This document outlines a research proposal that will examine how women negotiate their careers in the music industry and experience barriers. The researcher plans to conduct qualitative interviews with women in various music industry roles to understand their experiences of gender inequality, barriers to success, and gendered patterns of opportunity. The proposal provides background on the topic, outlines relevant research questions and methodology, reviews literature on feminist theory and the gendering of the music industry, and proposes a timeline for the research.

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ResearchQuestionand Sub-questions
This project will examine how do women, as musicians, negotiate and experience careers in
the music industry? My sub-questions include: are there barriers women face when trying to
get discovered in the music industry? If so, what do they entail? What kind of images do
labels give of women and why? Do women prefer to work behind the scenes as roadies or is
this their entry passage to eventually becoming a musician themselves? What impressions do
the media give of women? How do they portray them to their audiences? Also, I wish to
examine the gendered patterns of opportunity within the music industry. As I delve deeper
into my research I imagine my questions will alter slightly, but these are included to help
guide me with my topic.
Introduction
The reason I chose this topic is due to the fact I was once a musician. Whilst I was not
involved with the music industry, artists often face the same problems within and outside it.
Women are often rejected from the industry if they don’t have ‘the look’ or have any other
talents such as dancing. This would be favourable for the music companies when creating
ideas for music videos. While it might not seem there is gender inequality within the industry
with female artists such as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé making names for themselves, the fact
of the matter is inequality exists, and I would like to explore how women handle this. Music
is viewed as a gendered work organisation. Within the United Kingdom, women often find
themselves with superior qualifications in the music industry compared to those of their male
colleagues, and yet almost 50% of them find themselves earning less than £10,000 (€11,904).
Also, within the population women dominate and yet 61% of music professionals in the U.K.
are male. (Patel, Natasha 2015). Women are more likely to be working within public relations

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whereas men can be found as tour managers. Within the Irish economy, in 2012, 9,030 jobs
were directly employed in the music industry. (Baumbach, Kathrin 2015).
This will also be an interesting topic to research due to the fact there is not an abundance of
research already done on it. Whilst authors such as Marion Leonard (2007) and Sheila
Whiteley (2013) have examined the music industry in terms of rock, girl power and sexuality
and identity, neither of these women carried out their research within an Irish perspective
which is what I intend to do. This proposal begun with identifying the research question and
my sub-questions which I intend to research, an introduction to this project is then introduced
and my methodology is then examined. The literature on the music industry and work
organisations is then examined to draw out the main themes informing this research. It
concludes by bringing my points together and a rough timetable.
Methodology
The most appropriate methodology for my project will include qualitative research in the
form of semi-structured, in-depth interviews. I hope to get at least interviews from women
involved in any area of the music industry. I will also read articles relevant to my chosen
topic. Qualitative research is the preferred methodological option simply because it authorises
the researcher to ‘make observations about natural behaviour and artefacts that capture social
life as it is experienced by the participants’ (Schutt 2009: 315). Interviews with female
musicians or females within the industry, such as roadies, will allow me to gain in-depth
information about what happens behind closed doors within the industry. They will be gender
sensitive as my focus is on women. This involves using a similar methodology to Gayle
Letherby (2015) where she describes gender sensitive methodologies as recognising ‘gender
as a significant (although not the only) variable. It pays attention to the difference and
similarities between women’s and men’s views and experiences.’ (pg.77). In order to gather

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interviews I must reach out to aspiring female musicians, roadies, music shops such as
‘Steamboat Music’ located in Limerick, The Sound Factory, found in Athlone, and music
organisations such as the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) located in Dublin, who
ensure the rights of music creators and other holders are respected, develop cultural initiatives
to promote creation and culture among other things. I must set aside my preconceived ideas
of the industry and the musicians and keep an open mind when conducting the interviews. If
the women are from mixed social classes, it will give me a richer and better research sample.
From being involved with music myself I will have to be conscious of my own subject
position and be sure I have included all aspects of the topic. Seidman (2005), as quoted in
Marine and Lewis (2014), proposes that ‘in-depth interviewing enables researchers to mine
lived experience through witnessing the meaning-making that occurs in the telling of stories’.
(pg.14) I imagine my site for conducting the interviews will alter as the interviewees have
their own busy schedules and it will be difficult to agree on one particular place for each.
Advantages to using intensive or depth interviews include using open-ended questions. These
allow me to vary the questions and the ordering of them from each interviewee. They are
giving their answers in their own words and it allows me to understand their background,
attitudes and allows me to listen to the world in which they come from. (Schutt 2006: 311).
Disadvantages include they are time consuming and also due to my subject position I could
leave out valuable questions that need to be asked which someone else could easily remember
to ask. Ethical issues I will have to be conscious of is making sure each of the interviewees
are informed their responses will be completely confidential and pseudonyms will be ensued
when speaking about them within the project.
Extant Research
As mentioned above, Leonard (2007) explores masculinity and how female musicians
‘negotiate’ the gendering of rock as masculine. She is concerned with how gender affects all

