Little Mix have hit out against the "double standards" of the music industry as the singers explained how their creative ideas were routinely ignored early in their career.
In an interview with The Sun, the successful girlband, made up of Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jesy Nelson, insisted women who try to take control of their careers are judged different to their male counterparts.
The band, who on Friday released their fifth studio album, LM5, explained that when they started out their opinions were often ignored and they were just treated like "faces".
“It’s double standards when you’re young women. When we started out it was almost like, ‘This is your lane, stay in your lane. You’re the faces and the name’," Perrie explained. "We’re not. We’re the brand. We’re businesswomen. It’s our baby. So everything we do creatively comes from us."
Perrie went on to say that if they disagreed with executives their complaints would be characterised as "whining", whereas if a man expressed his opinion it would be taken more seriously.
"It is frustrating that if a group of guys were to say, ‘We’re not going to do that song, we’re going to release this song’, it’s like, ‘Maybe we should listen’," she continued. “Whereas when we do it, it’s like, ‘Oh they’re at it again, they’re whining’. But we’re not. We’re perfectionists. We take everything we do so seriously.”
The band are more than pleased with their latest release, and tweeted fans on Friday (16Nov18) to say it is “the album we’ve always wanted to make”.
They also addressed their split from former mentor Simon Cowell, who recently denied he'd had a falling out with the group.
"We were with Syco for seven years and had an incredible journey but it’s going to be nice to change it up and get a new view on us," said Perrie.
"A change and a fresh start is a good thing, we’re excited," added bandmate Leigh-Anne. “I think it’s going to be good for us as well. I’m intrigued to see what people want to do for us."
