The Women's International Music Network (WiMN) is an organization that provides support, information, and community for women within the music industry. Founded in 2012 by Laura B. Whitmore, the WiMN produces and hosts events, workshops, and panels, including the She Rocks Awards.

History

The organization was founded in November 2012 by Laura B. Whitmore with a goal of providing support, information, and a sense of community for women in all walks of the industry, including performers, business insiders, educators and students. The organization's website serves as a hub for the group to share news pertaining to female musicians, projects relating to women in the industry, products targeted to female musicians, special WiMN event details and other events in the community.

She Rocks Awards

Beginning in 2013, the WiMN has hosted the She Rocks Awards annually to recognize women in the music industry, with the first She Rocks Awards taking place during the first annual Women's International Music Network breakfast on January 25, 2013 during the

NAMM Show The NAMM Show is an annual trade show in the United States organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), which describes it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...

in Anaheim, California, at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel. 2013 honorees included producer/songwriter

Holly Knight Holly Knight (born 1956) is an American songwriter, musician, and singer. She was a member of the 1980s pop rock groups Spider and Device, and wrote or co-wrote several hit singles for other artists, such as " Rag Doll", " Obsession", " Love Is ...

, guitarist

Orianthi Orianthi Penny Panagaris (born 22 January 1985), known mononymously as Orianthi, is an Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter. Her 2009 debut single " According to You" peaked at No. 3 in Japan, No. 8 in Australia and No. 17 in the US; her ...

, Tish Ciravolo from

Daisy Rock Girl Guitars Daisy Rock Girl Guitars is a guitar company founded in 2000 by Tish Ciravolo. The company, currently a subsidiary of KMC Music, produces electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitars and ukuleles. History Tish Ciravolo credits her oldest dau ...

, Mary Peavey of Peavey Electronics, Laura Taylor of

Guitar Center Guitar Center, Inc. is an American musical instrument retailer chain headquartered in Westlake Village, California. It operates 304 locations and is the largest company of its kind in the United States. The company oversees several subsidia ...

, Carla DeSantis Black of MEOW and Pauline France of

Fender Guitars The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC, or simply Fender) is an American manufacturer and marketer of musical instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment; however, it is b ...

. It featured a performance by Orianthi who was joined on stage by bassist Nik West and drummer Brittany Maccarello. The event was hosted in partnership with NewBay Media, the publishers of

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' was an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francis ...

Bass Player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low bra ...

Electronic Musician Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

and other music industry media outlets. The WiMN hosted the third annual She Rocks Awards at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel on January 23, 2015 during the NAMM Show. The event honored Colby Caillat,

The Bangles The Bangles are an American all-female band, all-female pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, in 1981. They are known for hit singles during the 1980s that made them one of the most successful pop rock groups of the decade. The band’s biggest ...

Mindi Abair Mindi Abair ( ; born May 23, 1969) is an American saxophonist, vocalist, author.. Her solo career has produced ten No. 1 radio singles, two No. 1 Billboard Jazz CDs, and four more solo CDs that have landed No. 5 and above on the ''Billboard'' Co ...

, Amani Duncan of

Martin Guitar C.F. Martin & Company, often referred to as Martin, is an American guitar manufacturer established in 1833 by Christian Frederick Martin. The company was founded in New York City, where it was based for six years before relocating to Nazareth ...

, Craigie Zildjian of

Avedis Zildjian Company The Avedis Zildjian Company, simply known as Zildjian (), is a musical instrument manufacturer specializing in cymbals and other percussion instruments. Founded by the ethnic Armenians, Armenian Zildjian family in the 17th-century Ottoman Empi ...

, Katie Kailus of Music Inc. Magazine, Paula Salvatore of

Capitol Studios Capitol Studios is a recording studio located at the landmark Capitol Records Building in Hollywood, California, United States. The studios, which opened in 1956, were initially the primary recording studios for the American record label Capi ...

