Where are the women in the music industry?

Words and images by Mariela Murdocco, @marielamur.

“Hey Erika, when can you come by the house so we can write a new song?’ asked Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi when he called Panamanian multi-award-winning singer songwriter Erika Ender in 2015. “I'm working on some new material.”

They met around 2 p.m. on September 15 at Fonsi’s home in Miami. “We haven't seen each other for a little while,” said 47 year-old Ender, who had composed many songs for Fonsi before. “I walk into his home studio and he goes, ‘Since this morning I had this idea in my mind.’”

His vision of what he wanted to develop with her was very clear. “He had the des…pa…ci…to-thing split into syllables, I thought it was an amazing idea,” recalls Ender, “and he went: ‘vamos a hacerlo en una playa en Puerto Rico’ (let’s do it on a beach in Puerto Rico) and then I responded: ‘hasta que las olas griten ¡Ay bendito!’ (I just wanna hear you screaming, ¡Ay bendito!) We started laughing and created the whole song from scratch, trying to keep the female angle in there, trying to bring a little romance to a world that is so superficial nowadays and that is totally focused on sex, instead of getting to know someone slowly.”

Ender described the process as very organic, with the song coming together out of just a guitar, without beats or a producer. “Later on, Daddy Yankee jumps in and does the rap and the ‘pacito pacito, suave suavecito’ which was a genius post chorus. Then (Justin) Bieber heard it and wanted to jump in.” After having coffee, in less than three hours, Ender and Fonsi had co-written their masterpiece mega hit.

Despacito became an immediate phenomenon, winning seven Guinness Book of Records for being the most viewed music video. It also became a Billboard Hot 100’s Longest-Leading No. 1 Song of All Time in 2017, more popular than Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti;” it was a snowball showcasing Latino culture that kept growing, accumulating awards, and reaching international audiences. Part of its magic was Ender’s input as a songwriter incorporating a feminine touch.

“Fonsi is very smart,” said Ender, a multi-talented pioneer who recently celebrated her 30-year career anniversary with a mega concert in her hometown, Panama City, where she sang and shared the stage with colleagues like Ednita Nazario and Danilo Pérez.

One thing that makes Fonsi different from many male music performers, Ender thinks, is that he loves getting women’s input when he collaborates with them. “He understands that his market is mostly women — the ones who buy his songs and go to his concerts. He wanted to be respectful to women and wanted them to identify with the song.”

Fonsi has co-written with Claudia Brant from Argentina; one popular song they co-wrote was “Llegaste tú,” a romantic bachata featuring Juan Luis Guerra. He has also worked with Colombian songwriter Mónica Velez, who has composed for heavy-hitters Los Tigres del Norte, Gloria Trevi, Camila, Roberto Carlos, Timbiriche, and David Bisbal.

Starting out

At first, Ender felt she was not welcomed by other male artists and was constantly rejected for being a woman. She wanted to write songs for others, so she sent her compositions to male singers, whom she said, immediately rejected them. “Back then I had to burn a CD and send it through regular mail,” she recalled. “If somebody would answer, they would say, ‘Hey, that song sounds too feminine.”

The music business wasn't made for women then unless Ender said, they were the ones on stage. It was assumed that women would be “at home taking care of the kids or doing other kinds of professions and careers,” she told me.

‘Let me get the song through on its own merit.’

But Ender would find creative ways to be listened to. “I’m not going to take this personally,” she would tell herself in those early days. “I'm going to find a way to get through the back door so that I learn to be resilient and see how I learn from this lesson and stand up again and find a way in.”

She knew her female name was the problem, so she started using her initials.

“I'm not going to let them see that there is a woman behind. It wasn’t about hiding myself; it was mostly about cooperating with their lack of vision,” she said, punctuating her words, especially “cooperating,” with a sardonic laugh. “Let me get the song through on its own merit.” She would find a male friend or pay a male singer to sing her songs. “I would just put ‘E. Ender’ and send the song. They would hear the song with a male’s voice and understand that, Yes! A woman can write for a man.”

