Research: Music, gender and visual analysis

Dr Helen Elizabeth Davies, Senior Lecturer in Music and Subject Leader for Popular Music Studies, has recently published two new chapters grounded in her on-going research into gender and popular music culture. Both chapters reflect ways in which teaching informs research and research informs teaching.

As a researcher of music and gender, it was a great opportunity to contribute a chapter to the recently published book The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Music industry Studies, edited by David Arditi and Ryan Nolan (2024). With chapters on working in the industry, music and technology, music production and consumption, and cultural policy, this substantial book analyses and critiques the existing music industry status quo, with its associated issues of exploitation and inequity, to present alternatives based on social justice.  

My chapter, entitled 'It’s not the Females’ job, it’s Everybody’s Job’: Gender Related Experiences and Challenges in Popular Music Higher Education and the Music Industry', is based on interviews I carried out with graduates from LIPA’s BA Music and BA Management degree courses. These graduates, now working in the music industry, shared with me their experiences of higher education and working in the industry, and the challenges they have faced relating to gender. This was very worthwhile research that highlighted many of the similarities between gendered experiences and challenges in music higher education and the music industry, and supported my argument that music higher education, such as the Music and Management courses at LIPA, can make a difference not only by teaching students about the music industry as it is and preparing them for it, but also by taking a critical perspective that could potentially help them to change it for the better.   

The Handbook on Music Business and Creative Industries in Education, edited by Daniel Walzer (2024), is a collection of chapters exploring the relationships between the creative arts professions and education. My chapter, 'How do I Look?: The Importance of Visual Analysis for Musicians in Popular Music Higher Education', argues that studying visual aspects of music is essential for students going forward into careers in a music industry that is increasingly visual. We teach this subject to second-year Music undergraduates at LIPA, equipping them with a ‘toolkit’ to analyse popular music visuals such as promotional images, costume, performance visuals and music video, which helps them to engage with these aspects of their own work in a constructively critical way.  

Find out more about The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Music Industry Studies

Find out more about The Handbook on Music Business and Creative Industries in Education