Dundalk Institute of Technology researchers are calling for musicians to participate in an study on gender and the music industry.
The DkIT research team are looking for musicians to share their experiences of working in the industry, for a project called project Gendered Experiences of the Irish Music Industry, which they say is the first nationwide study on the relationship between gender and musicians’ experiences on the island of Ireland.
See more from the researchers below:
Instrumentalists, singers, and DJs that represent a diversity of voices, music and scenes are invited to participate in a national survey that will gather information on pathways to becoming an artist and day-to-day experiences within the music industry, including in performing and recording settings. This study embraces all genres, including pop, jazz, Irish traditional music, art music, folk, hip hop, rock, etc.
The dramatic interruption to the music industry caused by Covid-19 has created space for reflection upon the fact that the Irish music industry has a gender equality problem. This reality has been highlighted by the recent successes of Women in Harmony and Imelda May, whose number one chart positions were dominated by discussions of their gender.
Speaking on this topic, Dr. Ann Marie Hanlon, lead researcher on the project and lecturer in Popular Music at Dundalk Institute of Technology said: “Little attention has been paid to documenting the impact gender may play in an artist’s career trajectory in Ireland. As the first research project of its kind, this study will promote informed and meaningful dialogue in relation to intersectionality and creativity in Ireland.”
Reports published by the Why Not Her? Collective in 2020 and 2021 reveal that 78.1% of hit singles in the last twenty years were by Irish male artists or groups. Women and non-binary artists typically get less than 20% of the airplay on most Irish radio stations.
Yet, change may be stirring within the industry. In 2020 CMAT became the first solo female artist to reach number one in the Homegrown Charts and Irish Women in Harmony achieved this placing as the first female group with their cover of the Cranberries “Dreams”.
Research findings will be made freely available to the public via the project’s social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, where the survey can now be accessed. It will remain live throughout July 2021.
Facebook: IMI Gender Research
Twitter: @imi_gen_res
Instagram: IMI Gender Research
Survey Link: https://forms.office.com/r/wdmkaj1UeH