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rock musicians in the industry whereas I am concerned with all female musicians. She also
explores all the staff within the industry. I chose to include this book as the title ‘Gender in
the Music Industry: Rock, Discourse and Girl Power’, is exactly what I intend to research and
it focuses in on women to make my exploration easier. She also uses examples of feminist
theory which I will discuss further in my next section. An article which is helpful for a
general background is Jennifer DeWan’s ‘The Practice of Politics: Feminism, Activism and
Social Change in Ireland.’ (2014). It involves social movement and feminist theory. The
methodology includes socio-historical evidence whilst also being concerned with women’s
activisms. Economic restructuring meant for employment for women. It explores how people
‘practice politics’. Feminist political activism acts as a lens to explore subjectivity and civil
society questions. Women’s movement is concerned with identity and culture. She examines
feminism as an ideology and as a set of practices. Concerned with equal rights in the
workplace. Her article will help me understand the history of women and the challenges they
have faced to get to this moment in their musical careers. Whiteley (2013) is interested in
how we still turn to artists for ‘subjective experience’ – as their lyrics help us deal with
events such as love, abortion, or enjoying yourself. Artists such as Madonna, Joni Mitchell
and Patti Smith are responsible for women in the music industry. They suffered through the
sexist attitudes and broke the norm of the industry being male dominated. (pg.1). This will be
helpful to refer to when asking during my interviews if and how the females have dealt with
sexism and if it has gotten better over time. Madonna has recently won the ‘Women in
Music’ Billboard award in 2016. During her speech, she makes reference to sexism and
feminism. She recognises the inequality in the industry when she mentions “Thank you for
acknowledging my ability to continue my career for 34 years in the face of blatant sexism and
misogyny and constant bullying and relentless abuse.” She draws upon how male artists had
more freedom than females when speaking about Prince wearing fishnets and high heels. She

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recalls some of the most influential musicians such as Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse
and appreciates how fortunate she is to still be allowed to make music. (Warner 2016).
Madonna is an excellent example of gendering in the music industry.
TheoreticalFrameworks
Both Leonard (2007) and DeWan’s (2014) readings include feminist theory. This can be
defined as exploring ‘both inequality in gender relations and the constitution of gender. It is
best understood as both an intellectual and a normative project.’ (Carlson and Ray 2011).
Liberal feminism is concerned with gender equality in the public sphere – equal access to
education, equal pay, ending job segregation and better working conditions. This is the
feminist theory I intend to focus on as it draws on themes from my research. There is no
doubt unequal pay, job segregation and unpleasant working conditions for women in the
music industry and through my interviews I hope to discover more about these topics.
Intersectionality may also be uncovered when carrying out my research. It will be interesting
if the women’s social class affect their roles within the industry. Whiteley (2013) refers to
how ‘post’ in terms of post-feminism, implies a process of change, and feminists take this as
a shift from ‘equality’ to ‘difference’, or from ‘otherness’ and ‘plurality’, in which gender,
race, sexual orientation, class, and others are all recognised as appropriate for the creation of
social identity. (Pg.2). She goes on to explain how over the last twenty years, a maximum of
five women have been promoted or achieved the role as head of any UK based record
company, and the statistics of the Unites States are even more shocking. (Pg.3). This is
partially why I feel this project needs to be carried out, to show people gender inequality still
exists and it is not something that can simply be swept under the rug and never to be spoken
of again. It needs to be recognised as a problem of everyday life which affects everyone.

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Conclusion
In conclusion, I hope to find out how women within the music industry navigate through it
being a gendered organisation and how this is done in terms of gender and power. Whilst I
feel I have an adequate knowledge of the workings it will be interesting to hear first-hand off
women who have worked in the industry or alongside it. I hope this project can give readers
an insight into the world of music which is constantly surrounding us and the struggles
women are facing in their everyday lives. Through interviews with women from any aspect
of the industry I feel it will help broaden my topic and thus make it more engaging. The
industry is a political economy, with male domination at the head of the cultural sphere.

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Bibliography
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DeWan, Jennifer. 2014. "The Practice of Politics: Feminism, Activism and Social Change in
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Patel, Natasha. 2015. "Gender in the music industry." Retrieved December 9, 2016
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