Real Talk with Women in the Music Industry (Part 3) featuring Michelle Arkuski of She Is The Music

04/07/23 • 34 min

In the third installment of our Real Talk with Women in the Music Industry series, you’ll hear from Michelle Arkuski, Executive Director of She Is The Music—a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the number of women working in music, which was launched by Alicia Keys among other music industry powerhouses.
In this eye-opening and inspiring conversation, Michelle shares how and why she pivoted from her early musical theater days in New York City to high-profile philanthropic work in Los Angeles.
As the first executive director of She Is The Music, Michelle now spearheads programs including an all-women songwriting series, an industry database of women creators, and awesome mentorship opportunities.
The organization took shape after the devastating results of USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative study revealed that women were conspicuously absent from music industry roles. And though important strides are being made, the results of the latest study (published in January 2023) still left much to be desired:

Percentage of women across three creative roles: 22.3% of artists; 12.8% of songwriters; 2.8% of producers
- 13.9% of GRAMMY® nominees from 2013-2023 were women; 86% were men
  - 13 out of 1,756 producing credits went to women of color
    - The top male writer (Drake) has 49 songwriting credits; the top woman writer (Nicki Minaj) has 20 credits across 1,100 popular songs from 2012-2022
      _______________________________________________________________________EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
      - [00:00] How She Is The Music serves its mission through action
        [04:53] Michelle’s journey from musical theater to celebrity-driven philanthropy
        [08:28] Overcoming imposter syndrome to take on the role of Executive Director at She Is The Music
        [12:42] The state of the industry now and looking ahead in the wake of #MeToo
        [20:32] What gave Michelle the courage to follow her intuition?
        [25:02] How Michelle keeps her cool working with big-name celebrities like Alicia Keys, Cyndi Lauper, and Linda Perry
        [29:23] How Michelle prioritizes self-care inside a demanding schedule
        [33:37] Michelle Arkuski’s ONE TIP TO ROCK IT
        _______________________________________________________________________LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
        She Is The Music: https://sheisthemusic.org/
        USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative:https://annenberg.usc.edu/research/aii
        If you’d like to join us for future podcast recordings and other empowering live events, head over to our website and subscribe to our email list! https://sherockedit.com/

Percentage of women across three creative roles: 22.3% of artists; 12.8% of songwriters; 2.8% of producers
- 13.9% of GRAMMY® nominees from 2013-2023 were women; 86% were men
  - 13 out of 1,756 producing credits went to women of color
    - The top male writer (Drake) has 49 songwriting credits; the top woman writer (Nicki Minaj) has 20 credits across 1,100 popular songs from 2012-2022
      _______________________________________________________________________EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
      - [00:00] How She Is The Music serves its mission through action
        [04:53] Michelle’s journey from musical theater to celebrity-driven philanthropy
        [08:28] Overcoming imposter syndrome to take on the role of Executive Director at She Is The Music
        [12:42] The state of the industry now and looking ahead in the wake of #MeToo
        [20:32] What gave Michelle the courage to follow her intuition?
        [25:02] How Michelle keeps her cool working with big-name celebrities like Alicia Keys, Cyndi Lauper, and Linda Perry
        [29:23] How Michelle prioritizes self-care inside a demanding schedule
        [33:37] Michelle Arkuski’s ONE TIP TO ROCK IT
        _______________________________________________________________________LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
        She Is The Music: https://sheisthemusic.org/
        USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative:https://annenberg.usc.edu/research/aii
        If you’d like to join us for future podcast recordings and other empowering live events, head over to our website and subscribe to our email list! https://sherockedit.com/

Previous Episode

Real Talk with Women in the Music Industry (Part 2) featuring Mona Kayhan, Rashida Scott-Cruz, Teng Chen, and Stephanie Mayers

In part two of our series on Real Talk with Women in the Music Industry, peek behind the curtain with women rockstars playing crucial roles off-stage. There’s still an astonishing lack of representation of women in the music industry, and these trailblazers don’t hold back on the #realtalk about what it’s been like to navigate careers of their own design. You’ll hear from:
Mona Kayhan, co-owner of The Bridge recording studio in Brooklyn (our wonderful hosts for this conversation!)
Rashida Scott-Cruz, Professor of Music Industry at Monmouth University
Teng Chen, freelance audio engineer (SNL, The Grammys, Spelling Bee) and engineer for the She Rocked It podcast
Stephanie Mayers, owner of Mayers Consulting PR firm which represents GRAMMY-winning artists in family entertainment

