Music lovers – a short meditation for you today. Boy’s Club vs. Girl’s Club. It’s a universal competition. One that’s been going on forever and will keep continuing forever. But, just because you know about it, and just because it’s not highlighted all of the time, doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good idea to back up and look at a few numbers every once in a while to keep tabs on the fact that there is work to be done in order to make sure everyone gets the opportunity to go as far in their careers as their passion and talents will take them.
Who Is In Charge?
Guys make the decisions. They are a huge majority of studio and label owners, and they get to make the calls. Your meditation questions. Are women less capable to make decisions about music, production value, artistic integrity, marketing, promotions, or touring? Where in the difference of gender did that get hardwired in? It’s a rather frustrating question right off the bat, and successful women in the industry often will say that when they are interviewed, a comment that comes up is, ‘well, that’s curious that you are interested in audio.’ Kind of makes you wonder if we’re still in the dark ages where popular opinion said that brain matter in men and women had different textures.
Who Does the Technical Work?
Overwhelmingly, again, men. There are theories to go along with you meditation on this as well – maybe sexism, the desire to raise a family and avoid the lifestyle, or just plain lack of interest. But maybe that lack of interest is only in rock and pop, because that is where there are almost no women at all, compared to other genres of music, or audio jobs dealing with theater or stage productions. There appear to be no particularly clear answers on this one, just mumbles from the crowd.
Who Gets Paid What?
As in most professions, there is a salary gap between men and women in the music industry, whether professional, administrative, artistic, or technical. It is one of the bizarre facts of this day and age that these gaps still exist, even though we know about them, and the enlightened people of the world somehow can’t do anything about it. Might that be part of what is keeping women away? Quite a possibility isn’t it, at least to some degree.
There is a certain amount of self-fulfillment in the audio and entertainment industry today keeping the genders unequal throughout. There is not enough practical support to offer a pathway in for people who have the talent and passion, but can’t fight their way through antique perceptions and biases.
