Women in the Studio: Creativity, Control and Gender in Popular Music Sound Production

The field of popular music production is overwhelmingly male dominated. Here, Paula Wolfe discusses gendered notions of creativity and examines the significant under-representation of women in studio production. Wolfe brings an invaluable perspective as both a working artist-producer and as a scholar, thereby offering a new body of research based on interviews and first-hand observation. Wolfe demonstrates that patriarchal frameworks continue to form the backbone of the music industry establishment but that women’s work in the creation and control of sound presents a potent challenge to gender stereotyping, marginalisation and containment of women’s achievements that is still in evidence in music marketing practices and media representation in the digital era.

Paula Wolfe has published in the areas of music production, music technology and gender, and regularly presents her research at national and international music conferences on a wide range of issues that accompany the work of women singer-songwriters, composers and producers. Practitioner as well as scholar, Wolfe is a critically acclaimed artist-producer and is currently promoting her third album, White Dots (Sib Records 2019). www.paulawolfe.co.uk