Arts & Entertainment, Music

Sisterhood in the Music Industry

Lesson time 06:57 min

Alicia discusses discrepancies in the music industry for women and her efforts to create space at the table for voices that are silenced.

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Topics include: She Is the Music

Alicia Keys

Teaches Songwriting and Producing

The legendary singer-songwriter and producer shares her approach to making music that resonates and helps you find the power of your unique voice.

Preview

[MUSIC PLAYING] - I guess what's wrong with the music industry is simply what's pretty much wrong with America. It needs-- there needs to be more ownership by the creators. Certain businesses are created not to equally-- most businesses, let's call it. There we go-- are created not to equally distribute the wealth. And I personally feel like that is an old model. That's an archaic model because it doesn't represent what the world looks like, and I think that's what we're recognizing now in business and in just everything. We all in all things have to represent what the world looks like. It can't just look imbalanced. It can't be imbalanced. It can't be a certain segment of people gaining all the power. It can't be these kind of exclusive places that everybody's not welcome. We have to evolve from that space and that mind thinking. When I meet young artists and writers, I feel so connected. I see so much of myself in them, the ambition, the excitement, the desire to learn, for opportunity, for just a chance for anybody to listen. You know, I completely understand where they are, you know? And in so many ways, I think about myself and I think about how I didn't exactly know who to turn to or who to talk to or, like, could I ask anybody advice? Who do I ask for advice? Like, who would know this industry? Who would know this crazy world that's so completely different from the majority of most businesses and run so completely differently? Who can I talk to? And I didn't really know. So so much of the time I kind of pretended the best I could that I knew the most. I didn't and did the best I could to fool everybody and hope that eventually I would just get to figure it out. And it worked out, but I think it would have been so wonderful to really be able to have somebody to talk to and learn from and grow with and ask questions to and learn from and all these things that I want to do, you know? So when I see young artists, I really do-- first of all, I want to celebrate them. I want to tell them they're amazing, that, you know, there's nothing that they can't do because it's hard and you feel crazy and you feel insecure and you're not sure and you do feel like you have to change and bend and please everybody and, you know, be everything but who you are so that anyone will want to pay attention. [MUSIC PLAYING] So She is the Music is that collective, a collective of, you know, women from all parts of the business and the industry, you know, from lawyers to accountants to executives to, you know, creatives to camera people and creative directors and you name it-- producers, engineers, you name it-- all sides, all places who are a part of this collective that really want to forward the agenda of women having a seat at the table, at all tables and really being able to be represented the way that we are and also to be able to increase the amount of women that are able to enter these industries because they have a way in or because...

About the Instructor

With 15 Grammy Awards and more than 40 million albums sold so far, Alicia Keys is one of the world’s most beloved singer-songwriters. Now the legendary artist invites you into her studio to share her process for creating music built from authentic emotion. Breaking down anthems like “Fallin’,” Alicia shows you how she writes lyrics, crafts melodies, and explores sonics so you can discover the music you were born to make.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Alicia Keys

The legendary singer-songwriter and producer shares her approach to making music that resonates and helps you find the power of your unique voice.

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