EQUALISING THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

Abbey Road Studios opens its doors to the next generation of creatives for International Women’s Day 2023. By Bex April May.

This International Women’s Day 2023, Abbey Road Studios opened its legendary doors for its fourth Equalise event, hosting a free day of masterclasses showcasing music as a credible career path for women, with discussions around working in the industry, film scoring and music creation all designed to empower the next generation of creatives.

Insights came from some of the industry’s most established and exciting rising female talent, including YolanDa Brown OBE, award-winning composer Jocelyn Pook, DJ Club Fitness and more taking to the stage to inspire women aspiring to take their rightful seat at the table.

Born out of the studio’s ambition to have more women working in music production, the discussion is especially pressing, given that less than 5% of producers and engineers are women, while a recent study by Spotify found that over the past decade, only 12.7% of songwriters are female.

So, in 2023, how can we combat the lack of female representation behind the scenes in music… and what still needs to change for the up and coming next wave of artists?

Speaking on the panel at the hugely popular event, producer, rapper and singer, Kay Young said, “For me coming up, I didn’t see women in music, as producers… if we come together to create our own spaces, that’s a start in bringing up the next generation.”

At the same time, singer- songwriter and producer Sans Soucis highlighted the importance of education and guidance to the future of female representation. “Coaching is really important. I was lucky enough to be coached by two organisations, the Abram Wilson Foundation and I Love Live on my creative journey,” they added. “I do think that minorities in societies are limited in what they can offer because of the structure of our society. So we need to be extra prepared and have a set of tools to face these kinds of situations that other people might not be facing… it’s all about having that support from someone who can validate your existence better than the system itself.”

One of the biggest barriers to break down, the musicians discussed, comes in the form of fighting the outdated idea that women aren’t as suited to technical roles than their male counterparts, through educating everyone in the industry on language and attitudes.

“It’s about breaking the very historial idea that men are better than women with technology - it’s utter myth,” lays out sound engineer and producer Sarah

Meyz, “Unfortunately, women can be looked down on, especially in more technical jobs, but you can be whoever you want to be, independent of your gender. We also need to educate men about language and how to address things to communicate better.”

Adds Sans Soucis, “It’s a vocabulary; it’s education. The biggest challenges for me have been the patriarchy, language, intention, and just trying to be brave. We always need to put that extra bravery badge on our chest to enter the room and I think that needs to be acknowledged.”

That’s because the work doesn’t stop at getting more female representation behind the scenes. Once women are in the studio, the reality is that women are tasked with proving their skills more strictly than men. In this regard, confidence is key.

“You have to understand who you are as a producer and bring your skills to the table,” says Meyz, “It’s like Rihanna said, fake it ‘til you make it.”

“Advocating for yourself is a huge thing,” agreed Canadian DJ Club Fitness, “If you think, ‘I really believe in myself and I really want to do this,’ sometimes you’ll have these full circle moments that make you realise that trusting yourself is a big, important thing.”

With that in mind, aspiring female musicians should trust in their abilities to start creating now, without waiting for software or permission. “You don’t actually need many things to create. Sometimes you might think you need a mixer or a plugin for whatever reason, but then you realise that you have all the elements that you need. Creativity is born within what you have at the time,” says the DJ, “Make sure you’re nurturing that activity of creating with what you have and that will always serve you.”

However, the onus of addressing the balance of female roles behind the scenes is not just on women - it’s an issue for the industry to reset, and things are improving, albeit slowly.

“In the last five years, I think there’s been a more concerted effort to diversify lineups in dance music,” says Club Fitness. However, this also leads to box ticking, which can be detrimental to those making their way in music, she warns, “Something I see a lot of personally is that people will want to book me because they have a clause in their contract that they want to hire a black woman on their lineup. When I get requests like that, I just say no: don’t ever grab an opportunity if it doesn’t make sense to you personally, because that is betraying your own creativity and who you are fundamentally as an artist.”

In film, a 2019 study by The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film found that an enormous 94% of all box office film scores were composed by men.

British composer Natalie Holt is one of the few women composers to be scoring in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with her music for the Disney+ series, Loki, and the first woman to ever score a live-action Star Wars project, as the composer for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on the streamer. In her experience, this dearth is down to money, “At that top level of studio film, you’re talking millions and millions of pounds of investment, and the studios want a safe pair of hands. So at the moment, those safe pairs of hands are people who have been around for a certain number of years and in a slightly different time.”

With a new generation of female composers and music producers coming into the industry, we can be optimistic of a future, more equal landscape, she explains, “Hopefully, going forward, those safe pairs of hands who will be trusted will be more equalised.”

Jocelyn Pook, multi-award winning composer of the score from Eyes Wide Shut, among many other film, TV and theatre projects, has noticed a change. “It always surprises me how low the figures are of women composers,” adding, for example, “I would say it’s so different now from when I was younger… there’s usually quite a strong female presence now in different categories at the Ivors Composer Awards.”

Ultimately, everyone’s journey into the music industry is different - and we should embrace it, said the Equalise speakers. Reflecting on her own career so far, Meyz said, “There are a thousand different ways you can learn and create your own path. There’s no straight line. What works for some people might not work for you, and that’s totally cool.”

Likewise, speaking to Audio Media International at the event, award-winning saxophonist and recentlyappointed chair of the BPI, YolanDa Brown OBE, explained, “Everybody’s journey is different and everyone’s unique.”

She added, “One thing I’m hearing a lot about is the idea of imposter syndrome. But actually, we should all just be proud of our uniqueness and bring that to the table every day.”

Discover more on Abbey Road Studios’ initiatives to drive balance in the music industry at abbeyroad. com/equalise.