TRIBAL LANGUAGE SHOULD NOT CAUSE A DIVISION IN THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MUSIC

 

(c) guardian.ng

Did we understand Awilo Logomba or Fali Ipupa when they were serenading us with their makossa beats in their incomprehensible African languages?

Yet, we appreciated them.

Na Naija carry dia music for head pass.

As for Àṣàkẹ́'s beats, they fall under one sub-genre of afrobeats which is amapiano with a different melody and pitch all of the time.

His messages are happy and feel good.

His singing and chanting styles of call and response are his logos.

Àṣàkẹ́ lost the Best New International award to Cameroonian star, Libianca.

Fans of Libianca say she sings in the English language is the reason why she won the award. 😏😒

I have a feeling that this opinion rubbed off on the BET award academy too.

They say they do not understand Yorùbá but they will spend millions to go and learn Mandarin in China.

You rate Swahili over Yorùbá.

Ọna no dey alright rárá!

Yorùbá to the world!!!

Just because of the popularity of Nigerian music in Yorùbá, the world will start paying Yorùbá teachers to learn this beautiful language.

I am proud of you, Asake. Keep doing what you do.

I love your style of music. 💓

Musically Yours,

DJ Irawo

Gender Discrimination in the Nigerian Music Industry - A Musician's Reflection

On Day 5, Saturday, June 24, 2023, I presented a paper at the Lagos Studies Association Conference at the University of Lagos on the topic of Gender Discrimination in the Nigerian Music Industry: A Musician's Reflection. 

I decided to convert my conference speech into a journal. Below is my abstract. Also, click on the journal image below to purchase it at N1,200. 

ABSTRACT

With the gendering of popular culture, the music industry has become sexualized, politicized and controlled by male music business executives hence creating an absence of self-esteem, self-respect, self-realization and career dissatisfaction among female musicians that automatically disenables the treatment of these women with fairness, justice and representation as ingenious artists, thoughtful composers, critical commenters on socio-political issues and above all, humans with their own emotions, feelings and flaws. This paper proffers solutions on how female musicians can navigate the music industry on their own terms in a society that sees the female body as a toy and lesser performer before it sees her creative abilities. The primary sources of data used in this research are based on the writer’s personal experiences as a musician and disc jockey and from answers gotten from chatting with three anonymous female musicians. The secondary sources of data are derived from blogs, podcasts and journals which focus on the experiences of nine female musicians namely: Queen Oladunni Decency, Salawa Abeni, Onyeka Onwenu, Waje, Simi, Tiwa Savage, Niniola, Niyola and Yemi Alade. DJ Irawo’s experiences also reveal that some of the problems experienced by female musicians are self-inflicted or caused by nature. This study concludes that feminism must play a role in encouraging female musicians to have self-esteem and strive for longevity in their careers by working hard and smart, independently and collaboratively in the achievement of their music goals.

15 SUCCESS TIPS FOR MUSIC BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS

 

1. Be passionate about your career. Without passion, you will easily get frustrated when you run into problems or when your business not doing well.

2. Education is not a scam! Have you tried ignorance?

Have at least a certificate in music, business, intellectual property law and project management.

Attend music workshops, conferences and seminars.

Buy books and courses related to music, business and management.

Education is what you need to read your music and work contracts.

Education is how you check your finances and manage your investments.

A fool and his money are soon parted. 

Education will make you wise.

3. Start early! Once you have decided on your career path, move on with it. Check out Michael Jackson, Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage and a host of music artists who started out early in life. 

Even non-music professionals like Serena and Venus Williams should motivate you to start out early.

Starting out early has its pros and cons. I would rather focus on the pros.

4. Be humble. Humility pays all of the time. With humility, you will get to learn a lot from your superiors, juniors and mates in the music industry. 

5. Dress Properly. You can be covered up and still be appealing to your audience. Check out Adele and Asa.

6. Be comfortable in your own skin. There is no need to have a stage name or pseudonym if you do not want it. Check out Tiwa Savage and Yemi Alade. Those are their real names. 

