In a Notable Year for Women in Country Music, Nashville’s Music Professionals Champion the Female Perspective in the Industry

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The Changing Landscape for Women in Country Music

Since the beginning of 2024, the country music industry has had female artists front-and-center in a music scene that has notably overlooked them in radio airplay and recognition. As artists such as Kacey Musgraves, Megan Moroney, Lainey Wilson, and so many more release music to critical acclaim, it is crucial to recognize the industry's professionals who have worked to slowly turn the tides on the female perspective in the genre.

Why Strong Communities Matter for Current Female Country Music Professionals

For Kate Watson, the Senior Manager of Industry Relations for the Country Music Association, the music industry has already been a career aspiration. Watson, whose family has run a talent-buying business for the past 94 years, grew up knowing she wanted to work in the business.

Since her time as a student at The Ohio State University, Watson has been involved with CMA EDU, the Country Music Association's professional development program aimed at college students who want to work in the country music industry. After graduating from OSU and working at the Country Music Association as a Community Outreach Intern, Watson began a full-time role in Nashville, working as the CMA EDU Coordinator in 2018. Since then, Watson has been one of the major figures who has overseen CMA EDU as it turned from individual chapters on college campuses into an organization that connects dozens of aspiring country music professionals from across the country.

Reflecting on her career in the country music industry so far, Watson praises the supportive environment that female professionals have fostered. "I think the women that I know and the women that I am inspired by are so anti-competitive, which sounds sort of counterintuitive, but I think the women that I really look to as inspiration don't necessarily want the next generation of women to be faced with the same challenges that they were faced with," Watson says. "They want to forge a path, and they want to make things easier for the next generation of women."

Watson's positive experiences with CMA EDU as a student and with fellow professionals in the industry inspired her to foster inclusive communities among students and set the standards for future professionals. "I want to make sure that every student everywhere knows that they could have a place in the music industry if they want it. And when I joined CMA, that was really my role—spreading that for students and helping to make sure that they have pathways," Watson says. "Having that sort of perspective made me really eager to get involved on this perspective of it and also being able to make sure that the music industry is strong and continues to develop amazing people."

Why is Allyship Important in the Country Music Industry?

Song Suffragettes is a Nashville-based music organization that hosts the city's only all-female singer-songwriter showcase every Monday night at the Listening Room Cafe and has recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. Through a rigorous audition process, Song Suffragettes has had over 450 women play at their shows; 44 of those women have gone on to get record deals, and 65 have gotten music publishing deals. Prominent country music artists such as Kelsea Ballerini, Lainey Wilson, Megan Moroney, and Carly Pearce performed for Song Suffragettes at the beginning of their careers.

For Todd Cassetty, the founder of Song Suffragettes, the organization has been an outlet to express his support for female professionals and artists in the country music industry. "It's connecting everyone in just a really positive environment that's super intrinsically rewarding," Cassetty says. "It's my passion project."

Cassetty, who has worked in the music industry for over 30 years, has witnessed first-hand how much harder it is for women to establish themselves as artists in the country music industry compared to men. "The creativity that I see from female singer-songwriters on the daily is inversely proportional to the homogenization that I see in the male singer-songwriters coming out of Nashville," Cassetty says. "Male creatives in this town are rewarded for being alike, and female creatives in this town have to work extra hard because they're asked to be super different all the time. It's like they have to try ten times as hard, and they have to be different than everybody."

Noticing the barriers women face when fighting for recognition and airplay, Cassetty emphasizes the importance of not only giving the space for female artists to share their work but also fostering community amongst them. "These women, a lot of times, meet their collaborators and meet their friends. And that can only benefit the collective creativity in the process," says Cassetty. "That encouragement and that support provide confidence, and confidence and persistence can provide success and lead to success." Cassetty cites female country music artist Tenille Arts' song "Somebody Like That," which reached No.1 on the Country Radio Charts in 2021, as to why female community and collaboration pays off in the industry. "It was the first number one record that was ever written, produced, and performed all by women, and all of them were Song Suffragettes in that pipeline," Cassetty says.

Cassetty acknowledges that starting Song Suffragettes as a male professional in the industry has garnered mixed reactions but stressed that allyship and having male professionals support female artistry in Nashville is crucial in getting more people to care about what the organization is fighting for. "Men will pay more attention to my point of view on this topic than they will to women. That's a freaking tragedy. It makes me as angry as it makes anybody," Cassetty says. "Men have to be involved in it, or it's just not going to change. I think that's one of the challenges we still face."

The Impact of Strong Communities and the Female Perspective in Country Music

Karenna Cox, a Music Business student at Belmont University in Nashville, has experience working with both Watson and Cassetty through CMA EDU and Song Suffragettes, respectively. Through networking opportunities hosted by CMA EDU and working in merchandising at Song Suffragettes' live events, Cox has fostered a strong connection to female communities while still in school.

CMA EDU has helped Cox, who is graduating from Belmont this spring, meet fellow female peers with aspirations in the country music industry. "We got to do a leadership summit in August of this past year in 2023, and there are about 50 of us and a lot of them are women. I feel like that was another way that I got really connected with other women in the industry, especially my age," Cox says. "It's been really great getting to meet other women in the industry and bring each other up."

Through interning at Song Suffragettes, Cox has been involved in the organization's impact in getting people across the country to listen to female country artists. Cox noticed that many of the people who attended Song Suffragettes' shows were tourists who sought out the live performances of female country music artists. "The entire country is getting to hear more women and country music because, in Nashville, you get to hear everybody, but everywhere else, it's usually just the radio and men kind of dominate that area," Cox says. "Country music is such a male-dominated industry, and Song Suffragettes is helping bring more women into the industry and get noticed. The Listening Room has been amazing to help face the gender disparity between men and women, fighting for airplay in country music, especially on radio."

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Cassetty emphasizes that female country music artists bring a unique perspective to their performances and the songwriting process. "There's a nuance, and there's a layering in female country music in this town that is unparalleled," Cassetty says. When recalling Megan Moroney's performance of her song "Hair Salon" at one of Song Suffragettes' shows in 2022, Cassetty says that her songwriting had the power to get everyone to empathize. "I remember her playing 'Hair Salon' in her audition, and I was just like, 'Wow.' I'm not a woman in a hair salon, clearly. But it's like I can understand that perspective because she paints such a vivid picture."

Cassetty, who has two daughters, says it is crucial for young women who are interested in country music to hear songs that feature their perspectives. "You don't really get to hear their point of view in the world or their voice, their perspective voices in the country space," Cassetty says.