Amplifying Women and Non-Binary Music Producers

Gender Amplified Exclusive Serato Sound Pack

We are excited to announce that we have collaborated with Gender Amplified, a nonprofit organization that empowers women in music production, on an exclusive sound pack that will be available to all Serato Studio users.

Gender Amplified president and founder Ebonie Smith was an aspiring producer and university student at Barnard College when the idea for Gender Amplified first came to her in 2007. While researching music history for part of her thesis project, she noted how the names of several key male music producers would pop up over and over again, but no women’s names. It was then that she started realizing that women’s lack of visibility in music production was both an academic and a feminist discourse, and Gender Amplified was born.

“Music and inclusivity means everything to Gender Amplified. We are constantly focused on the ways in which the music we make is representative of the culture that we are and all the people who embody that culture.”
– Ebonie Smith
President & Founder, Gender Amplified

Closing The Gap

What was originally a one-day conference entitled “Gender Amplified: Women & Technological Innovation in Hip-Hop” has now evolved into a non-profit organization 501(c)(3) that supports women, girls, and non-binary music producers and audio engineers all year round. One of their recent initiatives is the Ctrl Room Series, a production-intensive camp that brings women and non-binary creatives together for studio sessions where they write, produce and create music.

Image of Boston Chery, Krithi Rao, and Ebonie Smith working on Serato Studio in the production room. — From left to right: Boston Chery, Krithi Rao, and Ebonie Smith

“We’re using this opportunity to ensure that our producers feel confident that their music is actually finding a home in the larger world.”
– Ebonie Smith

While the opportunities to connect and collaborate are key, getting the music from the community out into the real world by way of meaningful opportunities is an important goal. While the number of women producers has grown since 2007, there’s still an imbalance when it comes to women producers getting professional placements: In 2022, just 2.8% of producers were women across all songs included on the year-end Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Portraits of Gender Amplified community members. From left to right: Somer Bingham, Brown Jewel, Cam Dasher, Boston Chery, Krithi Rao, Tiger Darrow, Ximone Stewart, and Melissa Lyric. — From left to right: Somer Bingham, Brown Jewel, Cam Dasher, Boston Chery, Krithi Rao, Tiger Darrow, Ximone Stewart, and Melissa Lyric

“Education is so important and so empowering—but it’s nice to be able to work in the industry too. Gender Amplified has given me that.”
– Krithi Rao
Producer, Gender Amplified Community Member

Gender Amplified Sound Pack

The Gender Amplified Serato Sound Pack was created over the course of two days at Hyperballad Studios in New York City. Nine members of the Gender Amplified community of producers and sound designers worked together to create 69 unique sounds that include audio samples, loops, drum kits and one shots of various instruments.

Collage of Gender amplified community members working on a Sound Pack. — From left to right: Ebonie Smith, Melissa Lyric, Krithi Rao, Boston Chery, Ximone Stewart, Cam Dasher, and Brown Jewel

“Creating a sound pack is a unique opportunity because making a good sample pack isn’t exclusively about the sounds but the sonics and the sound design.”
– Ebonie Smith

The Gender Amplified Sound Pack will be available later this year as a free download via the Serato Studio Sounds page on our site.