Ty Stiklorius, a veteran music executive and founder and CEO of Friends at Work, argued Tuesday that recording studios are not safe spaces for female artists because they are more likely to experience sexual harassment or assault in such closed off, private settings in a male-dominated industry.
“When you talk about there aren’t safe spaces, a lot of times in the recording studio, women end up in these spaces,” Stiklorius said, speaking with co-panelist Tiffany Red during TheWrap’s 2024 Power Women Summit panel, “Amplifying Change: Women, Power & Accountability in the Music Industry.”
“It’s late at night, there’s really no rules, and they’re put together by sometimes publishing companies, record labels, sometimes artists and known by songwriters,” Stiklorius continued. “In my 20 years of working in the music business, I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who hasn’t had some kind of traumatic experience in a recording studio.”
During the discussion, Stiklorius shared her journey as an upcoming creative and some of the the hurdles she’s overcome in her overall career in the music industry, including an instance where she was roofied at a party while attending Wharton Business School.
Joining Stiklorius on stage was Grammy Award-winning songwriter Red, who herself opened up about supporting Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura years prior to the singer coming forward with allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“I was one of the songwriters that wrote loads of songs for Cassie that, unfortunately, you guys have never heard because of all the things going on,” Red, who is also the founder of music rights advocacy group The 100 Percenters, said. In December 2023, Red came forward in a Rolling Stone op-ed titled “Sean Combs Traumatized Me,” detailing how “terrified” she was for Ventura when the two were working under Combs’ camp.
“[Cassie] is an artist, she’s a model and she’s also the former girlfriend of Sean Combs. I came forward about my experience as a songwriter, working with her and for Bad Boy [Records/Entertainment] in December,” Red said. “I always said from the beginning, when I knew that something was wrong, I always told Cass, if you ever say something, I will stand right next to you. I knew it was wrong. I always wanted to come forward,” Red said.
She continued, saying that much of the advocacy work that she does now was motivated by the tragic experiences she had in the music business.
“I think what informs my work as an activist is my experience as a songwriter, and unfortunately, I’ve seen the worst of people.” Red said. “I’ve seen the worst of the industry. I’ve seen the worst of abuse of power. I’ve seen the worst of turning your head and not doing anything about it. I’ve seen the worst of people continuing to empower people that we know make rooms unsafe, and it was important to me to take my own power back and fight for myself, for my community and other people. I came forward, wrote my op-ed, did a couple of news interviews.”
Watch the full panel below:
TheWrap’s Power Women Summit is the essential gathering of the most influential women across entertainment and media. The event aims to inspire and empower women across the landscape of their professional careers and personal lives. With the theme, “Aspire,” this year’s PWS provides one day of keynotes, panels, workshops and networking. For more information visit thewrap.com/pws. For all of TheWrap’s Power Women Summit 2024 coverage, click here.
