epidemic of invisibility when it comes toworking in the top leadership positions inside the recording industry- USC'sAnnenbergInclusion Initiative

When it comes to the Grammys, they found that between 2013 and2018, less than 10 per cent of allnominees have been women.

The category forrecord of the year the biggest award of the night is being held up as a sign of progress. There's an an acknowledgement of hip hop's importance with nods to Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar, and every nominee is aperson of colour. Still, every nominee is also male.

The 60thannual Grammy Awards will be broadcast live fromNew York at 7:30 p.m. ET. In addition to Kesha, itwill feature performances from Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee as well as Canadian Alessia Cara alongside Khalid and Logic.

• Alessia Cara, Leonard Cohen, Justin Bieber among 2018 Canadian Grammy nominees
• Women of colour face different battle in sexual harassment scandal