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Women in African music
1 Mar 2019 - 13:05
Women in the African music industry have a way to go to benefit from the same privileges as men. When we talk about women in African music, we do not only mean singers and musicians; the industry also involves professions like sound engineering, stage management, event organisation, A&R, and publishing, to name just a few. And it's very seldom that you'll find women involved in the decision-making processes that shape the future of music on the continent. It's as if women's role in music is accepted to be only about entertaining through song and dance and not much else.
Kenyan musician Maggie von Lekow. Photo: Music In Africa
At Music In Africa we want to see more women getting involved in the more complex structures of the music business. This is why we do our best to publicise workshops and various programmes that strive to empower women to be leaders and decision makers. Our role as a pan-African NPO and media organisation is also to call out regressive political ideologies and backward cultural norms that repress the aspirations of women to excel in the music space.
We've encountered deplorable stories where women who choose music as a profession are ostracised by their families and communities. We have also seen governments in certain countries jail female artists on grounds of immorality, when in actual fact the reason they do so is due to deep-seated sexist views.
On 8 March the world celebrates International Women's Day. This is one of the reasons we have chosen Women in African Music as our theme, which pays homage to all the women who operate in the African music scene.
Below are links related to women in African music – with plenty more to come as the month progresses.
Women in Africa news, features & reviews
- Musicians Union of Liberia to address gender gap
- WOMADelaide 2019: Africa’s women shine in Australia
- Coke Studio Africa announces all-female finale
- No African women on Apple’s Global Feminism playlist
- Ghana's Wiyaala celebrates International Women's Day
- Deezer celebrates female musicians on International Women’s Day
- Novelist celebrates the legacy of Ebony
- Watch Simi sing Ayo
- Asia Madani: Leaving Sudan was the best thing for my career
- Uganda's Sandra Nankoma talks about African women in music
- Freemuse report exposes shocking realities facing female musicians
- Siti turns pain into beauty in Nielewe
- Gambia: Sona Jobarteh's music school seeks support
- SA: Tributes continue to pour in for late singer Dorothy Masuka
- Asa to headline 2019 MTN Bushfire festival
- Video discussion: Opportunities for women in music
- Tariro neGitare: We should help young musicians succeed
- On Fela and his Kalakuta Queens
- Watch Sho Madjozi basketball short film
- South Sudan: Emmanuel Jal, Nyaruach up for Juno award
- SAMRO announces new board
- What’s going on with the Burundi music industry?
- Liberian acts tackle rape in song
- Rosa Ree: A rose among the thorns
Women in African Music Overview texts
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