Marjan Wynia, Ph.D candidate, Groningen University.
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In music, entrepreneurship is highly valued, and for many music professionals, working as an entrepreneur provides the primary source of income. Yet, women entrepreneurs remain understudied, particularly those in the music industry. As a result, most studies standardize and normalize a masculine interpretation of entrepreneurship and embody hegemonic masculinity in entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur is often depicted as an explorer conquering wild territories and distributing civilization, glorified for taking risks. However, this trope overlooks that these (Western) explorers exported white patriarchy and capitalism, harmful to both human life and the environment, thereby marginalizing large groups of people and degrading the environment, while wealth is distributed among a select group of white men.
Considering the dominance of independent entrepreneurs in the music industry, my research on women entrepreneurs examines a critical component of the music sector. I build on the theoretical model of Banks et al. (2000), who studied the impact of risk and the significance of trust for the cultural entrepreneur. However, I will analyze the notions of risk and trust while synthesizing these concepts within an ecofeminist framework. By researching women entrepreneurs who successfully navigate a male dominated industry while working in a male dominated role, the results may contribute to a fuller understanding of the position of disadvantaged groups, thereby enhancing the social and economic sustainability of the music industry.
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Marjan Wynia conducts PhD research on the gender dynamics in the Dutch music industry at Groningen University, the Netherlands. She worked in the Dutch creative industries for 20+ years, specifically in advertising, book publishing, and in music. For over a decade she worked for a Dutch foundation dedicated to helping talented music artists starting their careers. She is also one of the co-founders of the first Dutch network organization Juno and organized network events for Dutch women music professionals.