The site's not loading for me this morning, but are you familiar with Three Imaginary Girls? They're kind of local celebrities here in Seattle:

http://www.threeimaginarygirls.com/

Nerd's Eye View

There are women music bloggers around, but I agree they tend to be harder to find. On my blog, I go back and forth between writing about my day-to-day stuff and also writing about concerts I attend, albums I'm loving, etc. Personally, the more compelling pieces of writing on my blog are the ones I've written about music. (In fact, while in SF for the BlogHer conference, I'm attending a concert.)

Having said that, I do wonder if there's a stigma attached to women writing about music, particularly if it involves writing about a male musician. While there are definitely fanboys out there raving about their favorite artists, when a woman does it, some folks call it groupie behavior, which is ridiculous. However, I have had other women ask me if I was a groupie because I see certain bands/artists several times. Would that question ever be asked of a guy doing the same thing?

Dimple and a Smirk.com

on who I'm talking to. I have always hung out in circles of people who enjoy music, and with some of my friends it's our primary shared interest. I used to write about it more on my site (tried a song of the day feature for awhile, but my attention span is so bad...) and now it's just if I go to a show or listen to a record that really inspires me.

I've never thought about whether I'm taken seriously for my views or not, simply because I discard the thought that I wouldn't be because I'm a woman. I can't reject the experience of people who have been, because I'm sure it happens (as it does to women all the time, on a variety of things.) But I do think that a big part of that is just jumping in and being confident. I love music so much, it's such a part of my life and I have so many thoughts and reactions to everything I hear that when I write about it...well, I just enjoy it so much. 

 I also belong to a listserv of women who write about music because I've toyed with doing it more seriously in my writing work, and I've learned a lot from them.

Laurie

LaurieWrites 

ZOMG... nothing like getting a shoutout from the coolest women's blog in the world and having your website in crash mode at the same time. I blush!! Three Imaginary Girls is happily back online now so feel free to swing by and have a read. *Phew*

As for women writing about music, yep. That's who we are. We write about all kinds of music, and have expanded our staff to include men and women both. We get asked a lot about being women music writers, and honestly, it has never occurred to us that anyone has been biased against us for our gender. I agree that confidence has everything to do with it; we just jumped in and started writing six years ago and haven't stopped. If people don't like what we have to say, they don't read us -- but we have accrued quite the community of music fans, both male and female.

I'm happy to answer any questions about our experiences running the site!

xoxo!
d.

www.threeimaginarygirls.com

hi there--

i saw that you linked my youtube-searching skills on another blogpost (guilty as charged; i'm obsessed with the music that time forgot!), and had to sign up and chime in.

i run the music blog at the st. louis alt-weekly The Riverfront Times, and i consider myself a music blogger. our main focus is st. louis and its bands (and associated news), but i try to make the blog appeal to those not in the city, with various weekly features, videos and random MP3s. i've also written about music professionally for nine years -- way before music blogs even existed.

i'm not sure why there aren't more women music bloggers. i know of a few good music blogs besides Three Imaginary Girls run by women (Copy, Right, a covers blog, is one I read; maura johnston edits Idolator, another one of the more well-known blog/news sites).

to me, music is so integrated into my life (both through my job and personal life), that it permeates my personal writing as well. there isn't as much a division between my musical life and my personal life, if that makes sense. i've also been a huge computer geek since elementary school, which also has something to do with it, i think. i'm very comfortable with computers and the creativity inherent within music blogging and the internet.

it's late and i'm pretty tired, so i'm not sure if this is making any sense. but this was an interesting post, and i'm glad to have found it/read it -- when i have a more coherent response, i'll return!

i'd also be happy to comment or talk about my blogging, job, etc.

annie zaleski

music editor, riverfront times

freelance writer/editor

blogs.riverfronttimes.com/atoz

www.anniez.com

I'm not sure about how many are technically bloggers. As far as not being taken seriously as a music fan because you're a woman, I'm not sure if I agree or not. Women music journalists definitely have had to fight off the 'groupie' moniker. The same goes for many of the female managers, executives and field reps--they'd have to be overly professional just so they were taken seriously. Even today, there are VERY few high level female executives or artist managers in the music business. I should know, I was one of them.

