Dr. Cheryl Carr, associate dean and associate professor in Belmont’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, recently received a grant to study the role of women on Music Row.
The study will not focus on gender equity or working conditions, but rather the history and stories of women in business roles.
Carr especially hopes to contribute to the growing dialogue surrounding groups of people outside of the central cultural narrative, she said.
“I hope to lead a dialogue that will allow these stories to come forth, so that they give a voice or celebrate a voice that’s not always heard and continue to encourage a dialogue that may have some impact on the industry itself,” she said.
The university grant will allow Carr to continue research she and her assistant started in the summer of 2017.
Through secondary sources and interviews, Carr’s study will analyze the professional and historical landscape, from early decision makers to newer professionals building their careers in a time of advancing technology and increasing diversity in genre and demography.
That environment of diversity and technological advance was what inspired Carr to start working on this research, she said.
“It put Music Row, as an entity, on my radar to think about. It was a trigger and created this question in my mind. As that history of Music Row changes, we’re preserving that history.”
The study will chronicle the narratives of women in the music industry so they can be published for the benefit of the public.
The study is also intended to help the Curb College become a greater force of innovation in entertainment industries — namely film and music — through practical research, according to a press release from the university.
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Photo courtesy of Belmont University Office of Communications