Online trolling of Billy Nomates ‘really sad’, Sony Music says

A Sony Music boss has told the Misogyny in Music inquiry that the “online trolling” of Billy Nomates after she performed at Glastonbury is “really sad”, and described the issue as “widespread” in the entertainment industry.

The House of Commons’ Women and Equalities Committee was continuing its work on Wednesday looking at the treatment of women and girls, including at live music events.

After her appearance on the Park Stage at Worthy Farm, Somerset on Friday, Nomates asked the BBC to remove a social media post due to alleged online abuse.

The singer, 33, whose real name is Tor Maries, reportedly described the level of “personal abuse” as “insane” in a post which appears to have been deleted.

A clip posted by BBC Radio 6 Music was subsequently deleted at the weekend.

When asked at the inquiry about this issue, Jessica Carsen, senior vice president at Sony Music UK, said: “That artist isn’t a Sony artist.

“I think it’s really sad what happened to her, she shouldn’t have had to feel that way at all.

“I personally don’t work in an artist-facing role so an artist hasn’t said that to me, but are the pressures of online trolling –  real? Yes, they are real, online trolling is widespread, unfortunately.”

The BBC said the full set by Nomates is still available on BBC iPlayer for “audiences to enjoy”.

A spokesman for the broadcaster told the PA news agency: “We want 6 Music to be a place where brilliant artists such as Billy Nomates are celebrated and supported, and we have respected Tor’s request to have the clip posted on our social channels removed.”

Nomates is also reported to have said that after her summer gigs “there will be no more shows”.

Natasha Mann, director of diversity and inclusion at Universal Music UK, also told the committee: “Online trolling is something real and very scary that everybody’s dealing.. all artists, actually.

“And I would say (in) my experience of how artists interact with social media, I’ve got actually probably more examples of artists who are men sort of talking to me about the pressures actually a bit.”

Ms Mann also spoke about her own experiences with sexism when she started her career in the music industry.

She said: “What I’m classing as misogyny is basically my gender being a barrier for me working on certain projects.

“The way certain team members interacted with me, you could call it like, bullying, I guess (that) would be a label that I would put on it.”

Ms Mann said she “overcame” this due to speaking out and having a “great” female boss as well as “great connections within the industry of allies”.

She added: “What I take from that now in this role is that the importance of role modelling can’t be overstated and I mean that not just for women (but) also for men in the industry, I think it’s as important for men to be calling out misogyny as it is for women.

“That’s why I’m extremely happy that our whole company has gone through bias and bystander training from the chair all the way down to the interns.”