Matty Healy, frontman of The 1975, has committed to only performing at festivals with a gender-balanced lineup. 

The decision comes in response to a tweet from Laura Snapes, deputy music editor for The Guardian, who writes that any high-profile act that is speaking out against inequality but not using their leverage to help correct it “is failing to understand the game-changing role they could play in this situation”.

The solution, Snapes suggests, directly addressing Healy, is to: “add a condition to your rider that says you’ll only play festivals that commit to X% (ideally 50%!) acts that include women and non binary performers.”

“I have agreed to some festivals already that may not adhere to this and I would never let fans down who already have tickets,” Healy says in response. “But from now I will and believe this is how male artist (sic) can be true allies.”

“I’m sure my agents are having kittens right now,” he adds, “but times up man people need to act and not chat.”

The reason Snapes brought the issue up in the first place was related to the recently-revealed lineup for Reading and Leeds, which has been criticised on social media for a largely male bias.

Healy has previously been outspoken about other issues in music, for example signing up to a climate emergency campaign that confronts its impact on the environment, and calling out misogyny in the industry.