A Cross Cultural Exploration of Gendered Music Practices in the UK and Sweden

The way in which music is gendered has an impact on access to, and participation in, music practices in everyday life. Differences in cultural participation often manifest themselves in material social inequalities across individuals’ lives.

Sweden, in contrast to the UK, is institutionally more ‘gender progressive’ and has historically had different musical traditions and structures (eg. kommunala musikskolan). Yet there still appears to be gendered divides in production, consumption and participation.

This project looks cross-culturally at how gender relations impact on music practices in the UK and Sweden and questions how we can look at gender inequalities through ‘informal’ as well as formal forms of exclusion.

The project will address the following:

• What are the overall trends in music practices in the UK and Sweden?
• What are the main barriers to participation?
• What are the similarities and differences between both?