Why are there so few women electronic music artists

A debate sparked up in the Netherlands about women in the music industry. For certain genres and styles and that happen to be the one I work in you don't run into woman quickly. Let's focus on the biggest export electronic music. And how the debate that Eurosonic/Noorderslag Festival sparked is just messed up for us. We aren't even likely to make a 50%/50% representation by 2020 no matter how hard we tried.

Making Electronic Dance Music just isn't sexy

Imagine spending hours daily in a studio for a lot of classical female musicians it is imaginable. For most other females in the Netherlands, it's not likely the thing they want. In reality, there are very few people willing to commit hours of their lives just to create that record. And surprise surprise most of the people willing to lock them selfs up behind a computer for hours are men. The knowledge to create electronic music can vary.

But since a lot of making music it's about math, there is no surprise either that more man choice to produce music then woman. Besides no sunlight I find it hard to believe I chose this career myself. Of course the big public moments where I perform as DJ are neat. And I see more female DJ's coming up but not a lot of female producers.

As agency/label

Being a promoter and label owner there is just one big problem for me. Even if I wanted to compile to Eurosonics goal of 50%/50% men/women I simply can't. Out of all mixtapes, demo's and electronic press kits that have been sent to me only one was by a female DJ. I run into a lot of females in this industry but they are rarely the ones to take the stage more often they do communication, managed or hospitality jobs. These aren't the award jobs of course. But unlikely being an artist, promoter or label owner they provide more steady income.

In conclusion

Is the music industry really doing that bad with the positions for females? Well, there is some messed up stuff behind closed doors as in any industry. But in general, women aren't taking the stage as often as men do. They just choose other jobs within the Entertainment Industry. Confusing the total of the industry up with limiting it to artists. It has more to do with the culture that women often choice to belong too.