UK-based Zambian music promoter nominated for Women4Africa Awards

By ANN ZULU

THE role of women in the entertainment industry has become an increasingly present topic as women from all walks of life, says UK-based Zambian music promoter and nominee of the Women4Africa Awards Jasmine Kasoma.

 Zambian music promoter - Jasmine Kasoma

Jasmine 25, is the founder and boss of Zeemusic, a company whose main objective is to promote and manage Zambian artists.

The company has helped local artists like Willz, Bacci and Zack among others to promote their songs.

She is one of the nominees in the Young Achiever Awards category in the prestigious Women4Africa Awards to take place in London on the 20th of May this year and would compete with three other contestants from Nigeria, Ghana and Jamaica.

Jasmine was nominated for the impact she is making in the entertainment industry and also for coming up with the first ever ZeeMusic creative Awards last year, which encompassed all sectors of the Zambian entertainment industry.

She said she is thrilled by the nomination because it was the first time that Zambia has been nominated in the awards.

“I am really proud because Zambia has never really been nominated in these awards and I honestly didn’t expect it. It is really nice to be recognised for what you do,” she said.

Jasmine is one of the extraordinary women making a mark in Zambia’s entertainment industry and she said she wants to ensure that women in the industry continue to move forward with their male counterparts and work as equals.

She told the this reporter that her goal is to promote and empower artists especially women to embrace their artistry with confidence and help them make it to the top.

She said she wants to take women in music from Zambia and show them that they were marketable across the world.

“Zee music is a music management company and it is also a distribution department. It manages artists and that includes working on their branding, music distribution and marketing.

“What I am trying to achieve with Zee Music is to help Zambian artists especially women realise that they can take their sounds out there. My goal is to promote and empower them and in the future I hope it will be established into a record label, but for now I am focusing on artist development,” she said.

She observed that despite women joining the entertainment industry, there was an overarching lack of gender equality in the music industry.

She said there was still a long way to go as there were few women musicians and women working behind the scenes in positions like producers, engineers and executives.

She said men were exempt to the stereotypes and double standards that women regularly face which act as hindrances for women to join the industry.

“There are less female voices overall in the music industry because of stereotypes which involves things like reluctance to hire women (under the assumption that they’re going to leave the work force to have children and/or become stay-at-home mothers),” she said.

Jasmine, however, encouraged women wanting to pursue a careering in music not to feel intimidated, but to always hope for the best and work hard.

She urged them to be fully focussed in order to accomplish their goals, as the industry was a challenging one especially for women.

“Actually, the advice I give female artists is to hope for the best and be strong because pursuing a career as an artist is no joke. They must be ready to get sized up, compared, measured, and tested. They should always maintain their passion and never sidetrack their mission because the industry can be intimidating,” said.

She also emphasised the need for more women to take up managerial roles in entertainment.

She believes that women could bring in a level of motherly touch which was lacking in the industry.

Jasmine holds a degree in music industry management from the London Metropolitan University. She also has diplomas in IT and Community Arts.

She has also worked with high profile international artists like Lady Leshurr, Cold play and Rolling stones.