Women's History Month: 4 issues confronting emerging female artists

The music industry is a very competitive space where emerging artists struggle to afford the required resoureces and support to grow their brand.

For female creatives, the challenges are even more pronounced, especially since they operate in a male-dominated space and a country with bias and discrimination against the female gender.

In marking International Women's Month, we analysed some of the issues that are peculiar to their gender in the industry.

1. Sexual Objectification

In Nigeria, different cultures treat women differently.

This bias has been perpetuated in other areas of society, especially the music industry where female stars are viewed from lenses of sexual objectification rather than talented individuals who should be treated with respect.

Grammy-winning superstar Tems best captured this sexual objectification when she revealed that she used to wear big clothes to the studio just to ensure she greatly minimises the male gaze.

"They don't feel safe in the studio, they're being sexually harassed and intimidated," says Ife Diran a Music Executive and Talent Manager who shared that several female talents don't feel comfortable in male-dominated spaces like music studios because of the harassment.

2. Discrimination

Different female stars have shared how they are treated differently than men.

For many emerging female talents they are viewed from a different lens that suggests they are less creative in comparison to male artists.

Qing Madi recently captured this in an interview with Apple Music where she revealed she had to work twice as hard because she's a female artist.

It's similar to emerging singer-songwriter AyBeeNumba1 who opines that the socio-cultural norms propagating the superiority of males over females as affected the way women are treated in the music industry.

3. Lack of equal opportunities

The competitive space of the Nigerian music industry has often discriminated against women who are not afforded equal opportunities over gender bias.

"Women are difficult to manage" and "Women are not as hardworking as men" are some of the rhetorics that explain why female talents don't see the same level of investments as their male counterparts, despite different generations of female stars showing that they can hold their own.

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4. Lack of community support

AyBeeNumba1 pointed out that male emerging artists have more opportunities for mentorship and training compared to their female counterparts.

There continues to be converdations around the lack of support among women creatives who have struggled to shown the level of comradie needed to strenghten the female arm of the Nigerian music industry.

There are still minimal collaborations between top level female artists and emerging female stars unlike in the male side of things were such partnership is more common.

Ife Diran pointed this out by saying more women should look out for each other in a male-dominated industry. She also called on female stars and high-ranking creatives should create safe spaces for emerging female talents to thrive.

Both Ife Diran and AyBeeNumba1 opine that women who operate within the music business should thrive to operate at the highest level and stand shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts.