Global InformationWomen in music information
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Women in music have many roles and types of contributions. Women shape music movements, events, and genres of music through their roles as composers, songwriters, instrumental performers, singers, conductors, and music educators. Women's music has been created by and for women in part to explore ideas of women's rights and feminism within musical expressions. The impact of women in music influences concepts of creativity, activism, and culture.
In the 2010s, while women constituted a significant proportion of popular music and classical music singers, and a significant proportion of songwriters (many of them being singer-songwriters), there were few women record producers, rock critics, or rock instrumentalists. Female artists in pop music, exemplified by figures like Björk, Lady Gaga and Madonna, have openly addressed the issue of sexism within the music industry.[1][2][3] Additionally, a 2021 study led by Dr. Smith announced that "...over the last six years, the representation of women in the music industry has been even lower."[4][5] In the realm of classical music, despite the substantial contributions of women composers spanning from the Medieval period to the present day, women composers are significantly underrepresented in the commonly performed classical music repertoire, music history textbooks, and music encyclopedias. For example, in the Concise Oxford History of Music, Clara Schumann is one of the only female composers who is mentioned.
Women constitute a significant proportion of instrumental soloists in classical music and the percentage of women in orchestras is increasing. A 2015 article on concerto soloists in major Canadian orchestras, however, indicated that 84% of the soloists with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra were men. In 2012, women made up just 6% of the top-ranked Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. Fewer women are instrumental players in popular music genres such as rock and heavy metal, although there have been various female instrumentalists and all-female bands. Women are particularly underrepresented in extreme metal genres.[6]: 103 Women are also underrepresented in orchestral conducting, music criticism/music journalism, music producing, and sound engineering. While women were discouraged from composing in the 19th century, and there were few women musicologists, women became involved in music education "to such a degree that women dominated [this field] during the later half of the 19th century and well into the 20th century."[7]
According to Jessica Duchen, a music writer for London's The Independent, women musicians in classical music are "too often judged for their appearances, rather than their talent" and they face pressure "to look sexy onstage and in photos."[8] Duchen states that while "[t]here are women musicians who refuse to play on their looks...the ones who do tend to be more materially successful."[8] According to the UK's Radio 3 editor, Edwina Wolstencroft, the music industry has long been open to having women in performance or entertainment roles, but women are much less likely to have positions of authority, such as being the conductor of an orchestra,[9] a profession which has been called "one of the last glass ceilings in the music industry."[10] In popular music, while there are many women singers recording songs, there are very few women behind the audio console acting as music producers, the individuals who direct and manage the recording process.[11] One of the most recorded artists is a woman, Asha Bhosle, an Indian singer who is best known as a playback singer in Hindi cinema.[12]
- ^ Crawford, Anwen (26 May 2015). "The World Needs Female Rock Critics". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ Mizoguchi, Karen (12 December 2015). "Lady Gaga Calls Music Industry a 'F—king Boys Club'". People. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021.
- ^ McDermott, Maeve (9 December 2016). "Madonna blasts music industry sexism: 'If you're a girl, you have to play the game'". USA Today. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ Smith, Stacy L.; et al. (January 2018). Inclusion in the Recording Studio? Gender and Race/Ethnicity of Artists, Songwriters & Producers across 600 Popular Songs from 2012-2017 (PDF) (Report). Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. pp. 1–31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 November 2021 – via USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism News staff.
- ^ Sisario, Ben (25 January 2018). "Gender Diversity in the Music Industry? The Numbers Are Grim". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ Schaap, Julian; Berkers, Pauwke (2014). "Grunting Alone? Online Gender Inequality in Extreme Metal Music". IASPM Journal. 4 (1): 101–116. doi:10.5429/2079-3871(2014)v4i1.8en. hdl:1765/51580.
- ^ Reublin, Richard A.; Beil, Richard G. (September 2002). "In Search of Women in American Song; A Neglected Musical Heritage". Parlor Songs. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ a b Morreale, Michael (19 March 2014). "Classical Music's Shocking Gender Gap". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 27 June 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ Duchen, Jessica (28 February 2015). "Why the male domination of classical music might be coming to an end". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
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