Regarding women as music fans, if we're talking full on high-fidelity-indie-record-store side of things, uh, yes, how could we possibly know what is cool and good in indie land? Lol. Indie store guys are kind of like trekkies--just go to Amoeba Records in LA (one of the finest indie music stores in the world) and you'll see like 90% dudes flipping through the racks creaming about the oh-so-fabulous-vinyl releases.

Going back to women music bloggers, as a veteran of the music biz for 20 years, I recently 'got out' to build my own women's word of mouth company (One2One Network) and we focus quite a bit on music and entertainment. I've just begun my blog (literally-don't look yet) called The W.O.M. Mom and because I get so many people who ask me 'what's good?', 'what will I like' or 'what should i be listening to', i figured I would start making suggestions on things I personally like and see if anyone cares. I like a wide range of styles and genres (but i'm a sucker for a good alt-pop ditty) so I would love to turn people on to new music. Maybe I'll be considered a women music blogger at some point...

The music biz blows these days but music itself has never been a more important part of people's lives. A great song with relatable lyrics can intensify or completely turn around your emotions. There's a lot of negativity happening in our country and world at the moment and somehow music is still the cathartic escape.

The question I always get from people in the 'industry' is, do adult women care about discovering new music and if so, how do they find out about it much less what makes them want to buy it.

I strongly believe most human beings love music of some kind, but I feel like for women and moms, searching out new music just falls to the bottom of the personal priority pole. Plus where do you find out about good new music anyway?

Does anyone else agree that it's not for lack of interest but lack of time? Also, besides the lucky few who have found a music blogger whose taste they like, how DO you think most adult women (post college) find out about new music?

I guess I should apologize now for the long post right? Still learning...

Barbara Jones | The W.O.M. Mom | One2One Network http://one2onenetwork.typepad.com/the_wom_mom/

http://www.one2onenetwork.com | Fun projects. Cool Perks. Nice People. Join Us.

I completely agree with you about the lack of women music bloggers and was inspired to start my own indie music blog recently.  I'm completely obsessed with music and music-related technology that helps me manage and fuel my obsession. 

Most of my music friends who can actually operate on my level are men.  I realized, however, that women tend to talk about music differently.  And that voice needed to be heard in the male-dominated music blogosphere.  

I have found it difficult to network with the male bloggers.  I do comment on their sites but don't feel a lot of camaraderie, so far.  Am I being ignored? Is there sexism?  Hard to say.  But I would happily continue the dialog.

Julie

theOCMD

http://theocmd.wordpress.com/

Hey there, thanks for the link & I'm sorry I didn't drop by here and comment sooner. I actually just now today (a month after you posted it) came across this post pretty much by accident, I didn't know it was here 'til now.

Much like Laurie said, I think it mainly depends on who I'm talking to and what environment I'm in. Certainly I am treated respectfully by most anyone, male & female alike, in the Hoodoo Gurus, Replacements, and Westerberg fan factions, but then again, I've "done my time" in those circles - I've been involved with those basic groups online since before The Internet was really The Internet, coming close up on 20 years now. Matter of fact, it WILL be 20 years in 2011, since I first found other fans via AOL, and PCLink before that.

If I didn't have that history and "cred" behind me, and was just some fairly new or previously unknown fan happening upon such communities? I think I might be a little intimidated, but that said, probably not in those particular groups - other indie and music communities, possibly so. But the 'Mats and Gurus fan factions have always generally been some of the most welcoming of anybody on the Internet (probably because both have truly been "the few and the proud" for so long, LOL).

Other indie communities, and rock & music communities in general - I don't know. I feel somewhat comfortable in the indie scene overall, but there have certainly been some times just in general music communities I have felt intimidated or somewhat ignored and overlooked, and possibly because I'm female, and more often than not, I'm the only female participating.

I can think of a non-music community I have been a part of for years that often has musical discussion of various kinds. In most of those, I am often the only female participating in the discussion, with the exception of another who is a professional musician and might be in there sometimes. I find, though, that generally the male posters that respond to anything I say are those who know me and/or know of my background. Most of the others will often skip my comments or responses.

