Female fans may or may not support female musicians on an individual basis but one thing almost all female fans do is support male musicians. As we should, of course. Unfortunately, the reverse isn't true as often as it should be--a lot men still harbor prejudices against female musicians. On top of that, a lot female fans have absorbed that prejudice and also dislike female musicians out of hand.
The situation is simple enough--male musicians can expect support from men and women, whether they are sexist or not. Female musicians can only expect support from non-sexist fans. Smaller group of people to draw fans from means less fans. Easy enough to understand.
Marcotte is responding to this post at Feministe: Why Don't Women Download?, which in turn looks at and article from The Guardian claiming that only 4% of legal downloads are by women.
And no, if you're curious, I don't happen to think that pastel ipods are the answer.
10 comments:
Do not misunderestimate the power of pastel iPods.
Oddly enough, I'm pretty sure I like female artists more than my girlfriend does...
Are there a lot of female powerpoppers? Aside from Neko Case?
Well, gee, it couldn't be because most women have to fight for even 10 minutes on the computer at home, unless they have their own puter, like I do. Or that women don't make as much as men, so they're less likely to be able to afford downloads over at Apple Music or even a computer.
Sheesh, what's wrong with people that they don't understand basic economics, and money-idiot yours truly does?
Aquaria makes a valuable point (it was she whose gushing talked me--well, really Thers, since it was a gift--into my own ipod)--ignoring logistics and economics here is foolish. I'm also curious how they know who is actually downloading: we have one itunes account in our family, which happens to be in my name, as is the joint bank account which covers it. But we both use it, and it could easily have gone the other way. In our case, all the downloads in our family go into the "female" column, but that means plenty of families might also fall into the "male" column in the same manner, no matter who's actually at the keyboard. It's also true that, when money is tight, women are usually the first to give up their discretionary spending to that pesky rent-food monster.
Eli, there are some female power poppers, but not very many, and often they occur in bands with men. Think Blondie as a model. The Gogos were an all-female band (notable at the time), and the whole riot grrrl thing in the nineties, and The Donnas. But the girl singer is still the model. Not that this is, by definition, anti-feminist--a lot depends on whose songs are being sung, whose voice is heard. Even my fave Mary Prankster has male backing musicians, but I'd never call her a girl singer.
A funny story: a friend of ours was living in lower Manhattan ans got called for jury duty. She was there with Thurston Moore (can you imagine having Thurston Moore on your jury? Good god.), and saw him being questioned. When he explained that he was in a band, they asked what his wife did for a living. "She's in the band, too."
"Oh! Is she the girl singer?" Uh, no. She's the bass player."
I think you're correct, regarding rock music. But interestingly, in some other musical styles female musicians are universally heralded. The world of opera is notable for this. (So is Bollywood, and probably American bluegrass, as examples.)
Of course, you might think of The Three Tenors, who sold a few crossover albums which got noticed by the general public. But compare that to Cecilia Bartoli, who sold a half-million copies of an album of virtually unknown Vivaldi opera arias?!
Among my friends, femala divas seem to get a lot more attention than the male singers, but we happen to be in a glut of really fabulous sopranos right now, and the tenor ut has passed ascendency. Anna Sophie von Otter, Dawn Upshaw (who also has incredible record sales,) Renee Fleming and Barbara Bonney, among many others, command the attention of all classical music lovers, regardless of which of the four basic genders they might belong to!
I think you're correct, regarding rock music. But interestingly, in some other musical styles female musicians are universally heralded. The world of opera is notable for this. (So is Bollywood, and probably American bluegrass, as examples.)
Of course, you might think of The Three Tenors, who sold a few crossover albums which got noticed by the general public. But compare that to Cecilia Bartoli, who sold a half-million copies of an album of virtually unknown Vivaldi opera arias?!
Among my friends, femala divas seem to get a lot more attention than the male singers, but we happen to be in a glut of really fabulous sopranos right now, and the tenor glut has passed ascendency. Anna Sophie von Otter, Dawn Upshaw (who also has incredible record sales,) Renee Fleming and Barbara Bonney, among many others, command the attention of all classical music lovers, regardless of which of the four basic genders they might belong to!
I know that I can name a hell of a lot more women in opera than I can male. But then, the composers tended to write the great stuff for the female voice!
Mary makes a good point about how the heck they know who is downloading. I have two Apple Music store accounts (don't ask). My husband might have one, but I'm not sure. I know another woman downloaded over $150 worth of music into her Xmas present iPod, in one sitting! The husband had grabbed a few songs from Apple to load into her Pod before he gave it to her, but nowhere near $150's worth. Clincher: She used his account to download that whopper of a bill. And she filled it up in about three months, mostly legal downloads, all of those credited to her husband.
[giggle] wanna go shopping? [giggle]
I'm not sure it's fair to say that men who don't have a lot of female artists in their CD collection are sexist. Music is about expression, and people relate to certain forms of expression in different ways. Is it fair to say that large numbers of white people don't like rap because they're racist? Or is it because they just don't relate to it?
I like a few female artists and some non-white artists, but about 95% of the music I listen to is from white male artists. It's just what I find "speaks" to me in a way that makes music enjoyable.
Actually, it is rather sexist, and the reason whites don't like rap is, more often than not, racist. Just listen to the reasons people give for not liking rap;it's a lot like what we used to hear about early jazz or early rock or even disco: "jungle music," "noise," "not real music," "immoral," and etc. The reason we "relate to different forms of expression" is because we respond to the rhythms and melodic cues we prefer in music, and, in the case of vocal music, we subconsciously share the experiences expressed...or would like to.
A good part of it, too, is that, traditionally (not always, but usually in the case of "male" music--which is still the dominant gender expression), men identify with the person doing the singing, and women identify with the person being sung to or about. Think of it this way: Why in the hell would Michael Bolton's "How Am I Supposed to Live without You?" be so popular with women if it weren't for women wishing they were the girl in the song, that MB were singing those beautiful sentiments to that woman listening? Meanwhile, a bunch of guys could identify with MB, but, to turn things around, I don't see them saying, "Gosh, I wish I were the guy Pat Benatar was singing that song to!" Women can switch over to the identifying with the singer role, pretty easily. Say, with Pat Benatar snarling at a guy about being a heartbreaker and to quit messing around with her.
So maybe men can't relate to women's music so well because they can't identify with a woman's perspective on things.
Just a thought.
Actually, it is rather sexist, and the reason whites don't like rap is, more often than not, racist.
I can't believe you really believe that. I grew up somewhere where rap was very popular, in suburban Philly. I never liked it as much as my classmates, and over time, came to listen to much different music. I'm not offended by rap, it's just not what I enjoy listening to. To imply that there's racism there is silly.
On the other hand, I think you're dead on with the "men singing to women" perspective.
So maybe men can't relate to women's music so well because they can't identify with a woman's perspective on things.
That's true, but I don't think that's necessarily sexist. But it's not just lyrics. Maybe my favorite female artists are the Sundays, and they have some pretty harsh songs about men. I'm not really sure what it is.
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