I did not want to have a pseudonym. I wanted to use my real name which is Oluwakemi Famugbode but whilst I was a student at PEFTI, a video editor convinced me to have a catchy name and I chose Irawo. 

After my divorce, I legalized Irawo as my first name because the name has been working positively for me.

7. Be chaste. Avoid sexual escapades in the form of baby mamas and baby daddies. It could ruin your career or make you pay unnecessary expenses. Check out Wizkid, Davido, etc.

8. Be hardworking. Work hard, work smart.

9. You can combine one or more careers in this industry in order to stay afloat. For example, Wizkid is a music artist and he has his own record label. The same goes for Olamide, Davido, Burna Boy and a host of other music artists.

10. Be unique. Do not copy other music artists. You can copy their songs via sampling and covers which can be done legally but do not try to copy their style. You will get burnt out.

We do not need another Naira Marley or Tope Alabi. Be your unique self. However, you can get inspiration from another artist's style of music or sense of style.

In the music industry, everyone does not have to sing. Look for what you can do under 65 Careers in the Music Business in Nigeria. Surely, you must find one career that you are passionate about. 

11. Be dedicated and tenacious. Give it your all.

12. Practice regularly. Take care of your musical instruments and your voice. 

13. Take care of your physical and mental health always.

14. Be Timely. Go for your meetings, performances and work on time. Lateness to perform or carry out the terms of an agreement could earn you a lawsuit.

15. Be innovative. Create your own style of doing things. This is what I do at Drumline Entertainment.

See you in my next blog.

Musically yours,

DJ Irawo

UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS: 65 Careers in the Music Business in Nigeria

Good day students, teachers and parents. 

My name is Irawo Oluwakemi Famugbode also known as DJ Irawo. 

I am a musician. 

I have been providing music business services since January 12, 2010. 

Let me break down what I do as a musician for you. 

I am a:

Singer: I sing in the jazz genre of music.

Songwriter: I write songs in different genres of music.

Drummer: My major musical instrument is the talking drum which is called gangan in the Yoruba language.

Disc Jockey: I entertain and promote music via my disc jockey skills. 

Music Blogger: I write about my views on music and promote music professionals on my blog.

Music Publisher: I represent songwriters. 

Author: I write memoirs and topics in the music business.

Today, I will be talking about the topic:

UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS: 65 Careers in the Music Business in Nigeria

Firstly, what is music? 

Music is an art of sound that expresses emotions via words, rhythm, melody, harmony and tone.

However, there are exceptions.

For example:

Music with no words could be classical and jazz music.

Music with no melody is acapella.

A theory exists which says that:

Music and other forms of creativity are right-brained functions.

Business/technology/science are left-brained functions. 

I wonder what someone like me who has a functional right brain and left brain will be called.

Entertainment is a branch of the economy just like the health sector, finance sector, information technology sector, etc. 

Entertainment contributes to the GDP of any country.

The entertainment sector consists of several industries such as the:

• Music Industry
• Dance Industry
• Comedy Industry
• Film Industry
• Comic Industry
• Cartoon Industry, etc.

Talent is not enough!

You need to make money from your music talent. 

Your music is your content.

Make money from your content.

This is known as the monetization of your content. 

Thus, we can confidently say that: Music + Money = Music Business

Music Business is the process of making money from careers in the music industry.

It is not compulsory to sing or compose music before you can earn a career in music. 

Passion for music and success is all that you need to thrive in the music industry.

This leads us back to our sub-topic: 65 Careers in the Music Business in Nigeria.

These careers are as follows:

1. MUSICIAN

This is someone who can play one or more musical instruments, compose melodies or lyrics or both, sing and is vast in the business of his music.

2. INSTRUMENTALIST

He or she plays one or more musical instruments only without singing and performs the compositions of another person. Instrumentalists are hired as band members and music studio support for musicians/music artists/performing artists.

3. LYRICIST

This is someone who writes lyrics that can be converted into songs. Usually, lyricists are rappers or poets.

