Date of Submission
9-2020
Type of Work
Dissertation
Principal Supervisor
Dr. Jens Schroder
Associate Supervisor
Dr. Anne Chesher
Second Associate Supervisor
Dr. Jodie Taylor
Keywords
Female; feminine; feminist; feminism; woman; women; feminine aesthetics; intersectionality; performativity; modalities; gender; music; music production; discourse; critical pedagogy; musicology; art activism; do-it-yourself culture
Audience
General (G) - suitable for everyone
Abstract
There is a severe and persistent lack of female representation and participation in the field of popular music production. In the 61-year history of the Grammy awards no woman has ever been awarded Producer of the Year, and female nominees are rare. Until Linda Perry’s nomination in 2019, a female had not received a nomination in 15 years.
As a woman, a mother of daughters, a feminist, a songwriter, and a music producer, I feel compelled to provide an alternative inroad for women to be able to participate within the field of music production. As such, my graduate project work is highly personal and political, culminating in a suite of works titled Divine Affliction: The Intersection of Gender and Music Production. This suite of works includes a self-produced album of original material, a blogumentary which documented the album’s production for pedagogical and self-reflective purposes, a short first-person documentary that focuses on my experiences and approach as a female producer, and an ethnographic case study of other female producers and their experiences.
Using a creative practice as research methodology, this dissertation augments the aforementioned works by providing a contextual study of both the female producer and the feminine aesthetic within popular music production. The examination of the female producer was explored through auto-ethnographic reflections and ethnographic fieldwork with other female producers. By taking an ethnographic approach not only did this project uncover a detailed understanding of women's marginalisation, it also consolidated female insights to remedy this issue. Emerging from the ethnographic fieldwork and a reflexive examination of my own creative practice was that gender itself—specifically, the female experience of marginalisation—also contributed to an aesthetic affect on my approach to practice and on the music itself. I draw on popular and feminist musicology and cultural discourses to theorise this feminine aesthetic.
This study is significant not only in its observations of systemic injustices that exist within the field of popular music production, but also because it provides comprehensive research on the female producer and her practice. Divine Affliction: The Intersection of Gender and Music Production is at once a call to arms seeking cultural change, and an enactment of the cultural change that it seeks.
Notes
Oigirnal Creative Works:
Devine Alliction - Album links:
Soundcloud :
Bandcamp :
Devine Affliction : The Film Link YouTube : Orthentix - Devine Alliction: The Film
Recommended Citation
Thompson, L. (2020). Devine Affliction: The intersection of gender & music production [Masters dissertation, SAE University College]. Creo.
Included in
Art Practice Commons, Audio Arts and Acoustics Commons, Musicology Commons, Other Music Commons, Women's Studies Commons