, Debbie Cavalier of

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

and Gayle Beacock of Beacock Music. WiMN founder Whitmore co-hosted the event along with guitarist

. The fourth annual She Rocks Awards took place on January 22, 2016 at the Hilton Anaheim Hotel during the NAMM Show. The event was co-hosted by Whitmore and guitarist

Nita Strauss Nita Strauss (born December 7, 1986) is an American musician. She is currently a guitarist for Alice Cooper, has also been a touring guitarist for Demi Lovato and has a successful career as a solo artist. Strauss is regularly featured on the cov ...

. Honorees included

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

Jennifer Batten Jennifer Batten (born November 29, 1957) is an American guitarist who has worked as a session musician and solo artist. From 1987 to 1997, she played on all three of Michael Jackson's world tours, and from 1999 to 2001, she toured and recorded w ...

, Amy Heidemann of

Karmin Karmin was an American pop duo consisting of Amy Renee Noonan and Nick Noonan. Starting as a novelty act that released covers on YouTube, they signed in 2011 with Epic Records. In May 2012, Karmin released their debut EP ''Hello'', which spa ...

, Becky Gebhardt and Mona Tavakoli from the Rock N Roll Camp for Girls L.A. and Raining Jane, Cathy Carter Duncan of

Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and Bass (guitar), bass Pickup (music technology), pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in United States. Guitarist and luthier ...

, Crystal Morris of Gator Cases, Chalise Zolezzi of

Taylor Guitars Taylor Guitars is an American guitar manufacturer based in El Cajon, California. The company was founded in 1974 by Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug, specializing in acoustic guitars and semi-hollow electric guitars. It is one of the largest manufact ...

, Mindy Abovitz of Tom Tom Magazine, Mary Luehrsen of

NAMM The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is a not-for-profit global trade association dedicated to the music products industry. Originally founded in 1901, NAMM is headquartered in Carlsbad, California, and represents 15,000 global memb ...

Leslie Ann Jones Leslie Ann Jones is an American multiple Grammy Award-winning recording engineer, working as Director of Music Recording and Scoring at Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm, Ltd. company. She is a past Chair of the National Academy of Recording Arts ...

, Pamela Cole and Leigh Maples of Fanny's House of Music, Tom Gilbert, and Sujata Murthy of

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

. Performers included

The Command Sisters ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

, Jenna Paone,

Malina Moye Malina Moye (born August 20, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter, lefty guitarist, model, actress, and entrepreneur, who fuses pop, rock, and soul. As a lefty, Moye draws comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, but plays her guitars flipped upside-do ...

, Raining Jane and the band Rock Sugah, which features

Divinity Roxx Divinity Roxx (1976–), born Debbie Walker to Beverly Walker and Raymond Walker Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia, is a two-time Grammy-nominated American recording artist, producer, composer, musician and honorary sister of Tau Beta Sigma, the American h ...

, Kat Dyson, Benita Lewis and Lynette Williams. The 2017 She Rocks Awards recognized Monique Boyer of

MAC Cosmetics M A C Cosmetics is a Canadian cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto in 1984 by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The company has been headquartered in New York City since becoming a subsidiary of Estée Lauder Companies in 1998. MAC is an acron ...

, Rebecca Eaddy of Roland Corporation U.S.,

Lita Ford Lita Rossana Ford (born September 19, 1958) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, and then embarked on a successful glam metal solo career tha ...

, Beverly Fowler of

PRS Guitars Paul Reed Smith Guitars, also known as PRS Guitars or simply PRS, is an American guitar and amplifier manufacturer founded in 1985 in Annapolis, Maryland by Paul Reed Smith. After dropping out of college, Smith began making guitars by hand and ...

, Lisa Foxx of the iHeartRadio network, Charyn Harris of A Place Called Home,

Karrie Keyes Karrie Keyes is an American audio engineer and the executive director of SoundGirls, a non-profit organization that supports women in the sound industry. She has been the monitor engineer for Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder for over 25 years and has ...

of SoundGirls and sound engineer for Pearl Jam, Tracy Leenman of Musical Innovations, Dani Markman of

Disney Music Group Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording and publishing arm of Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The div ...

