The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held in 1959. The vast majority of nominees and winners were men, however Ella Fitzgerald made history by being the first woman to take more than one Grammy home that night: she won best jazz performance for “Ella Fitzgerald sings the Duke Ellington songbook”, and best vocal performance, female, for “Ella Fitzgerald sings the Irving Berlin songbook”.
In the decades that have passed ever since, the trend of undervaluing the achievements of female musicians has remained. Beyoncé has the most awards of all time with 35, but there’s only one other woman, Alison Krauss, with her in the top 20. Only five women have ever hosted the ceremony, and only three have been the chair of the board of The Recording Academy (the entity that presents the Grammys). Progress has been made, but there’s still a lot to be done.
These differences in opportunity and recognition are what pushed me to create multiple projects to support emerging female musicians. The most recent of these is the online programme Time For My Music. I created it during lockdown, wishing to provide women with tools and skills, different from musical proficiency, required for success. This includes business practises, logistics and planning, use of technology, and also thinks like showmanship, presentation and communication skills.
If you—or someone you know—are a woman who wants to turn a music hobby into a business, or a musician who’s just started working professionally and is looking for support, Time For My Music might be what you need. Sign-ups will open as soon as next month. Be sure to follow me on social media or join my newsletter in order not to lose your chance.
Here are the two parts of the most recent collective achievement of the Time For My Music community: the Evening Showcase, a sold-out live show that took place at the MAC Theatre of Birmingham on October 2024.
Let’s keep working to change the face of the music industry. We are not alone! To learn more, you can read an interview with Tammy Hurt, current chair of the board of The Recording Academy, about her work to uplift women and celebrate diverse voices here.
