Women in the Studio

Do We Really Want to Keep the Gate Threshold That High?

“…Following the highly significant impact of gender, our analysis indicates that age is the second most important factor influencing experiences of discrimination and microaggressions in the commercial recording studio. This mirrors the heteropatriarchal structure of the studio that requires young professionals to develop a 'thick skin' [22] and embrace the rules and conventions of the workplace to pursue a career in this informal industry [23]. While masculinity is not intrinsically harmful and can be associated with positive and prosocial traits such as helpfulness, courage, and responsibility [60], some typically masculine workplace behaviors such as competitiveness, assertiveness, and ruthlessness can become toxic when they are performed in "socially destructive" and dominating ways [61].…”

“…In addition to developing a thick skin [22] and demonstrating resilience in their capacity to handle intimate and uncomfortable situations while performing emotional and invisible labor, studio professionals must follow the rules and conventions of the music industry in pursuing a studio career [23]. These rules and conventions are historically gendered [24], [25] and mirror the heteropatriarchal 4 structure of this industry.…”

“…These rules and conventions are historically gendered [24], [25] and mirror the heteropatriarchal 4 structure of this industry. Indeed, studio professionals act as "cultural intermediaries between production and consumption" [28], thus at the intersection of two male-dominated groups whose expectations and bias reinforce the gendering of the commercial recording studio, i.e., musicians across genres [29], [30] and music industry professionals [22].…”

“…Recent work emphasizes that the music industry's genius system maintains women and other historically and systemically marginalized groups of studio professionals in undermined and powerless positions [31], [32], to the point that Wolfe advocates for home-studio self-isolation as the healthiest solution for women producers to develop their skills and self-confidence before facing the gendered and heteropatriarchal commercial recording studio [22]. Furthermore the decline of global recording revenues since the early 21 st century has resulted in decreased budgets for recording projects, the need for producers to reinvent their profession [33], and the requirement to handle three jobs at once [34].…”

“…For instance, an ethnography of digital studios in Bamako (Mali) linked studio owners' access and ability to use technologies that are still rare and new in a low-income country and their legitimacy to coach artists and control the arrangement and composition process [39]. Wolfe [22] argues that the desire to retain control of the sound of the artist's voice and how that voice is presented is gendered and that "for the male producer to have held these particular creative reins for such a long time has also resulted in [. .…”