At Briteswan, the vision is to help drive
economic empowerment and personal liberation in Africa by showcasing African
art and entertainment to the rest of the world, but with women not being
adequately represented in the creative sphere, especially in music production,
the Nahla Initiative is a critical framework for addressing that imbalance and
helping women producers access the technology needed for their work and
sustainable means to follow their passion.
The goal of the initiative is to reach out
to over 500,000 young women aged between 18 and 35 over the next five years.
YouTube Music is sponsoring this initiative as part of its commitment to
develop the African creative industry through the provision of financial
grants, capacity development training, and advisory support when needed.
In a statement by the Aibee Abidoye, the
founder of Nahla initiative, Executive Vice President (EVP) at Chocolate City
Music and also a Trustee on the Board of Record Label Association of Nigeria,
Women in Music she said “ The need for the inclusion, educating and empowering
of women particularly in music, is one that drives the overall growth and
development in the industry forward.
We are committed to building a community of
equal gender opportunities to boost the human capital resources available in
the entertainment industry and we are happy to have the support of YouTube
Music on this”
YouTube has been consistent in its support
for Africa creatives over the years. This initiative with Nahla to support over
500,000 young women will definitely bridge the gap and increase female
representation in the music industry. We remain committed to the music industry
in South Africa and Africa as a whole” Addy Awofisayo: Head of Music Sub –
Saharan Africa.
To achieve its goal, Nahla will follow a
three-pronged approach that will form the bedrock of its annual Calendar. In
honor of Women’s Month, we hosted a series of conversations #BreakTheBias – The
Woman Behind the Music Instagram Live, which featured bold conversations with
major players in the music scene for one hour every Tuesday that informed our
audience on the need for increased female representation in the recording
studio.
The next phase of the Nahla Initiative is a
bootcamp in the month of May, with eight young women between the ages of 18 and
35 who will go through in-depth training on advanced songwriting, production
techniques and mixing and mastering. The goal is to equip these young women
with the tools to drive active representation in the studio and applications
for the boot camp will open on the 11th of April and close on the 25th of April
2022.
Finally, they would be involved in an album
Project that will take top performing young women from the Bootcamp through an
album creation process featuring in-studio writing, production and mixing and
mastering with top acts to celebrate closing out the initiative.