It’s tough to be a female in the music industry. That’s the message a group of women in music had for students at the Reel Music Festival. Haley Young, Leah Daniels and Dearbhla Trainor were all panelist at the Women in Music seminar on April 9.
According to Trainor, it’s tough being a female in the music industry. She said women get hit on and sometimes it is awkward. But she also said sometimes it can also be a bit easier as a female to book a meeting, she said, that a man would most likely favour sitting and having dinner with a female “rather than a balding male guy.”
A 2015 report by Women in Music, a Canadian organization dedicated to fostering equality in the music industry, found female employees of music are least likely to work in music production (6 per cent) and most likely to work in promotion and marketing (20 per cent).
The survey also says women continue to face challenges, from lower pay to not being able to gain executive level positions and gender discrimination. It found that just under a quarter of executives positions are held by women.
Young, who works in artist management for Bedlam Music Management, told students in attendance it is a “boy’s club.” But she also encouraged students to not give up, and said they shouldn’t be discouraged.
Trainor also said the industry is a boy’s club. “As a girl, you need to call them out on it,” she said, adding that Feldman Agency, where she works, lacks female senior agents. She said that it is a growing concern.
Leah Daniels, who has racked up a few nominations in her career, including Rising Star at the Country Music of Ontario, also joined in on the conversation. She, like other female artists, knows how hard it is to work in the industry, especially as a woman.
“There were times I remembered thinking, should we just stop?” she said.
According to Daniels, there is a double standard in the music industry. One of the first pieces of advice she got when she attended Humber College was “you will be rejected, that will happen.” Daniels now has her first top 20 single on the CMT charts.
Tony Sutherland, the professor who helped coordinate the event, said the students chose the panel and came up with the idea of what they wanted.
“If you are looking for money, don’t go into this industry. But if you want to build a career that you can have fun in, then this is for you,” he said.