Artists started listening to her compositions, and she finally began to sell her work. After that, her career boomed. By 2000, when she was 24, she composed her first hit on Billboard: “A Puro Dolor” by Son by Four, a song that lasted 26 weeks in the charts. Within a year, she’d composed Chayanne’s “Candela” which lasted 20 weeks on the charts. She became one of the most respected songwriters in the English, Spanish and Portuguese-language music industry and, at 42 years old, the youngest composer inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has written songs for Marc Anthony, Anitta, Akon, Prince Royce, Elvis Crespo, Horóscopos de Durango, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Milly Quezada and many others.

*Recording her own album MP3-45 in Brazil, January 2020. Photo courtesy of Erika Ender*

As a songwriter, Ender has the rare gift of being able to compose for different musical styles and genres—from pop and reggaetón to tropical rhythms like salsa, merengue and bachata to Regional Mexican. “It was a huge challenge for me to make it in that genre and to be respected as a woman and as a non-Mexican,” Ender said, referring to the masculine style of many of the Regional Mexican sub-genres, such as grupero, which is male-dominated, reflects only a male point of view and often contains “machista” and even misogynistic lyrics. But not all female music professionals may be as resilient or willing to challenge norms as Ender when they are about to go through the recording studio’s door.

A 2021 USC Annenberg and Spotify study taking a look at 900 Popular Songs from 2012 until 2020, found that there’s a real absence of women in the recording studio. Women, it concluded, are definitely missing in the entire music industry: Only 21.6% are artists, 12.6% are songwriters and 2.6% are producers. The study revealed that only 9 out of 1,291 credits during that decade went to female producers of color.

“There is a sizable gender gap in the entertainment industry, which is even more pronounced for Latinas,” said Iveliesse Malave, senior vice president for communications at the Latin Recording Academy. There is no specific data in the study for Latina artists.

“There is still a lot of work to be done to advance the role of women in the music industry,” said Malave, pointing to the “Women In The Mix” study done earlier this year by the Recording Academy, Arizona State University Design & the Arts and Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship. “That quantified and put into perspective what we’ve known: that women — as a result of gender — face unique challenges,” she said. “It demonstrated that women in the music industry are severely underrepresented.”

‘Why do I have to show double? Why do I have to really struggle in order to show that I'm as good as you?’

The study concluded that women in the music business still face discrimination, low earnings and under-recognition regardless of their racial or ethnic identity. A majority of respondents to the study reported discrimination; 77% said they felt they had been treated differently because of their gender, and a little more than half said they believed gender had affected their employment, with music creators and performers expressing this the most.

During her 30-year-anniversary celebration, Ender sang her songs and compositions (including “Despacito’”, sharing the stage with artists such as Ednita Nazario, Ricardo Velázquez and Diana Reyes, with Milly Quezada and Gloria Trevi being present virtually. Photo courtesy of Erika Ender

Even though she feels she’s experienced it in her career, Ender doesn’t like to talk too much about discrimination. “In the end, the majority (in the music business) are men, so never attack men.” Even today, she still tends to be the only woman in the room during a recording or songwriting session. When she shows up, she will often say, “I'm here to complement whatever you do,” although this experience and her need to appease others is frustrating to her. “There are some men out there that maybe are not the gentlemen that you think.”

“Why do I have to show double? Why do I have to really struggle in order to show that I'm as good as you?,” said Ender. “I’m not competing with my (physical) power. I understand that male structure is different. I’m not trying to play football.”

Light on the other side

Gale, a 29 year-old Puerto Rican singer-songwriter whose explosive second single, “Problemas,” is rapidly rising on the Latin Billboard charts, finds that recording studios are going through a positive evolution. “When I started, I was the only girl in the room,” she said, referring to just four years ago. “Most of the time, I was the only girl with three, four, or five men.”