4. COMPOSER

This is a person who composes a melody by heart or via the writing of music notations which can be performed via sight-reading.

Usually, composers can play one or more musical instruments.

Example

Elton John is a singer, pianist and composer.

Bernie Taupin is a lyricist. 

Both of them have been collaborating on the creation of songs since 1967 and they have worked on more than thirty music albums together. 

Three of their songs are Sacrifice, Candle in the Wind which was composed for the late Princess Diana of Wales and I'm Still Standing.

5. SONGWRITER

This is a person who performs the task of creating both the lyrics and melody of a song. 

6. MUSIC ARTIST

This is someone who creates, performs and releases music independently via a record label. 

This person is a songwriter as well as a performing artist.

7. PERFORMING ARTIST

This is a person who performs music only. 

She does not write her own songs. An example of a performing artists are Rihanna and Whitney Houston.

For example, Rihanna's hit song, Umbrella, was written by four songwriters and they are Jay Z, Tricky Stewart, Kuk Harrel and The Dream.

Sometimes, music artists who are also songwriters in addition to writing their own songs also perform songs from other songwriters. 

These music artists are also known as performing music artists or performing musicians, where they also play musical instruments. 

Examples of these songs are:

Gobe which was written by Password for Davido

Aye which was written by Runtown for Davido

Sade which was written by Ikemefuna AKA KLEM for Davido

YOLO was written by KLEM for Seyi Shay

Ferrari was written by KLEM for Yemi Alade

Knack Am was written by KLEM for Yemi Alade

Applaudise was written by KLEM for Iyanya

Gift was written by KLEM FOR Iyanya

Glass House was written by KLEM for 9ice.

49-99 was co-written by Tiwa Savage and Olamide.

Runtown, Tiwa Savage and Olamide are songwriters who also perform their own music.

8. DANCER/CHOREOGRAPHER

One can dance in a music video of a music artist/musician/performing artist and also teach musicians how to dance in their music videos just like Kaffy does.

9. MUSIC MANAGER

This is a person who represents a musician/music artist/performing artist in relation to his/her clients. 

10. MUSIC BUSINESS MANAGER

This is a person that provides bookkeeping, accounting, business and investment consulting service for music professionals.

11. MUSIC/ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER

A lawyer can focus on handling music matters relating to intellectual property law such as copyright, trademarks, etc only or expand his tentacles to cover the whole of the entertainment industry. 

He writes contracts for record labels, music publishers, etc and represents music professionals in lawsuits.

12. RECORD LABEL

This organization represents musicians, music artists and performing music artists. 

It can be owned by an individual who is also a musician or music artist or by partners or limited by shares.

13. ARTIST AND REPERTOIRE (A&R)

This is a person who scouts for music talents for a record label. 

14. TOUR/ROAD MANAGER

This is a person who works with artists to schedule music concerts and tours, negotiate fees, endorsements and attends to contracts with respect to these bookings.

15. MUSIC PUBLICIST 

This person manages publicity for a brand. 

They generate a buzz at intervals for the artist. 

Examples of courses to study at the higher institution to become one are communication and language arts, public relations, English language, Literature in English and journalism.

16. BOOKING AGENT

This person books performers for concerts, festivals, etc. 

17.  WEB DESIGNER

This professional designs websites for music professionals.

 

18. MUSIC PUBLISHER

This person represents songwriters in relation to the users of music and the collecting societies.

19. MUSIC SUPERVISOR

This is a person who combines music and visual media such as film, television, advertising, online videos and video games. He/she reads the scripts and assigns licensed songs from a music publisher or directly from the copyright owners of music to be placed in the scenes of visuals. 

20. MUSIC THERAPIST

This is usually a health practitioner who uses music as an alternative or additional support to heal patients who suffer from physical pain and mental health illnesses. 

These professionals study health-related courses and then study music which prepares them with the ability to play one or more musical instruments to be used in the practice.

21. MUSIC TEACHER

This is a person who teaches music theory, music performance and how to play musical instruments. 

