Chelsea Cutler: Still, there are disproportionate amount of men in music industry

There have been conversations around paving the way for gender equality in the music industry for a long time, but American singer-songwriter Chelsea Cutler feels there are more words rather than action being taken, as “disproportionate amount of men” continue to dominate the world of music.

“It’s funny, that in most of the meetings that I’m in, with the label or with my publishing team, there are a disproportionate amount of men in the industry,” says Cutler, adding, “The best thing that women can do is just continue to believe in ourselves and be confident in our visions — what we have to say, whether we are in meetings, or whether it’s through our art.”

Back in 2018, she came into the spotlight when her song Your Shirt went viral. She began touring soon in the US with her friend, Quinn XCII. Her debut album How to Be Human, which was released in 2020, peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200 Music Chart. In recent times, she has released singles — Walk Me Home and Men On The Moon.

Looking back at her journey, the 25-year-old shares, “The first couple of years I was in the industry, I was definitely afraid, sometimes just to speak my mind. But by just believing in myself more and believing that what I have to say became really important for me. That has been the biggest thing for me in terms of dealing with gender equality in the industry. I try to work with more women and make sure that I have a hand in production on all my songs that come out. That’s because I want to show women that women can produce music and that it doesn’t have to be such a male dominated industry.”

She is dedicated towards it as she is aware of her impact and influence as a public figure. “I really feel a responsibility to be a role model for people. So, I try to carry myself in a way that I hope other people would be proud to emulate and proud to look up to. And I don’t think that it is hard if you have any kind of understanding of how you will impact people. I hope that I’m someone people would want to look up to,” she ends.