Girl, Please: Why females are important in Hard Dance music!

It’s pretty damn obvious that the ratio of males to females who are fans and professionals in the Hard Dance scene is uneven. For many years, Hard Dance music has been recognised as a male-dominated scene, however over the past five years things have dramatically been changing as many female artists and entrepreneurs have emerged, subsequently changing the game. Sometimes these important females are exposed to unfair affronts, subsequently pushing them to work a lot harder in order to prove their talents and ‘worthiness’ to others.

Girls aren’t just nice to look at; they possess a lot more qualities and talents than meets the eye and they can also be just as influential as men. So boys, step aside because today is ‘International Womens Day,’ which means that it’s time to appreciate all of the boss bitches in our scene!

– Girls bring something unique to the table.
They actually do! As cliché as it may sound, women’s brains are wired differently than that of men; this means that they interpret things differently, they have better memory than men, are better at social thinking and interactions, are more comprehensive in thinking and also more expressive when it comes to emotions. These physiological differences can actually bring a lot to the scene and can be as little as adding finishing touches onto something or as big as adding a whole new dimension to a brand or big idea. You know what they say, behind every successful man is a woman and we wholeheartedly believe that having females in the scene is nothing less than positive!

– There are plenty of women working in high positions.
Although the professional side of the Hard Dance scene is predominantly male, there are also a lot of successful females working in high positions. Females are a valuable part to many organisations and possess skills that range from management, marketing, bookings, creative writing, photography, label management and even technical expertise!

For example, the following organisations are either run or managed by powerful females: Theracords, Limitless Agency, Hardstyle.com, Alive At Night and there are also a large portion of females working at A-class organisations such as Platinum Agency, Q-Dance, Make You Dance Bookings and others. Another example of a female entrepreneur is Miss K8; she has previously organised various Hardcore events in Ukraine and of course, the ‘Masters Of Hardcore World Tour’ in Kiev.

– Aftermovies would be SO BORING without girls!
Um… I’m pretty sure that nobody wants to watch munted shirtless guys dancing for a whole six minutes. We NEED girls! They (and the crazy lightshows) are what makes aftermovies so great, especially when you see boss bitches in the crowd throwing it down and partying harder than the dudes! I think that we can all agree that an aftermovie isn’t an aftermovie if there aren’t beautiful girls in it!

– Girls are just as capable as men when it comes to the ‘technical side.’
Many people choose to ignore this, so I’ll bring it up. With each ‘ghost-produced’ female, there’s also a ghost-produced male. Just because girls are less likely to be interested in the technical side of being an artist, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re immediately not able to produce music or more simply, contribute creative ideas. The first artist pops into my mind when I think about boss bitches in the studio is Deetox. The Theracords sensation has become extremely successful with her productions and has built up an impressive and ever-improving discography hand-crafted by… herself!

On a personal level, I have posted articles of mine into various Facebook groups and it’s not uncommon that the comments say something along the lines of: “the guy who wrote this mentioned that…” It deeply annoys me that people instantly assume that guys are only able to write articles of that standard and it’s the same story with music! Any good track put out by a female has at least one comment remarking that a male must have produced it. Us ladies are more than capable of functioning a computer and being creative and whoever doesn’t agree needs a firm kick up the ass!

– They bring some well needed ‘fashion’ into the scene.
It’s undeniable. Us girls have style and let’s face it, guys need to take a leaf out of our books every once in a while. If it weren’t for all of the girlfriends taking their guys shopping or urging them to get that haircut, then our artists would probably still be in the whole ‘leather jackets, snap-back and bad haircut’ phase… The female artists in Hard Dance also set a great example; they always look attractive and presentable, which is very important when you are ‘showcasing’ yourself during a DJ set.

– They represent some of the most successful brands in Hard Dance.
As I mentioned earlier, there are quite a few females that work in high positions and some of them are either behind the scenes or at the forefront of some of the most successful brands. Artists like Miss K8, Deetox, Korsakoff, AniMe, Lady Faith and DJ Stephanie are perfect examples of intelligent and successful female entrepreneurs. They’ve built up the appropriate skills to build their brand and are also very resourceful when it comes to marketing themselves, creating merchandise, managing their social media and public image.

For example, Korsakoff is an artist who has built an entire brand around her name and her music which extends beyond typical boundaries. Cleverly enough, she also makes jewelry on the side and other accessories, including e-cigarettes!

We’d like to take this moment to let all of the females in the scene know that they’re work is always valued and appreciated! We hope to see more ladies taking the leap into careers in this industry and not simply ‘leaving it to the guys…’ For all who support female artists and professionals, I’d like to say thanks on their behalf!