Annie Macmanus speaks out about sexual abuse in music at UK's House of Commons

Irish DJ and former BBC Radio 1 presenter Annie Macmanus has told MPs in the UK there are less opportunities for women in the industry as she labels it a "boys club".

The DJ and author spoke to a House of Commons committee in regards to the ongoing misogyny in the music business, noting that many women are afraid to speak up against abuses power and misconduct.

"It's infuriating, the amount of women who have stories of sexual assault that just kind of buried them and carried them. It's just unbelievable.

"So I do think if something were to happen, like if one person was to speak that had enough profile where it got media attention, I think there could be a kind of tidal wave of it. Definitely."

She goes on to explain that she is speaking up for women who feel as though they can't: "One lady contacted me and said, 'I've wanted to do this [speak out] my entire life. If I speak up against him, he's so powerful, I will never work in this industry ever again'."

Macmanus also commented on how she has seen women in the industry be treated.

“Time and time again … sound engineers would lean over you and take up your personal space and start fiddling with the volume, (they) don’t even ask, they just lean in and start fiddling as if you don’t know what you’re doing, that has happened to me countless times.

“I know they don’t do that to men because I’ve watched.”

She goes on to praise the likes of Billie Eilish, as an inspiration for women in the industry to be themselves.

“It is undeniable that the existence of Billie Eilish and the fact that she is able to wear baggy clothes and dress exactly how she wants, the amount of young Billie Eilish-influenced artists that are going to come through on the back of that feels like such a huge step in the right direction.

“Billie Eilish is managed by her parents, she is very protected, and she is very precociously clever and smart, she’s in a unique position to be allowed to be herself. That, to me, is an example that it can be done."