Shirley Manson Shirley Ann Manson FRSA (born 26 August 1966) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and musician who is the lead singer of the rock band Garbage. Known for her distinctive deep voice, forthright style, and rebellious attitude, her accolades include ...

, and

Esperanza Spalding Esperanza Emily Spalding (born October 18, 1984), sometimes professionally known with the stylized name of esperanza spalding, is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Aw ...

, Leanne Summers of LAWIM (Los Angeles Women in Music). In 2018 the She Rocks Awards took place at the House of Blues Anaheim. Honorees included

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her Melissa Etheridge (album), eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the Billbo ...

Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo (née Andrzejewski; formerly and still professionally Benatar ; born January 10, 1953) is an American singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has two multi-platinum albums, five platinum albums, and 15 US ''Billboa ...

Kate Pierson Catherine Elizabeth Pierson (born April 27, 1948) is an American singer, lyricist, and founding member of the B-52s. She plays guitar, bass and various keyboard instruments. In the early years, as well as being a vocalist, Pierson was the main ...

Cindy Wilson Cynthia Leigh Wilson (born February 28, 1957) is an American musician and one of the vocalists, songwriters and founding members of New wave music, new wave rock band the B-52s. She is noted for her distinctive contralto voice and also plays per ...

of the

B-52s B5, B05, B-5 may refer to: Biology * ATC code B05 (''Blood substitutes and perfusion solutions''), a therapeutic subgroup of the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System * Cytochrome ''b''5, ubiquitous electron transport hemoproteins ...

, Karla Redding-Andrews of the Otis Redding Foundation, X] vocalist

Exene Cervenka Exene Cervenka (born Christene Lee Cervenka; February 1, 1956) is an American singer, artist, and poet. She is best known for her work as a singer in the California punk rock band X. Music career The 21-year-old Cervenka met 23-year-old m ...

, Amberly Crouse-Knox of BMG Production Music, the members of the band Fanny (Jean Millington Adamian, June Millington, Brie Darling, Patti Quatro, Alice de Buhr), Candace Stewart of

EastWest Studios EastWest Studios (formerly known as Western Studio, a component of United Western Recorders and later Ocean Way Recording) is a recording studio complex located at 6000 West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally constructed by Bill Putnam in ...

, Dawn Birr of Sennheiser Business Solutions, Fabi Reyna of She Shreds Media and

Reyna Tropical Reyna Tropical is a US band founded by Fabi Reyna and Nectali "Sumohair" Díaz in 2016. Their music is influenced by Colombian, Peruvian, and Mexican musical styles, as well as Congolese rhythms. Reyna Tropical has released two EPs and one st ...

, Vanessa Mering of HARMAN Professional, and Kristy Porter of Guitar Center. In 2019 the She Rocks Awards added a Lifetime Achievement Award, which it awarded to Janis Joplin. Other honorees included

Terri Nunn Terri Kathleen Nunn (born June 26, 1961) is an American singer and actress. She is known as the vocalist of the 1980s New wave music, new wave and synth-pop band Berlin (band), Berlin. Biography Nunn was born in Los Angeles, California on June 2 ...

(Icon award),

Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known professionally as Macy Gray, is an American contemporary R&B, R&B and soul music, soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influence ...

Lisa Loeb Lisa Anne Loeb (; born March 11, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author and actress. She started her career with " Stay (I Missed You)" from the film '' Reality Bites'', the first number-one single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 10 ...

Erika Ender Erika María Ender Simoes (born 21 December 1974) is a Panamanian-American singer and songwriter. In addition to her singing career, Ender is considered one of the most important and prolific composers in the Latin music market today. Along with ...

, Dana DuFine, AEG Facilities (Powerhouse award), Dale Krevens of Tech 21 (Mad Skills award), Lynette Sage of

Reverb.com Reverb.com is an online marketplace for new, used, and vintage musical equipment, including instruments used by notable musicians. It was founded in 2013 by David Kalt, and roughly 85 percent of its employees are musicians. As of 2016, Rev ...