_______________________________________________________________________
Special thanks to Mona Kayhan and the team from The Bridge recording studio including Urosh Jovanovich and Brianna Cofield. https://www.bridgerecordingstudio.com/
Thanks to Fifth Hammer Brewing for supplying libations at our recording session. https://www.fifthhammerbrewing.com/
_______________________________________________________________________
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
[00:00] Learn how our panelists established their careers in the music industry
[21:22] Hear what gave each panelist the courage to dive wholeheartedly into the music business, versus viewing music as a hobby or side gig
[31:39] Get a glimpse into recent changes in the climate for women in the music industry
[44:02] What can we do to make the music industry more welcoming for all?
[47:56] Mona Kayhan, Stephanie Mayers, Teng Chen and Rashida Scott-Cruz each share their ONE TIP TO ROCK IT
_______________________________________________________________________
LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
The Bridge: https://www.bridgerecordingstudio.com/
She Is The Music and data about women in the music industry: https://sheisthemusic.org/
Mayers Consulting: http://www.mayersconsulting.com/
Dan Zanes: https://danandclaudia.com/
Blue Hawk Records at Monmouth University: http://www.bluehawkrecords.com/
Monmouth University named by Billboard as a top music biz school
Teng Chen: https://www.tengchenaudio.com/
Teng Chen season 1 podcast episode: https://sherockedit.com/teng-chen/
Power station recording studio: https://powerstation.nyc/
“The War of Art”: https://blackirishbooks.com/product/the-war-of-art/

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If you’d like to join us for future podcast recordings and other empowering live events, head over to our website and subscribe to our email list! https://sherockedit.com/

Next Episode

Real Talk with Women in the Music Industry (Part 4) featuring Jenna Gaudio & Ash Hill

Welcome to the fourth episode of our Real Talk with Women in the Music Industry podcast series, recorded live with a studio audience at Lakehouse Recording Studios in Asbury Park, NJ!
In this eye-opening and empowering episode, you’ll hear inspiring wisdom and lots of behind-the-scenes #realtalk from Ash Hill and Jenna Gaudio, two women who are blazing a trail and rocking it in the (still!) male-dominated music industry.
According to the most recent USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative study, entitled Inclusion in the Recording Studio?, women are still woefully underrepresented across the music industry and in the recording studio space. For instance, this study showed that just 2.8% of all producers were women while 97.1% were men.
Ash Hill is the recording studio manager at Lakehouse Recording Studios in Asbury Park, NJ – our awesome host for today’s episode.
Jenna Gaudio is co-president of the recently-acquired company Vydia, an all-in-one platform that empowers independent labels and artists.
You’ll also hear from Rashida Scott-Cruz, Professor of Music Industry, who originally connected She Rocked It with Lakehouse – and who is inspiring the next generation of music industry rockstars as a professor and mentor at Monmouth University.
Special thanks to the team at Lakehouse Recording Studios including Ash Hill, Evan Rudenjak, Ben Marino, Juan O’Grady, and Jon Leidersdorff, for hosting She Rocked It and recording the audio and video of this conversation: https://www.lakehouserecordingstudios.com/
_______________________________________________________________________

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:

Lakehouse Recording Studios: https://www.lakehouserecordingstudios.com/
Vydia: https://vydia.com/
Annenberg Inclusion Initiative study: https://www.newsroom.spotify.com/2022-03-31/usc-annenbergs-inclusion-in-the-recording-studio-study-finds-that-more-work-toward-gender-equity-is-needed/
She Rocked It’s Real Talk with Women in the Music Industry Episode 2 ft. Rashida Scott-Cruz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntmmz8K__oE&list=PL9M_v70pNx6ELQri31KdJOC-VTN-yVmoW
Lakehouse Live!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfR6asxaLKk&list=PLyhNGayUn39KrGGnJPqVfHu29kfNkPovE
Rebel Supply Co.: https://rebelsupplyap.com/
Zumiez: https://www.zumiez.com/
Jersey Shore Women in Tech: https://www.jerseyshorewomenintech.com/

If you’d like to join us for future podcast recordings and other empowering live events, head over to our website and subscribe to our email list! https://sherockedit.com/