Women and British dance music. According to Grace, social media sites like TikTok have played a significant role in removing obstacles related to dance music, particularly its intricate technology. “It makes me pleased that so many people have messaged me to say they bought a beat pad because of me,” she says. By utilizing reasonably priced equipment, like that seen in Grace’s movies, and a clever web presence, bedroom producers can now establish the groundwork for a career, diminishing the influence of industry gatekeepers.
WOMEN AND BRITISH DANCE MUSIC
As seen on the guardian website Last year, Kenya Grace began documenting her music production on TikTok. Her pairing of pop songwriting with dance instrumentals, performed from her bedroom with a simple mic and Midi-controller setup, soon attracted thousands of followers, and the comment sections were inundated with requests for covers, collaborations and official releases.

But some – generally male – viewers were unconvinced, littering her posts with variously sexist, patronising and mansplaining comments. “I’ve had people ask if someone else made the tracks for me,” she says, sighing. “I’m like: you can seeme doing it.” It’s just one in a collection of microaggressions Grace can recall from her relatively new career, from paternalistic peers in early studio sessions to passive aggressive comments at live shows. “There’s a lot of stigma that women can’t produce.”
But a new vanguard of female producers is beginning to redefine what dance music looks and sounds like.

With their snappy, pop-informed takes on drum’n’bass, garage and EDM, Grace, PinkPantheress and Becky Hill are all chart mainstays; Ireland’s Jazzyreached No 3 and spent 31 weeks in the chart with Giving Me, a euphoric but steely house track she co-wrote; Scotland’s Hannah Laingis getting tens of millions of streams for her self-produced, old-school-leaning rave tracks. Pursuing dance music – and crucially, on their own terms – is now a viable career path.
Venbee;

Women and British dance music
“Us girlies are taking over!” says Venbee, who claims to have written a song a day since she was 10 – one of them, Messy in Heaven, became a Top 10 hit last year, prompting collaborations with chart regulars Rudimental and Chase & Status. “Women are putting their foot down,” she says. “They’re able to film themselves and [show] what they can do.”
As representation grows on stage and on the airwaves, Piri is also pushing for more diversity behind the scenes, hiring a crew made up exclusively of women, non-binary and LGBTQ+ people, and urging other artists to do the same. “It’s a boys club. The reason more men get these jobs is because a man has the opportunity to hire people and then will just automatically pick their friends. So we’ve gotta push outwards. You are the artist, you [have] the power to choose who’s on your team – make the most of that.”
Still on that;

Women and British dance music
Aside from visibility, the changing demographics in dance music are down to the wider availability of resources democratising production, from YouTube and TikTok tutorials to cheaper software, and grants such as the PRS Foundation Women Make Music fund. Collectives such as Loud LDN use group chats and events to build support networks for early-career women and gender-nonconforming artists. Among its members are Piri, Venbee and fellow pop-dance rising stars Issey Cross and Charlotte Plank.
Summary
From unrecognized vocalists to formidable DJs and producers, women have changed the DNA of British dance music. Although female creators have historically been marginalized by the business, a new generation is taking control of radio waves, festivals, and charts on their own terms.
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