TWENTY FACTORS THAT FEMALES SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE STARTING A MUSIC CAREER IN THE NIGERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY

 

The ratio of men to women in the music industry all over the world is about 5:1.

I am not referring to music performance alone. I am referring to about sixty-five careers in the Nigeran music industry.

There are more male singers, instrumentalists, songwriters, music producers, audio engineers, record label owners, music publishers, music supervisors and so on, than women.  

Does this mean that males are more talented than women in music?

Based on my observation over the years, I have discovered the major reasons why there are more males in the music industry than there are females.

These reasons are also the factors that females ought to consider before embarking on a career in music. Otherwise, they should choose another career if they cannot cope with these factors.

They are:

 

1. GIFT

A gift is an innate ability that a person is born with otherwise known as a God-given ability.

Both males and females are given these natural abilities which both genders explore as soon as they are able to recognize and dance to a melody even before they are able to speak.

It is easier for a gift to be developed into a talent than starting from scratch.

A person can have more than one gift.

What is your gift? What are your gifts?

 

2. TALENT

A gift is a natural ability while a talent can be learnt for perfection. 

For example, if a person has a gift for singing, vocal coaching can help a singer to become talented in this craft. 

Which of your gifts have you decided to build upon to become your talents? 

If you are multi-talented in singing, songwriting, dancing, acting, playing a musical instrument, drawing, etc., you can begin by first exploring one talent and then adding more talents along the way so that you will perfect a talent one after the other and so that will not be overwhelmed.

 

3.PASSION

Before embarking on any career at all, passion should be the next consideration. 

Which of these talents are you passionate about?

Passion will make a person endure all the problems encountered along the journey to success in the music industry.

Passion will encourage a person to be focused, dedicated and possess the tenacity to stay on till success comes knocking.

So, are males more passionate about music than females? We will soon find out.

 

4. AGE

How old are you? Are you too young or too old to begin a career in music?

It is better to begin a music career at an early age. Many successful musicians started their careers early. 

A child can begin to sing in school and in the church choir as early as four years old.

However, I do not advise a child to begin a professional music career earlier than age thirteen because I believe that childhood is for play. Once childhood is lost, it cannot never be regained.

Otherwise, the dilemma that befell the likes of Michael Jackson who lost his childhood to the music industry will repeat itself. 

There is time for everything.

From age thirteen, a child is more mature and will be able to strike a balance between school work and a music career. That child may not be allowed to perform at late-night events yet until she is through with secondary school. By then, the child should be between fifteen and eighteen years old. 

This does not mean that musicians like me who start out late in life will not become successful in music. It is just tougher as artist managers, artists and repertoires and record labels prefer to sign on young artists. 

One good reason for seeking young artists is that the majority of music fans are also young people and so these business professionals will quickly make money from managing these young acts.

A dubious reason for preferring to manage young artists is that they are considered to be naïve, easy to manipulate and easy to sexually objectify and cheated out of their earnings. 

The beauty of a music career is that once you start early, you can do it for as long as you like and retire whenever you like. If the likes of Angelique Kidjo, Onyeka Onwenu and Tina Turner are still performing music in their old age and winning awards, what stops me from doing the same? 

Age affects women more than men especially when women begin to get pregnant and start a family. After childbirth, some female musicians continue with their music careers while others stop. 

As for men, age and raising a family do not usually stop them from continuing with their music career.

The only male musician that I know who stopped his career to raise his children with his wife when they relocated to the United States of America is Ras Kimono.

 

 

5. EDUCATION

Education can come in various forms. After nursery, primary and secondary school education, a woman will want to further her education at a higher institution.

What usually happens in Nigeria is that women are cajoled by their parents to either get married or study ‘prestigious’ careers like medicine, engineering, law, accounting, etc. Then on campus, they begin to perform at open nights, night clubs and other events.

This is a late method of starting a music career.

If you are sure that you want to do a career in the music industry, it is better to start taking music classes from primary school to secondary school. 

If you want to be a performing musician, the right step for you to take is to kick off your career right from secondary school. 

If you get signed by a music manager or record label whilst still in secondary school, focus on your art and performances on weekends and during the holidays. 

Also, during the holidays, get your parents or guardian to hire a music teacher to teach you music theory and how to play at least one musical instrument while still in secondary school. 

Learning one musical instrument will make you become a better songwriter.

Waiting until you finish secondary school to sit for JAMB to get admission into the university to study music is a waste of time. Your WAEC/NECO/GCE results are enough.

One year after secondary school is enough to get a diploma in music where you will learn the rudiments of music and learn how to play at least one musical instrument.

Also, register for at least one month's course in business administration so that you can know how to manage your earnings and learn about the law of contracts.

The only times that a university or polytechnic or college of education is necessary for you is if you want to choose a career in the legal or business or project management side of music.

Then you will need to attend a higher institution to study law or business administration or accounting or project management and logistics and then later do a certificate course in music after you graduate.

Another time that you will need to attend a higher institution is if you want to become a music teacher or a music lecturer and professor. 

