The live electronic music market has not reached a plateau as some may think, at least not for female DJs. In recent years, the problem of inequality is being brought to light and more people are being open about such discussions.
There is no denying the fact that females are under-represented in positions of power and business. One major industry that is still suffering from female under-representation in its sector is the DJing world.
Electronic music continues to penetrate more genres and cultures with a diverse audience. However, it’s demoralizing to realize that there is not a single female DJ in Forbes’ 2018 list of richest DJs. Calvin Harris topped the list raking in an annual income of $48million, followed by DJ-producers Chainsmokers who also earned $45.5million.
In spite of this, celebrity DJ, Lana Scolaro, is looking to change the narrative. In an interview via social media, Lana Scolaro who has played gigs on a number of the biggest music festivals including Ministry of Sound, shared tips on how any female looking to pursue a full-time career as a disc jockey can build their brand and stand out:
1. Believe In Yourself: “Some people are too shy to go for what they really want. They allow others to talk them out of their career paths. I always believed in myself and that’s one of the first factors, don’t listen to what anyone tells you (when you know exactly what you want).”
2. Learn To Take Criticism: “I have being turned down by so many venues in the past, critiquing how I played and what kind of music I played, that it wasn’t right for the club. I thought to myself; ‘They may be right.’ because if I keep playing my style of music in a commercial club, it’s not going to work.
So you have to learn to take criticism and not take things too personally, as though everyone dislikes you.”
3. Work outside of your habits: “I’m currently extensively out of my comfort zone. I’ve travelled really far outside of London to go to well-known studios in order to get to work with some reputable engineers.
It’s not smart to stay in just one circuit (waiting around for success to happen).”
4. Collaborate with other artists: Definitely collaborate with other artists, because there’s no competition in collaboration especially when you are starting out. They are going to help you.
You never know what you could make with other artists because they have something that you don’t have and you have something that they don’t have.
You could make some real ‘magic’. I just did a song with someone I never thought I would do a song with and it actually turned out to be a hit.”
5. Find inspiration: I am always looking for inspiration from different artistes and DJs in the music world. Whether they are in our era now or way across my time. There are music creators who got their inspiration from simple stuffs like video games.
You never know what you can find which can inspire you to create inspiring music.