Gender and Music-Making towards the Mid-21st Century

This Research Topic probes the current state of play for women, and gender-expansive creatives, who make music. We are interested in women who create music in both paid and unpaid capacities, especially given that making a full-time living in the music industry is so notoriously hard to achieve. Our focus includes women with careers in the mainstream music industry, music education and training, DJs, music producers, grassroots musicians, and those who create music for art's sake.

Despite a few high-profile global female success stories, such as Beyonce, Dua Lipa, and Taylor Swift, the music industry is notoriously problematic for women to access (Leonard, 2017). What are the challenges and opportunities for women in music creation in the third decade of the 21st century? Of particular interest are the contemporary impacts of digital technologies and geo-political forces on female music creatives and intersectional inequality.

We aim to uncover a wide range of factors impacting women who are involved in music creation today:

1. Our first area of interest is the impact of digital technology and platformization on musical creativity and careers from an intersectional and gender perspective. Linked to this is a consideration of how the rise of AI impacts women involved in the production of music.
2. Our second focus is on how women negotiate the oscillating and often contradictory policies and ideologies which simultaneously seek to improve gender equality in the creative industries against a backdrop of political ideologies that actively seek to destroy diversity and equality initiatives (as evidenced in Trump’s first tranche of policies in January 2025).
3. Our third area of focus are the devastating cuts to arts funding at an ever increasing rate.

In sum, the collision of forces of contemporary technologies, current political and popular ideologies, and threats to arts funding are at the forefront of our investigations. Securing contributions from a wide range of international contributors is a key goal. We welcome case studies exploring working practices, policy initiatives, political contexts, the impact of technology, training and education, and what being creative means in the contemporary world.

We invite contributions that combine industry and practitioner insights with academic rigor to evaluate how emerging working practices, policies, ideologies, and technologies are reshaping gender dynamics in music making and music industry work. Questions/themes of interest include:

• Is there evidence that the music industry (at all levels) is becoming more equitable in terms of gender?
• The impact of intersectional inequalities on women in music making contexts.
• In the era of ‘vampire’ capitalism, is it possible for women to be creative without monetization?
• Is digital technology increasing women’s voice and participation in music making?
• What is the impact of platformization on women musical creatives?
• What are the gendered implications of AI’s rise, and does this create opportunities or challenges for women involved in music creativity and the music industry?
• What initiatives support women and gender-expansive creatives in music workplaces?
• An evaluation of funding and resources, training and mentorships, access to global markets, advocacy and representation, leveraging digital technology, sector sustainability, and local empowerment.
• What are the contemporary issues regarding authorship, gender, and ideas of ‘genius’ in music contexts?
• Pay gaps, denial of paid work, and educational and career opportunities.
• Women in music involved in music journalism, radio, film, television, and advertising.
• Digital feminist activism.

Information and Instructions for Authors

This Research Topic accepts any of the article types listed below, except for Editorial (Editorials are submitted exclusively by the Topic Editors).

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: gender, music industry, musical creativity, intersectional inequality, digital society, capitalism

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.