 

 

6. CHOOSING A MUSIC SECTOR

Everyone with a passion for music should not become a performing musician. There are about sixty-five careers in the Nigerian music industry that a woman can choose from. 

I am aware that there are a few music female music promoters but they are few when compared to men. Usually, it is a lack of self-confidence that makes females shy away from becoming record label owners, music promoters, entertainment lawyers, etc. 

It is even possible to be a performing musician and also be a music business executive. There should be nothing impossible for a woman to do.

 

 

7. FINANCE AND FINANCIAL SACRIFICES

Money is necessary for growth and development as a music professional. What I have discovered is that males can sacrifice good clothes, accommodation, feeding and other luxuries just to record a single and music album, shoot a music video and spend money on music promotion. 

They can have two shirts and two pairs of trousers and one pair of shoes and squat in a friend’s place just to save enough to achieve their music dreams but females cannot do that. 

Females will prefer to spend their money on clothes, shoes, wigs, makeup and other luxuries before thinking of setting aside money to record a single in a music studio.

Whenever I go to a music studio to record music, I hardly meet females. The only females that I am likely to meet are backup singers.

 

8. CONFIDENCE

Stagecraft is needed in music performance. Confidence is needed for stagecraft. Usually, males have more confidence than females with respect to stagecraft and marketing their music products and services.

 

 

9. LACK OF PRIVACY

When coming to the music industry, females need to know that their lives will no longer be private.

Their fans will want to know about their music and their private lives; who are they dating? What did they wear to the red carpet for a movie premiere? etc.

 

 

10.      LATE NIGHTS

A career in the music industry will require keeping late nights. Most of your performances will take place in the evening or at night up to the early hours of the morning.

There are also parties and award nights to attend.

Smoking and drug intake will definitely accompany these parties and late nights if one is not disciplined.

You do not have to smoke and drink if you don't want to but you cannot avoid mingling with music industry executives and fans who do.

The only time that you are likely to avoid inhaling smoke from these smokers is if you are a gospel musician.

Female music managers, music promoters and record label executives are not left out in keeping late nights.

This is one of the problems that females in this industry face. They are not able to keep up with late nights like their male colleagues. As a result of this, many females pull out of the music industry.

 

 

11.      TRAVELLING

Growth and development in the music industry will require a lot of performances which will require travelling and touring. 

A female who does not enjoy travelling by road, air, rail and sea should not be in the entertainment industry.

 

 

12.       OBJECTIFICATION        

The trend is for females to be seen as sex objects to sell music.

Most record label executives cajole or force their female music artists to dress sexy to attract male audiences.

Those who refuse are not even signed on or do not have their contracts renewed.

 

 

13.      SEXUAL HARASSMENT        

From the objectification of females comes sexual harassment where male record label executives, music promoters, artists and repertoire, radio and television broadcasters and other industry experts want to have a taste of females in the entertainment industry otherwise, they are not signed on and their music is not promoted. 

How many men are you going to have sex with because of this music career?

Even if you sleep with them, what is the guarantee that you will get the needed help in return?

 

 

14.      SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS        

Before females start to date and get married, it is better for them to have reached the peak of their career as it will be difficult for them to combine a marital relationship, childbirth and rearing children with their music career.

It is a wise decision for them to choose their life partners carefully so that they will not run into problems with an unsupportive boyfriend or fiancé or husband who will nag them to choose between their music career and them.

Even when they marry and they are financially richer than their husbands, signing a prenuptial agreement will be a wise decision for these women in order to prevent fraudulent-minded spouses.

 

15.      CHILDBIRTH        

This goes hand-in-hand with choosing the right partner, getting pregnant and rearing children.

Some event organizers may not even want to hire the services of a female singer once she is pregnant.

 

16.      NATURAL CAUSES        

Females tend to go through their menstrual cycles every month.

This could affect their music performances, especially for those who have painful menstruation periods.

 

 

17.      GENDER BIAS        

No matter how talented a singer or instrumentalist or disc jockey is, some clients will prefer to hire male professionals instead of their female counterparts because some people just believe that females are not good enough or that we are petty about issues.

In reality, some music concerts may be too rough for women to perform especially without adequate security.

 

 

18.      RELIGION        

In religious countries and in the Northern part of Nigeria, many women are not allowed to express their freedom of expression through musical performances. 

Hence, there are few females engaged in the music business in these areas of the world.

In the gospel music scene, divorcees are condemned. So, once you get divorced, you might get less invitations from churches. 

This is why a singer like Osinachi would prefer to die in her violent marriage than become a divorcee just to keep her music career going.

 

19.      CULTURE AND TRADITION        

This is similar to religious reasons. Some people are of the opinion that female entertainers are promiscuous. There is nothing that you can tell them. That is what they believe. 

Some people believe this because of the venue where events usually hold such as hotels, parties, nightclubs,etc. 

To them, any woman who is seen in these places is a prostitute.

These traditionalists and culture advocates also believe that female musicians do not get married and have good marriages.

 

 

20.      FUN

Despite all the challenges faced

by female musicians and music professionals, these females must endeavour to have fun whilst performing their duties otherwise, a career in the music industry is pointless. 

 

Musically yours,

DJ Irawo