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
