On November 24th, Namakau Star (Africa Rising Music Conference Ambassador and Artists & Label consultant – Paradise Africa) and Kamo Mailula (Label manager – Paradise Africa) spoke on the importance of representation in the music industry with a thorough focus on our ecosystem which includes partnerships and other businesses linked to Paradise Worldwide.
They touched on what the meaning of “representation” is in any ecosystem without excluding those that already have representation and how they could contribute to the inclusivity and help progress the sector.
During the session it was conveyed that according to statistics, women represent less than 1/3 of artists in the music industry today, with 12.6% of songwriters and fewer than 3% of producers that have been on the charts between the years 2012 and 2020.
Despite covid-19 setbacks and obvious gender disparities in the sector, the importance of inclusion and diversity still take centre stage with the participation of women in various sectors of the music business showing an increase of 3,3% between the years 2020 to 2022, on one hand. While on the other, more and more opportunities are seemingly afforded to diverse groups, however, the rate of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic plunging highlights the lack of progressiveness in steadily diversifying various sectors.
Final thought
We need to continue building a community and culture that includes everyone. Intent and proactiveness will lead to progress which can garner more partnerships that will combat systems that are bias.