But when it comes down to it, throughout my whole life I've rarely come across other women who are as, shall we say, musically obsessed? - as me. Sure, some of my female friends have been big music fans, or at least more than "oh yeah, I like music" types - but they're still not as into it as I have always been. Guys, yes; girls, no. Especially in offline, regular life, I have always somewhat felt like I was sort of playing in a boys' club with my music fandom. Girls aren't "supposed" to be into music as much as I have always been, has always been the general vibe.

Frankly, most of the women I have gotten to know that ARE like me are ones I have initially become acquainted with online over the last almost 20 years, some I've met in person & some I haven't yet. Several of them have also been either writers, music site webmasters, or had careers in the music industry in some sector. And to be honest, if you asked me to give you the names of every female I've become acquainted with these last 20 years that I consider to be a lot like me in the music regard, I probably can't even come up with more than 50 names out of an entire world's population. You're one of them. I'd be struggling to come up with an entire 49 more.

Even in the Replacements/Gurus factions, while there have been several diehard women in both, we're still far outnumbered by the male fans. Luckily those are both circles that, as I said, tend to be welcoming and respectful, but some other fan communities and general communities, I'm not sure it would be the same.

Another thing that occurs to me, though, is the fact that (as has been mentioned) the music industry as a whole, and especially when it comes to music writers, has just been so male-dominated. When I think back on the music writers I devoured and respected and respected and admired, growing up and in my teens and twenties, those who wrote for Rolling Stone and SPIN and other media - plenty of names come to mind, such as Michael Azerrad, Dave Marsh, David Fricke, Rob Sheffield, Henry Rollins (yes, Henry Rollins).

Not one female music writer name is coming to mind right now, thinking back to those days. Not one. I can think of a couple of female music photographers, but not a single writer or critic.

I'm sure - well, I KNOW - that a lot of our female peers who are performers have much the same take on the whole basic thing.

Anyway, I don't think music writing and music fandom is as much of a "boy's game" as it used to be, no. But there's still an element of that, and it's still a world that is very much male-dominated. Even with nearly 20 years of fairly solid online indie community "cred" behind me, sometimes when "the boys" get to talking about music, I can still feel a little intimidated or unwelcome or ignored sometimes, so I can't even imagine what it would be like if I was fairly new to the 'Net and trying to participate in some of those arenas.

I don't know. I never knew any other girls who used to haunt the record store bins like I did for hours on end. When I worked at a record store, there were three of us chicks on staff as opposed to about two dozen guys. Besides my best friend who introduced me to The Replacements (and was introduced to them by HER boyfriend), I never knew any other female 'Mats fans until the Internet started booming in the early '90s. I'd daresay that for a long time, I was probably the only female in my entire STATE who even knew who the Hoodoo Gurus were, and probably one of maybe ten in the state who knew who The Replacements were.

Why? I don't really know. Much like cars and sports, music has just always been one of those things that people seem to look at as "normal" for guys, but if you're a girl and you're THAT much into music, they look at you a little strangely. If it's a guy who's into music, yeah, they think it's cool that you are too - but they still look at you like that's a little odd even if they think it's cool.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard "Most girls don't...." or "Most girls aren't into...". Yep.

Where are the ones that aren't writing? Sometimes I wonder if it's because they're too involved with being married and raising kids, etc. - but then I look at all the zillions of mommybloggers now out there, and they're doing it.

Then again, I look at those 50 women I said I might could come up with 50 names, who are still writing about music or running websites or just being superfans - most of them aren't married and raising children. The majority aren't anyway.

So does that have something to do with it? I don't know. Even with a marriage (which I will have) and kids (which I may or may not have someday), I'd still be writing - but I'm pretty much past the point of no return there. I can't NOT write.

I don't know. I guess, much like most of the various music factions I've mostly immersed myself in and the indie scene overall itself, we're the proud and few too.

(Sorry this got so long, LOL.)

The Lynnster Zone & Lynnster's Music Zone

(The other great thing is I didn't know several of these blogs mentioned in the comments existed, so here I go to link them and start reading, and now I can add several more names to that list of 50 or so women around online...ha.)

The Lynnster Zone & Lynnster's Music Zone

I blog about music and the music biz, but it's rare that my gender ever comes into play.

We're definitely out there, but perhaps women market their blogs less?

Carla Lynne Hall
Musician & Music Biz Expert

Blog: http://RockStarLifeLessons.com

"Goliath was the best thing that ever happened to Goliath" - Anonymous