TIPS: How Women In Music Network For Success
And why women show up... or not
TIPS: How Women In Music Network For Success
Local Detroit music scene leaders hosted a mixer on Sunday, May 18th that sparked conversations about nurturing community and current challenges in today’s local music scene.
Before getting into the meat of this article, I’d like to thank singer/songwriter Jennifer Westwood for organizing this top-notch mixer. She leads by example in fostering community and was most-frequently called a “powerhouse” by attendees with whom I spoke. Her energy and commitment to the scene are boundless. And thank you to Guitar Hi-Fi for opening their doors to this crowd of creatives.
Musicians, radio stations, nonprofits, A&R reps, event ticketing companies, venue owners and others enthusiastically introduced themselves, upcoming events, and initiatives. The overall vibe was “we are in this together.” Here are a list of supporting groups and pics.
Where Are Our Sisters?
I’ve attended and sponsored more music community events hosted by and for female artists than I can count. They are motivating, educational, and truly a lot of fun. That said, the benefits of attending co-ed industry events are more powerful in promoting gender equity in music. While women represented different roles in the music industry at Sunday’s mixer, the number of male attendees far outnumbered the women.
Full disclosure, I had to leave after two hours because I’m recovering from a medical procedure and have to take it easy. But unless a tour bus full of women pulled up after I left, I’d say 80% plus or minus of attendees were men.
There is no way I’m going to point fingers or shame women who can’t make some of these events. Women are the primary caregivers in a family and many work multiple jobs to make ends meet (they only get about 20% of local music venue bookings and earn 15-30% less per show if they get paid). What I do know is that when we show up to community events, we effectively shut down a lot of arguments that work against us in promoting equitable treatment in the industry. These arguments include:
Venue owners: “There just aren’t enough female artists to book half my dates.”
Male musicians ISO: “If I knew any female musicians, I would ask them to audition.”
General feedback: “Women want special treatment.”
When women and men show up in the same spaces, these arguments disappear. Introductions foster professional opportunities. Seeing faces replaces anonymity that makes women easily dismissible. Relationships expose talent that deserves equal opportunity, not special treatment. When women and men show up to meet, exchange knowledge, and collaborate, a stronger local scene emerges for everyone.
"That’s all I’ve ever really done to get here, just kept showing up. Even when I didn’t want to.” - Sia
Because inequity continues to exist, the need to meet with and assist sister music industry professionals remains critical to get ahead. There are A-listers who start nonprofits and professional organizations loaded with resources and opportunities. GRAMMY-winning music producer and songwriter Linda Perry started EqualizeHer to train emerging talent on the creative and technical sides of music. In 2022, the organization hosted a panel during SXSW discussing the issues that she and other female music professionals face in the industry. One moment stood out.
Perry said she has a hard time getting women to apply for programs or jobs she offers. She expressed frustration and confusion as to why women aren’t showing up for these opportunities. It’s a tough topic. One woman in the audience raised her hand and asked Perry if she wasn’t perpetrating misogynistic norms by “accusing” women of not stepping up. Whoa! I couldn’t believe it. Linda handled her response professionally, but I spent the next two minutes pretty miffed. We can no longer question women’s motives or lack of motive? If we don’t question motives, how do we improve communications and results? In retrospect, the question was probably posed to be inflammatory versus productive.
Why Women Show Up — Or Not
An often-quoted study that came from an internal Hewlett Packard report stated that “Men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100% of them.” It was assumed that women lack confidence in themselves and their abilities.
Harvard Business Review published an article by Tara Sophia Mohr found that wasn’t the case. Instead, it appears that women who didn’t meet all the listed qualifications in a job description a) were less likely to waste time and energy if lacking 100% of qualifications would result in failure to get a call, and b) were more likely to look at the qualifications like rules that need to be followed. The words “fear of failure” are mentioned in the takeaways. My interpretation? We’re conserving our time and energy for a better match, and we tend to follow rules more than men. Shocking, I know.
TIP: Be like Dolly. If men respond when they only meet 60% of qualifications, then it’s worth it for us to do it as well.
In a male-dominated industry scarcity is a constant threat. You may recall Kalie Shore’s interview when she recalls a label telling her she won’t get a deal because they have too many women signed already while yet another man was inking a deal in the next room. Or the lopsided industry statistics that haunt women on a daily basis. This leads to competition in a system that dictates one successful woman must be 86’d (no one is killed) to make room for another instead of expanding the talent pool or replacing a male colleague.
So, we may shy away from all-female events thinking it won’t do any good in boosting our careers. Per the above study, we aren’t ones to waste our precious time! Yet, collaboration beats competition— a Herizon Music core value since 2019. Kellogg Insight reveals a study about networking and career advancement in male-dominated industries. “Beers with the boys” and being highly connected in that network isn’t enough. Kellogg states that the “most successful women often had a tight-knit circle of female colleagues as well.”
Fostering a relationship with friends who have friends in high places provides public market information (like the booking agent’s name/info at a new club), which is enough for men to get the job. Women require that plus additional *private* information like internal culture and politics or other insider tips and sensitive information to get the job. Women provide each other with this private info. The result: women with both highly connected networks and close ties with female peers had an average job ranking 2.5 times higher than women whose networks lacked those two elements.
“There is power and meaning in showing up.” - Danyel Smith, writer-producer-editor
This is where Austin, Texas musicians excel. They have a plethora of co-ed and women-centric nonprofits and associations that promote those bonds and create a strong local music scene. Texchromosome, Wavemakers 40+, Guitar Girl, Women In Music, Harmony Sisters, Girls Rock Austin, and more that support women. Plus co-ed groups like Black Fret, Austin Music Foundation, The Texas Music Office (government) and the Texas chapter of the Recording Academy provide networking and career development.
TIP: Research and find one all-female group and one co-ed group that speak to what YOU need to advance your career (as a musician, audio tech, producer, songwriter, any role!). Introduce yourself, attend meetings, and build relationships. Don’t start with an “ask,” just get to know other members. The rest will come organically. If you don’t gel with one group, find a replacement that does.
“Marketing Starts At Home”
These are the wise words of Jazmine Valencia of JV Agency in L.A. She provides both public and private information in our podcast chat about successfully marketing your music and brand. Networking is part of home-grown success.
How do you expect strangers to buy tickets and music if your local circles are not? That’s why a group of Michigan-based music professionals volunteered to start a campaign petitioning the Recording Academy to launch a regional chapter. Many people still think that the Academy simply hosts the GRAMMYS, but it offers so much more by way of career development resources, political and legal advocacy, grants, mentorships, and more. If you’re based in Michigan and want to be a part of this initiative, please contact me.
Meanwhile, Jazmine announced, “The JVA team is pleased to offer Herizon Music newsletter subscribers a special 15% discount on their digital marketing services. Please email herizon@jvagency.co, and mention "Herizon15" in the email to receive the discount.”
Email them and see if it’s for you, no obligation!I f it is for you, you’ll get the discount and Herizon Music gets a referral fee that helps keep our newsletter and podcast up and running.
It’s a wrap!
Thea 🎶
Very well-written and informative! I'm about to go back to school for Multimedia and I'm planning on enhancing my skills by taking some audio engineering-related courses. It would be really cool to work in music but it does seem hard to break through as a woman, but reading this article gave me some inspiration.
Thank U thea