ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on exploring the many strategies employed by female artists in challenging gender-based mythologies surrounding the authorship issue. In broad terms, the history of popular music gives many examples of female icons, singers and dancers, but many fewer producers, engineers, band leaders or DJs. Carol Kaye was recorded from an amp, with some compression on the tracks that she claimed she did for Motown. Conversely, Kaye has always been keen to place on record that most, but not all, Motown bass lines in this period were the work of James Jamerson. Janelle Monaes constructions of authorship, the music and author image of Goldfrapp and female auteur that, despite some clear distinctions from Monae, still fails to work within several patriarchal constraints. This finding is why issues of sexuality invariably deal with the female gender and, indeed, why gender itself is often a discussion centring on females.
