Headliner meets artist and producer Xylo Aria, the founder of Music Production for Women, who explains why removing the fear factor is a crucial step towards welcoming more women into the world of music production.
“I was reading this thing about unconscious bias recently, and I think there is a lot of that in the music industry with regards to women getting hired for certain roles,” begins artist and producer, Xylo Aria.
“But I think that is slowly changing. It’s funny because I was cleaning up a bit recently and I found projects that I worked on and had produced about eight years ago. They were actually quite decent but I remember at the time thinking that I would never call myself a producer. I would just be like, ‘Well, that's not something I can do – I’m just making a demo for a real producer to work on’.
"But I don't know why it never crossed my mind that it was something that I could do. I think it would have helped from an early age to have more visibility about other women being involved in the field.”
In early 2019, Aria set about changing that mindset by launching Music Production for Women (MPW), a global movement, community and online learning platform which aims to encourage and empower women who are taking their first steps into music production.
Founded in East London, MPW aims to provide an environment where women can feel comfortable and supported through their production journey. Since launching, MPW has been included in university studies, featured in numerous podcasts and included in various articles on the topic around the world.