Från den sjungande primadonnan till den äkta kreatören : En studie om kvinnliga musikartisters motivation till en karriär i musikbranschen

Sammanfattning: Based on the coverage published in 2022 about gender inequality in the music industry, where men often have the upper hand compared to their female counterparts, the aim of this study is to achieve a deeper understanding of what motivates women to pursue a career as music artists despite the current inequality. Four female music artists who make a living of their music artistry were interviewed regarding their motivation to pursue such a career. The empiric results were analyzed by performing a thematic content analysis of recurring themes present in the interviewees responses. To get a better understanding of the themes, the women's motivation and what aspects affect their motivation, Hedegaard Hein’s four motivation-archetypes (Primadonnan, prestationsjägaren, pragmatikern and lönetagaren) were used in combination with theories of gender studies. The aim was to achieve a deeper understanding of the women’s motivation through these archetypes which were presented by Hedegaard Hein to be used as a tool to analyze highly specialized creative workers. The theories of gender studies were used to achieve an understanding of the women’s actions and responses from the music industry. The analyzes found that the music artists mainly corresponded to the archetype Primadonnan, however two distinct categories of inner motivation were found. These are the emotional calling and the intellectual calling, where the emotional calling acts as an inner drive to channel emotions, thoughts and values through artistic expression which results in a feeling of relief for the artists. The intellectual calling instead acts as the driving force behind the devotion to achieve specific results and goals. Like becoming an inspiring role model, a skilled composer, a big star or to be an authentic music artist. Even though the artists had different intellectual callings, they searched for similar ways in achieving both the emotional and the intellectual callings. By listening to and following both the emotional and intellectual callings the artists found freedom in their artistic expression. As such they searched for possibilities to achieve this freedom through collaborating with people with equal values, performing on stage and as such give fuel to their emotional and intellectual callings creating a cycle of motivation. If the callings were to be threatened, the artists would instead become demotivated. As a result of this study, the archetype The Creator was created as a way to better understand this motivational loop of pursuing the emotional and intellectual callings through freedom of expression, the search for possibilities to achieve career advancements and social exchanges as a music artist.