Addressing gender inequality in and through music composing studies

Composing remains a male-dominated field within the domain of Western art music. Through analysis of two case studies of composing education schemes in Finland (Equity in Composing/Yhdenvertaisesti säveltäen), and England (Young Composers Project), this paper seeks to better understand how music education may play a role in addressing and alleviating gender inequality in music composing. Thematic analysis of qualitative data identified three ways in which the two educational projects addressed issues related to inequality in composing, namely by (1) challenging narrow perceptions of “The Composer”; (2) addressing the lack of diverse role models; and (3) introducing diverse pedagogical approaches in composing. The findings illustrate how music education has the potential to challenge narrow and stereotypical perceptions of what it is to become and be a composer, and provide alternative and more diverse narratives

Producing a meaningful difference:The significance of small creative acts in composing within online participatory remix practices

Online remix competitions focus strongly on community interaction, creative production and sharing, and can be seen as manifestations of an emergent musical participatory culture within which participants collectively generate and rework cultural content. This article engages in a theoretical exploration of the ways in which participants of online remix contests collectively discuss and exchange different takes on a single song, and how they appraise small similarities and differences in these derivative works. The concept of the small creative act offers a heuristic lens through which to investigate online participatory remix practices. Examples from a recent ethnographic study of the international IndabaMusic.com online remix platform illustrate how online remix contests enable the development of aural discernment through novel forms of access to the field of musical works, encourage growth into expertise through a collective and participatory form of appropriation and provide the means for making meaningful differences through the constant repositioning of oneself relative to others in the remix community. Finally, the article discusses the implications that practices based on the idea of the small creative act have for learning to compose in online remix communities