22. HYPE MAN/WOMAN OR MASTER OF CEREMONY (MC) 

This is a person who hosts music events at clubs, music concerts and festivals and makes it interesting.

He/she hypes and announces the act for the day.

He/she can act as back up rapper or singer interjecting the performance with funny phrases. 

You must be a lively person to do this work.

23. EVENT PLANNER

This person plans music concerts, festivals, birthdays, weddings, etc for music acts.

24. MUSIC BLOGGER

This person writes about music news, music singles and albums, music events, music reviews, music professionals and writes these topics based on her personal opinions.

25. MUSIC JOURNALIST

A music journalist performs the same functions as a music blogger except that a music journalist writes her stories based on facts.

26. DISC JOCKEY

This is a person who plays music from a turntable or controller connected to speakers. There are different types of DJs such as:

a. Radio DJ

b. Club DJ

c. Religious DJ

d. Mobile DJ: They play at weddings, parties, etc.

e. Remix DJs: They reproduce original popular songs in order to promote these songs and their craft.

27. ON-AIR PERSONALITY

This is a modern-day broadcaster. He either works as a staff for a radio or television station or he earns a living by purchasing a time slot on radio or television, selling of advertisement and promotion of singles and music albums.

28. MUSIC PRODUCER

He records singles and music albums of music professionals. Music producers can also master and mix songs.

29. MUSIC/AUDIO ENGINEER

He masters and mixes songs produced by a music producer for a better sound output.

30. MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTOR

This professional shoots and directs a music film for a music act.

31. MUSIC SCRIPTWRITER

This professional writes storyboards for music videos, films and documentaries based on the memoirs and biographies of music professionals either dead or alive.

The following films have been shot to tell the stories of the lives of music professionals:

a. What's Love Got To Do With it for Tina Turner

b. Ray for Ray Charles

c. The Sound of Music for the Von Trapp Family Singers. This is a true-life story based on the Von Trapp family singers who were famous in the pre-world war 2 era.

d. Rocketman for Elton John

e. All Eyes on Me for Tupac

f. Whitney for Whitney Houston. 

g. Selena for Selena Quintallina-Perez

In Nigeria, we have Ayinla for Ayinla Omowura (Waidi Yusuf Gbogbolowo).

32. STYLIST

This professional is responsible for making a musician look good by styling the music artist's hair, clothes, shoes, etc.

33. MUSICAL THEATRE ARTIST

This professional combines music and acting on stage and film in her performances. 

In a musical theatre, songs are rendered in-between dialogues.

She can also be an opera singer where songs are sung to act in a play instead of dialogues.

34. STAGE MANAGER

This is one who plans the stage for music concerts and music festivals. She ensures that all required musical instruments are delivered, a music artist's technical rider is adhered to and she plans the soundcheck including other duties involving the stage.

35. MUSIC STUDIO MANAGER

This is one who manages a music studio that is used for music rehearsals and or music production, mastering and mixing. 

36. GREENROOM MANAGER

This is a caterer of food and drinks for A-list music artists in the green room. A green room is The VIP section of a concert venue for entertaining top musicians.

37. MUSIC DIRECTOR

This person directs music for choirs, choral groups and contemporary music. This term is loosely used in place of a music supervisor of films.

38. MUSIC INSTRUMENT MANUFACTURER AND REPAIRER

You can learn how to manufacture violins, guitars, drums, etc.

39. MUSIC PROMOTER

This professional creates awareness for a music performer's songs online and offline via blogs, social media, radio, television, etc.

40. MUSIC DISTRIBUTOR

This is a person who makes recorded music available to the public for purchase via offline and online music stores, streaming and download services, artist's website, etc.

41. MUSIC RETAILER

This is a person who sells compact discs, music books, music vinyl, musical instruments and accessories via offline and online shops.

42. SECURITY

You can own a security company that provides bulletproof vehicles, bodyguards, entrance and exit security, CCTV cameras, body cameras and other forms of security to music professionals.