Upcoming star Gale sang her acclaimed single “Problemas” at the Acoustic Showcase at SOB’s in New York City during the Latin Alternative Music Conference from July 5-9, 2022. Photo by Mariela Murdocco for palabra

Besides her debut as a singer with a fresh urban rock-pop style, she has an impressive songwriting portfolio. She has been writing songs since she was six and has composed for big stars like Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Cardi B, Pharrell, Manuel Turizo, David Bisbal, Juanes, Myke Towers, Wisin & Yandel and Anitta. Gale often collaborates with a growing number of female producers, recording engineers, technicians and assistants who are now more welcomed by male professionals.

“When I go into the room and there is another woman, I go, ‘phew!’ It makes you feel so comfortable. It makes a big difference because it’s a more balanced energy,” said Gale, who will be performing for close to 20,000 people at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., with Ricky Martin, Reik, Becky G, Pablo Alborán, Camila and Manuel Turizo.

“Sometimes women can experience some prejuicios (prejudice) in the room; it could get uncomfortable,” Gale said. Luckily, she has not experienced this herself, but she has heard too many stories from her colleagues, particularly female producers who have to work with male producers who don’t believe in their talent and say they would rather do the work themselves, without having to pay attention to their female colleagues’ ideas.

She emphasized the need to tune into each other. “It's not about, ‘Hey I'm the leader’. No! It's a collaboration. I think that the way it works best is when you listen to each other's ideas,” said Gale, who first entered a recording studio in Miami in 2018 to collaborate with Colombian singer Fanny Lu.

When Gale writes for another artist, she understands the uniqueness of her role. “It feels like acting a little bit,” she said, something she did in Puerto Rico when she was younger, including a role in the musical, Rent. “I’m sucking all this information from them, trying to shape what they want to say, and putting it into words in a cool melody.”

Finding women’s power

Since Despacito’s success and its crossover to international audiences in 2017, the industry has finally started to recognize — and harness — the power of women in music. For three years in a row, the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) in New York City has included a panel on “Wonder Women of Latin Music” that’s meant to empower, mentor and provide a powerful networking platform for women.

Malave of the Latin Recording Academy was one of this year’s panelists. “There have been so many admirable women who have paved the way for others,” she said, highlighting the work of the Leading Ladies platform that the Academy launched six years ago to recognize women making an impact in entertainment.

Despite the challenges and a lack of female representation in the Grammys, women's presence in music is growing ... slowly. Even though female Grammy nominees have increased threefold since 2013, in 2021 they still formed no more than 13% of the nominees. Men were 87%.

Among many female artists featured at L.A.M.C. in New York City this summer, Gale also participated as a speaker in the “Spotify and the Artistic Community” panel with Brray, Pehuenche, Villano Antillano and Zoe Gotusso. Photo by Mariela Murdocco for palabra

Women are believed to have a unique ability to multitask, with an exceptional attention to detail that make them well-equipped for the business. But most importantly, women have a power that has yet to be fully taken advantage of by the majority of male artists: they know how to reach a female audience. In Gale’s case, she also has a talent for writing songs about sex, as well as romance. Both are blockbuster ingredients she uses at will in her single, “Problemas.”

While her hit’s lyrics are raw, sexual and aggressive, Gale is able to channel deeper feelings through her catchy song that describes a toxic relationship, a problema many of her fans will relate to.

“I have problems, so do you," she sings in Spanish. “I complain, you complain. You explode in my brain, the tension keeps rising. We work it out in the bedroom.”

“That's something artists are understanding more,” said Gale. “I love when I work with my male colleagues, writing a song for a woman, and they go like, ‘How would you say it? Because I'm a guy. How would you feel it?’”

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Mariela Murdocco, a bilingual multimedia journalist and photographer, has been nominated for five Emmy Awards.

Born in Uruguay and based in New York City, she began her two careers simultaneously in 2002. She has worked as a reporter, TV producer, anchor, photographer and videographer for Consumer Reports, Telemundo, News 12, The New York Daily News, Banda Oriental, The Jersey Journal and The Associated Press. She was a TV correspondent for Canal 7 in Uruguay and has contributed to The Guardian, The Huffington Post, Hola TV and Fox News. In 2012 she was elected national Spanish at-large officer for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

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