Are female artistes crybabies?

By The Southern Eye | Jul. 12, 2022

In the local showbiz, quite a number of female artistes have, however, been complaining that promoters are side-lining them and giving more preference to the male artistes and those who already have a name in the industry.

BY CHIEDZA MAZHANGARA MUSIC is a serious business enterprise because it has become a source of livelihood for thousands.

And when lining up artistes for shows, numbers matter for music promoters. Competition is, therefore, stiff and cutthroat.

Then the question becomes: Are women being side-lined when it comes to shows and gigs or there are other reasons for this?

NewsDay Life & Style caught up with some female musicians to hear why they claim to be side-lined. NewsDay Life & Style also chit-chatted with promoters to clear the air on whether or not they were side-lining the female musicians.

Afro-fusion songbird Ammi Jamanda, who is of the view that as female musicians they lack support from promoters and left out on bigger stages and platforms, said: ”I self-fund my shows and sometimes on big platforms I go and just perform for free so that people know me.

“At some moments, I just sacrifice to go and perform for free and by so doing I become known by some people who otherwise never heard of me. I strive to find some other avenues so that my name can at least become popular.”

Gospel diva Dorcas Moyo said: “The situation is unfortunate. I would be compelled to say the same sentiments for I have not done any engagements with local promoters. All the shows I have done are either organised by us or church related.”

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She added that promoters are probably the ones who have a better explanation as to why they do not engage female artistes.

“Maybe it is because there is something that we need to improve and work on as female artistes. I am, however, ready to engage promoters any minute and I will continue to work hard so that I might be noticeable and become a sought-after artist in their perspective,” said Moyo.

Commenting on the same issue, Agatha Murudzwa said: “Life has never been easy for the female musicians because this is a male-dominated industry. Talking about promoters side-lining female musicians, talking from experience, there is still that belief that as female artistes we cannot do what the male musicians can do.”

She pointed out that at times female and male brands might be the same when it comes to music, but still it is the males who are preferred the most, adding that sometimes she finds it much better to hold some self-funded shows because there is no one assisting the female artistes.

Promoters Chipaz and Papa Francis also gave their own side of the story, arguing that most female artistes are not as competent as their male counterparts.

Papa Francis from Wood and Pub Grill said: “To some extent these female artistes might be right to say so, but from my angle I have been hosting local artistes every Friday for the purpose of supporting local talent.

“Honestly, the women of late have not been really putting in the work as in actually making good music or rather making any music besides maybe the likes of Feli Nandi and Kikky Badass.”

He believes that in terms of numbers, female artistes are very few in the music industry compared to men and the few who are there still have to work harder in order to make the cut.

“However, regardless of their shortcomings, as Wood we promise to have an all-female line-up within the next few weeks to give them the chance to showcase what they are made of. We might be biased towards the males, so as well from today we are now going to search and give greater attention to the females in the industry,” he said.

Chipaz said: “I think these women need to push hard, we are not side-lining them. What happens in music is that a promoter cannot come at your doorstep and push you to attend studio sessions or record music. Females become different from male artistes in the sense that they want to be pushed to work.”

He also pointed out that in music there is need for musicians to create relationships with promoters and most female artistes were not good at doing that.

“Some male artistes engage with us before they release their songs, they do give us a sample and when lining up artistes for certain concerts, we add them because their names will still be ringing,” he added.