43. INSURANCE BROKER

As an insurance broker, you will represent your music client to buy an insurance policy. Examples of  types of insurance policies that you can buy are: 

a. Life Assurance

b. Property Insurance

c. Fire Insurance

d. Social Insurance

e. Guarantee Insurance

44. MUSIC RESEARCHER

This professional works with a music supervisor, record label, music publisher, music manager, filmmaker, radio, television, etc to help garner information related to music, music artists, music events, etc for use in content creation.

45. MUSIC LIBRARIAN

This person can work in a local and private library, radio, television and publishing organization to organize, catalogue and maintain collections and answer reference inquiries from users of the library.

46. DIGITAL MEDIA MARKETER

A digital marketer performs the following functions: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Email Marketing, Content Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, etc. 

46. SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Based on the above functions, you may decide to focus on only one digital marketing service such as managing the Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn accounts of a musician or focus on only one type of account. For example, you could be a Pinterest guru, managing only Pinterest accounts for several musicians. 

47. APPLICATION DEVELOPER

This is a professional who creates, designs, deploys and updates programs for a particular device, the web or a particular operating system. You can use this knowledge to create apps for musicians according to their needs.

48. MUSIC CONDUCTOR

This professional conducts an orchestra.

49. AMBULANCE SERVICE

Apart from making your ambulance service available at music concerts and festivals, you should be able to make the first-aid service available at these events.

50. PERSONAL ASSISTANT

Top musicians require the services of these professionals to help them organize their meetings and performance calendars, organize and respond to their emails, pick their calls, check on their laundry service providers, etc.

51. PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINER

Use your expertise to make musicians be in top physical shape for their performances, music videos and interviews.

52. TUTOR

Be a tutor to musicians. 

Help them to polish their English language. 

You can be a language tutor and teach them other languages like French, Spanish, Mandarin, etc. 

Etiquette tutoring is another knowledge that you can provide for musicians by teaching them how to eat with a fork and knives and how to behave at different gatherings.

53. LAUNDRY PROFESSIONAL

Take care of the dirty laundry of A-list musicians. 

Wash, dry clean and iron their laundry.

Pick up and drop off their laundry as soon as you are done and get paid for your services.

54. PROJECT MANAGER

Handle projects for musicians such as the purchase of gift items on behalf of a musician, visits to the orphanage, prison, etc, organize activities for their fan club and foundations.

55. TICKETING OFFICER

Sell concert tickets to fans of music artists via a website, take a percentage and make profits on the sale of several tickets for several music events.

56. GRANT AND DONATION WRITER

Help independent musicians source funding for their music and private projects via your writing skills.

57. BUSINESS PLAN AND PROPOSAL WRITER

Help source for opportunities for musicians via your excellent writing skills.

58. SPEECHWRITER

Write breathtaking speeches for musicians and make cool cash.

59. GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Design single and album covers, social media and website graphics, etc for musicians.

60. MUSIC COLLECTING SOCIETY

Usually, music collecting societies are limited by guarantee. 

You can send your curriculum vitae to the available ones for an opportunity to work at their organization. 

In the USA, the collecting societies are ASCAP, BMI and CESAC. 

In the UK, they have PRS, MCPS and PPL. 

In Nigeria, we have the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN).

These organizations help songwriter, composers and lyricists to collect their blanket licences, performing royalties and other royalties and distribute general and specific royalties.

61. LOGISTICS PROVIDER

You can provide musical instrument and sound set up, chauffeur-driven vehicles, deliver invites for music concerts, etc.

62. BACKUP SINGER

Use your vocals to support the singles and albums of musicians in the music studio and in live music performances.

63. SOUND DESIGNER

You can create sound effects for films and theatre productions.

64. MAKEUP ARTIST

Make performing artists look great with your makeup skills. 

You will work in collaboration with a stylist.

65. MUSIC COACH

Provide music business, life and performance coaching for music professionals.

There are more careers but I will stop here. The music industry is an unlimited one.

The second part of my speech is 15 Success Tips for Music Business Professionals.

Check it out in my next blog.

Musically yours,

DJ Irawo