(Innovator award), Samantha Pink of JAM Industries USA (Excellence Award), and Terri Winston of Women’s Audio Mission. The She Rocks Awards did not take place in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and resumed in 2022 to honor

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

Meredith Brooks Meredith Ann Brooks (born June 12, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A member of the Oregon music scene, she received international acclaim with her solo album '' Blurring the Edges'' (1997) and its single, "Bitch", which r ...

, Milck,

Yvette Young Yvette Young (born June 28, 1991) is an American musician from San Jose, California. She is the front-woman for the math rock band Covet. In 2023, ''Rolling Stone'' named Young the 155th greatest guitarist of all time. History Young is of Chines ...

Lyndsey Parker Lyndsey Parker is an American entertainment journalist and author. A former managing editor at ''Yahoo! Music'', she focuses on music and pop culture. She is the author of ''Reality Rocks,'' a column that covers television shows such as '' The V ...

, Carmen Vandenberg, Julie Robbins, Sherri Chung, Leslie Gaston-Bird, EveAnna Manley of

Manley Laboratories Manley Laboratories, Inc. is an American manufacturer of pro audio and high-end audio equipment located in Chino, California. The first Manley-branded products were introduced in 1989, with Manley Laboratories becoming an independent company in 1 ...

, and Kerry Fiero. In 2023 the She Rocks Awards honored

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning rec ...

Noelle Scaggs Noelle Scaggs (born October 8, 1979) is an American musician and singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, known as the co-lead singer of the pop group Fitz and the Tantrums. Scaggs has also had numerous collaborations with the Black Eyed Peas, Dilate ...

Gretchen Menn Gretchen Menn is an American guitarist and composer who has her own original instrumental work and is also the lead guitarist for Zepparella, an all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band. She was included in ''Guitar Player Magazine'' '50 Sensational ...

Shelly Peiken Shelly Meg Peiken is an American songwriter who is best known for co-writing the US No. 1 hits " What a Girl Wants" and " Come On Over Baby" by Christina Aguilera the US No. 2 hit " Bitch" by Meredith Brooks, " Almost Doesn't Count" by Brandy, ...

, Mary Spender, Katherine Wing, Stacey Ryan, Lisa S. Johnson,

Michelle Bell Michelle Bell is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. With Sean Combs she wrote and produced tracks for Jennifer Lopez. Following the release of Lopez's album, she worked with artists, including Britney Spears, Girls Aloud, Mary J ...

, and Helen Culleton. In 2024 the She Rocks Awards honored

Debbie Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She released her debut album ''Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson album), Out of the Blue'' (1987) at age 16, writing and largely producing the material. The a ...

Lindsey Stirling Lindsey Stirling (born September 21, 1986) is an American violinist, songwriter and dancer. She presents choreographed violin performances, in live and music videos found on her official YouTube channel, which she created in 2007. Stirling per ...

, Bonnie McIntosh,

Britt Lightning Brittany Denaro (born February 2, 1985), best known as Britt Lightning, is the lead guitarist for the band Vixen. Music career From 2004 to 2011, Lightning performed in Jaded, an all-female hard rock based in Boston. The band released two albums ...

, Kelsy Karter, Holly G,

Sylvia Massy Sylvia Lenore Massy is an American record producer, mixer, and engineer. Her first major breakthrough occurred with 1993's ''Undertow (Tool album), Undertow'', the full-length triple platinum-selling debut for Los Angeles alternative metal band ...

, Lindsay Love-Bivens, Melinda Newman,

Laura Karpman Laura Anne Karpman (born March 1, 1959) is an American composer, whose work has included music for film, television, video games, theater, and the concert hall. She has won five Emmy Awards for her work. Karpman was trained at the Juilliard Schoo ...

, and Jamie Deering.

References

External links

She Rocks Awards: Official website
{{Music industry Awards established in 2013 American music awards Women's organizations based in the United States International music organizations Music organizations based in the United States Music industry associations