20 September 2018 School of Media and Communication GPO Box 2476 VIC 3001 Tel. + 61 3 9925 3146

www.rmit.edu.au

Response to Parliamentary Inquiry into the Australian music industry by Dr Catherine Strong

The Australian music industry has the potential for significant growth if all Australians are given equal opportunity to participate in it.

Currently, the music industry remains a male-dominated field. Recent research (see, for example, McCormack 2017; Music 2015; Cooper, Coles and Hanna-Osborne 2017; Strong and Cannizzo 2017) has demonstrated this clearly, showing, for example, that only one in five members of APRA AMCOS are women, and that women are under-represented on boards, in record companies, and in other areas where power resides in the industry. Women are given fewer performance opportunities than men; for example, attention has been paid recently to the lopsided nature of many festival line-ups that are overwhelmingly male.

The reasons for this disparity are manifold, but include:

 Networks: information and opportunities flow through informal networks in the music industry. Women in the industry often refer to this as the ‘boys’ club’, as men socialising with other men, and choosing their friends or those they most relate to when making decisions about who to work with, makes it hard for women to gain a foothold.  Gatekeeping: spaces associated with music making are often explicitly or implicitly policed. Women are denied authority (for example, by being assumed to be girlfriends of the band rather than the band, or through having their technical proficiency constantly challenged), or in worst case scenarios subject to sexual violence and harassment. These types of behaviours make it uncomfortable (or sometimes dangerous) for women to participate in music making.  Confidence: the music industry requires self-promotion and high levels of confidence in one’s abilities. Men are socialised to be more comfortable engaging in the types of behaviours this requires, and it is seen as more socially acceptable for them to ‘talk themselves up’.  Gendering of music: certain types of music are seen as particularly ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’, which limits the possibilities open to both men and women musicians. For example, women are currently particularly under-represented in genres such as heavy metal (a recent study [Berkers and Schaap 2018] estimates world-wide participation by women in metal at only 3%) and electronic music (Gadir 2017).

 Education and technology: while girls and boys participate in formal music education at similar levels through to higher education, there is a difference in what they study. Girls, and later women, shy away from subjects related to music technology and composition. This also means that certain areas such as sound engineering, record production, and again, as noted above, electronic music, have few women participating. These factors ultimately lead to an extraordinary loss of talent to the Australian community, and also to the Australian economy. The music industry thrives on having a large pool of creativity and innovative ideas to draw upon. The contributions that women could make if access to music making was made easier, and if they were actively encouraged to move into this area, would be of benefit to all Australians, as well as to these women themselves.

There have been significant activities undertaken in the Australian music industry in recent years to draw attention to this issue, and to attempt to devise strategies to address it. For example, the first Australian Women music awards will be held this October, which will help to highlight the contributions women make, and bodies such as Music Victoria and APRA AMCOS have undertaken research and implemented programs to support and train women. This is supplemented by a wide array of grassroots and community activities, from mentoring and peer- support programs, through to the promotion of women’s work through record companies, gigs and festivals that prioritise the music of women. This work, however, falls to a great extent on the shoulders of volunteers, or relies on the continuing goodwill of the organisations that invest time and effort into trying to raise the profile of women in the industry. Research that I am currently undertaking shows that the focus on women that is happening at this moment is not unique – in the 1990s there was a similar realisation that women were under-represented, and a push to increase their inclusion. This ultimately faded away, leaving the inequality in the industry mostly unchanged.

What is required to ensure the normalisation of women’s equal participation in music is sustained and ongoing attention to this area. This would include:

 Research. Currently, we only have piecemeal data on women’s participation and their experiences. Large-scale, ideally longitudinal, research is needed to understand the problem fully and to measure change over time.  Funding. This would ensure effective programs are maintained over time and that support for women’s music is not left to the whims of the industry.  Assessment. Many ideas are being put forward and tried in industry and in the community. It is vital that we understand what is effective and what is not. The Federal Government is uniquely positioned to provide the above in a way that is sustainable and equitably distributed across the country. While the music industry works very differently to the film industry, looking to the models that have been used for funding women film makers, such as the Gender Matters initiative, or the earlier Women’s Film Fund, would be instructive in determining what such a body or scheme would look like, as these have delivered positive outcomes.

Examining the participation of ‘women’ should also always include a consideration of how this category is not homogenous, and that some women are more disadvantaged than others (for example, women of colour and transwomen; and those who do not fit easily within the gender binary should not be excluded because they do not fit within traditional ideas of womanhood). A scheme or body as suggested above should have this multi-faceted understanding of inclusion as part of their central values.

References Berkers, Pauwke and Schaap, Julian. 2018. Gender Inequality in Metal Music Production. New York: Emerald.

Cooper, Rae, Coles, Amanda and Hanna-Osborne, Sally 2017, Skipping a beat: Assessing the state of gender equality in the Australian music industry, University of Business School, Sydney, N.S.W..

Gadir, T. 2017. ‘Forty-Seven DJs, Four Women: Meritocracy, talent and postfeminist politics’, Dancecult, 9 (1):50–72.

McCormack, Ange. 2017. ‘By the Numbers: The Gender Gap in the Australian Music Industry.’ Hack. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/by-the-numbers-the-gender-gap-in- the-australian-music-industry/8328952

Music Victoria. 2015. Women in the Victorian Contemporary Music Industry. Melbourne: Music Victoria.

Strong, C. and Cannizzo, F. 2017. Australian Women Screen Composers: Career Barriers and Pathways: Research Report, Melbourne, Australia: RMIT University. Available at http://apraamcos.com.au/about-us/industry-research/australian-women-screen-composers/.