All-female songwriting camp aims to improve diversity
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE— In a spacious recording studio in Nashville, two singer-songwriters, Priscilla Renea and Jillian Jacqueline, were working through a song idea, trading suggestions for lyrics and melody on the theme of resurrection.
“When you least expect it ...” Jacqueline started off. “Resurrection!” says Renea with a flourish. Shortly after, Mary J. Blige walked into the studio and the two women stopped singing. They were trying to come up with a song the Queen of Hip-Hop/Soul might want to record, but it wasn’t quite ready yet.
“Wewere trying to get a head start on you,” Renea told Blige.
The setting last week was the first all-female songwriting camp organized by the performing rights organization American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers under a new music industry diversity initiative called “She Is the Music,” started by Alicia Keys and other top female music executives.
A report earlier this year from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative analyzed women’s roles in popular music, including artists, songwriters and producers. The report found that womenwere underrepresented across the board.
From 2012 to 2017, women comprised just 22 percent of artists who appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and just 12 percent of songwriters. A mere two percent of producers were female.
The camp aims to change that. Some of the women involved were already established as artists themselves, while others were still building their careers. The writers at the camp had songs recorded by Beyoncé, Rihanna, Miranda Lambert, Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa, Pitbull, Carrie Underwood and Hillary Scott.
“By putting this camp together, we hope we can inspire others to do the same thing,” said Nicole George-Middleton, senior vice president of membership for Ascap.
“It means so much to me because these women are incredible songwriters, and they’re excited to work with me,” Blige said.
The Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated singer said she was hoping to inspire the writers and producers to come up with ideas for her next record.
“It’s important because we live in a male-dominated world, and we work in a maledominated business,” Blige said. “The world is hard on us. Men are hard on us. Women are hard on each other. So, when you see a bunch of women who are confident enough to embrace each other’s talent, it’s like a blessing from God.”
Blige, 47, sat down in the studio with the songwriters and started telling them about the thoughts and emotions she wanted to explore on her next record.
Many of the women there understand the barriers they’re up against in the music industry.
“Even with all the hits that I have had, the credit goes to all the guys,” said Renea, who has cowritten multiplatinum successes, like Pitbull and Kesha’s “Timber” and “Worth It” by Fifth Harmony. “Until we have more women in leadership positions, the perspective will always be slanted.”