Editing Record producer (section)

== Women in producing ==

[[File:Audio mixer faders.jpg|thumb|upright|Mixing console]]Among female record producers, [[Sylvia Moy]] was the first at [[Motown]], [[Gail Davies]] the first on Nashville's [[Music Row]], and [[Ethel Gabriel]], with [[RCA Records|RCA]], the first at a [[major record label]]. [[Lillian McMurry]], owning [[Trumpet Records]], produced influential [[blues]] records. Meanwhile, [[Wilma Cozart Fine]] produced hundreds of records for [[Mercury Records]]' classical division. For classical production, three women have won Grammy awards, and [[Judith Sherman]]'s 2015 win was her fifth.<ref name="Newman-2018" /> Yet in nonclassical, no woman has won [[Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical|Producer of the Year]], awarded since 1975 and only one even nominated for a record not her own, Linda Perry.<ref name="Leight-2018" /> After [[Lauren Christy]]'s 2004 nomination, [[Linda Perry]]'s 2019 nomination was the next for a woman.<ref name="Leight-2018">{{cite magazine | last=Leight | first=Elias | title=Linda Perry's Grammy Nomination 'Is a Win for all Women Producers and Engineers' | magazine=Rolling Stone | date=2018-12-07 | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/linda-perry-grammy-nomination-producer-year-766036/ }}</ref> On why no woman had ever won it, Perry commented, "I just don't think there are that many women interested."<ref name="Newman-2018" /> In the U.K., [[Lynsey de Paul]] was an early female record producer, having produced both of her Ivor Novello award-winning songs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.famousfix.com/list/british-women-record-producers|title=List of British women record producers - FamousFix List|website=FamousFix.com}}</ref>

Across the decades, many female artists have produced their own music. For instance, artists [[Kate Bush]], [[Madonna]], [[Mariah Carey]], [[Shakira]], [[Janet Jackson]], [[Beyoncé]] (even that of [[Destiny's Child]] and [[the Carters]]), [[Lana Del Rey]], [[Taylor Swift]], and [[Lorde]] have produced or coproduced{{sfn|Burgess | 2013 | page=199}}<ref>{{cite web |first=Chris |last=Casetti |url=http://www.vh1.com/news/306607/triple-threats-13-female-singers-who-write-and-produce-their-own-work |title=Triple threats: 13 female singers who write and produce their own work |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920122513/http://www.vh1.com/news/306607/triple-threats-13-female-singers-who-write-and-produce-their-own-work/ |archive-date=20 September 2018 |website=[[Vh1.com|VH1.com]] |date=21 Mar 2017}}</ref> and [[Ariana Grande]] who produces and arranges her vocals as well as being an audio engineer.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ariana Grande Reveals Complex Vocal Arrangements That Went Into Recording 'Positions'|url=https://variety.com/2021/music/news/ariana-grande-vocals-positions-recording-video-1234945167/|publisher=Variety|access-date=April 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ariana Grande Breaks Down How She Made Her "Stuck With U" Vocals|date=15 May 2020 |url=https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/ariana-grande-vocal-lesson|publisher=Nylon|access-date=May 15, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Q&A: Ariana Grande on 'Yours Truly' and Judging Miley Cyrus|date=11 September 2013|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/qa-ariana-grande-on-yours-truly-and-judging-miley-cyrus-190517/|publisher=Rolling Stone| access-date=September 11, 2013}}</ref> Still among specialists, despite some prominent women, including [[Missy Elliott]] in hip hop and [[Sylvia Massy]] in rock, the vast majority have been men.{{sfn|Burgess | 2013 | page=199}} Early in the 2010s, asked for insights that she herself had gleaned as a woman who has specialized successfully in the industry, Wendy Page remarked, "The difficulties are usually very short-lived. Once people realize that you can do your job, sexism tends to lower its ugly head."{{sfn|Burgess | 2013 | page=199}} Still, when tasked to explain her profession's sex disparity, Page partly reasoned that record labels, dominated by men, have been, she said, "mistrustful of giving a woman the reins of an immense, creative project like making a record."{{sfn|Burgess | 2013 | page=199}} Ultimately, the reasons are multiple and not fully clear, although prominently proposed factors include types of sexism and scarcity of female role models in the profession.<ref name="Newman-2018" />

Women producers known for producing records not their own include Sonia Pottinger, Sylvia Robinson and Carla Olson.

In January 2018, a research team led by Stacy L. Smith, founder and director of the [[Annenberg Foundation|Annenberg]] Inclusion Initiative,<ref>{{cite web | title=Stacy L. Smith | website=USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism | date=2020-09-10 | url=https://annenberg.usc.edu/faculty/stacy-l-smith }}</ref> based in the [[USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism]],<ref name="Stereotyped">{{cite web | title=Stereotyped, sexualized and shut out: The plight of women in music | website=USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism | date=2019-02-05 | url=https://annenberg.usc.edu/news/research-and-impact/stereotyped-sexualized-and-shut-out-plight-women-music }}</ref> issued a report,<ref>{{cite report |first1=Stacy L. |last1=Smith |first2=Marc |last2=Choueiti |first3=Katherine |last3=Pieper |first4=Ariana |last4=Case |first5=Sylvia |last5=Villanueva |first6=Ozodi |last6=Onyeabor |first7=Dorga |last7=Kim |url=http://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/inclusion-in-the-recording-studio.pdf |title=Inclusion in the recording studio? Gender and race/ethnicity of artists, songwriters & producers across 600 popular songs from 2012–2017 |series=Annenberg Inclusion Initiative |publisher=University of Southern California |date=25 Jan 2018}}</ref> estimating that in the prior several years, about 2% of popular songs' producers were female.<ref name="Hertweck-2019" /> Also that month, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine queried, "Where are all the female music producers?"<ref name="Newman-2018" /> Upon the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's second annual report, released in February 2019,<ref>{{cite report |first1=Stacy L. |last1=Smith |first2=Marc |last2=Choueiti |first3=Katherine |last3=Pieper |first4=Hannah |last4=Clark |first5=Ariana |last5=Case |first6=Sylvia |last6=Villanueva |url=http://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii-inclusion-recording-studio-2019.pdf |title=Inclusion in the recording studio? Gender and race/ethnicity of artists, songwriters & producers across 700 popular songs from 2012–2018 |series=Annenberg Inclusion Initiative |publisher=University of Southern California |date=Feb 2019}}</ref> its department at USC reported, "2018 saw an outcry from artists, executives and other music industry professionals over the lack of women in music" and "the plight of women in music", where women were allegedly being "stereotyped, sexualized, and shut out".<ref name="Stereotyped" /> Also in February 2019, the [[The Recording Academy|Recording Academy]]'s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion announced an initiative whereby over 200 artists and producers—ranging from [[Cardi B]] and [[Taylor Swift]] to [[Maroon 5]] and [[Quincy Jones]]—agreed to consider at least two women for each producer or engineer position.<ref name="Hertweck-2019" /> The academy's website, ''Grammy.com'', announced, "This initiative is the first step in a broader effort to improve those numbers and increase diversity and inclusion for all in the music industry."<ref name="Hertweck-2019" />