Local Artist Sophia Shen On The Male-Dominated Music Industry

Sophia Shen (she/they) is a freshman at Berkeley and local independent musician and music producer. She started writing songs about 3 years ago, and has now produced and released 3 singles on Spotify and is working on an EP. Shen said that most of their musical experience and relationships come from “putting [herself] out there”.

When networking and promoting, “you have to be the one to reach out,” said Shen. “Be proactive, take the 1st step. And then what happens after that is really beautiful, because you emerge with all these relationships where you have this shared bond over music.”

Shen experienced a common obstacle going into the music industry. “Only 5-7% of audio engineers [or producers] are non-male. It’s a ridiculous proportion,” said Shen.

In an arena that is so heavily gatekept and critical, sharing your work, especially as a woman or trans person, can be nerve-wracking. Shen said, “For people like me, that identify as non-binary and femme presenting, to walk into a male-dominated sphere and to know that my music is going to be subjected to the opinions of a man that has never experienced what I’ve experienced, that’s kind of daunting.”

In the summer of 2020, Shen participated in “Girls on the Mic,” a program hosted by Women’s Audio Mission. Women’s Audio Mission, or WAM, is an accessible online organization that provides educational classes and recording resources to get more gender diversity into the music and recording industry. To artists like Shen, these assets are crucial, and only necessitate the feeling that “there are other people out there who are in the same boat as [me] that [I] need to reach out to and form solidarity with.”

With the newfound connections that she has made, Shen is now working at Berkeley’s B-Side Magazine and is playing with band Swell Foop.

For those interested, listen to Sophia Shen’s music on Spotify. To learn more about the many online programs and resources made available by WAM, click here.