Lily Allen wants more female executives in the music industry

British singer Lily Allen fears the music industry will be biased against female stars unless more women are installed in top jobs.

The Smile hitmaker has taken aim at record labels for failing to have enough females working at an executive level, telling Britain's The Sun newspaper, "I am astonished by the lack of female executives. I cannot understand or fathom it."

Allen goes on to suggest female artists are measured by the success of their male associates, adding, "You will also notice of the big successful female artists, there is always a 'man behind the woman' piece. If it's Beyonce, it's Jay Z. If it's Adele, it's (songwriter) Paul Epworth. Me? It was Mark Ronson and the same with Amy Winehouse.

"You never get that with men. You can't think of the man behind the man. Because it is a conversation that never happens. If you are Ed Sheeran or someone, no one ever talks about who has produced or who is the man behind Ed Sheeran."