Grammy Award-winning Afrobeats artist Tems has announced a new platform aimed at helping African women break into the music industry.
Speaking to Semafor, the musician announced that applications for the initiative have been open since August. Titled the “Leading Vibe Initiative” and sponsored by Hennessy and music production software manufacturer Native Instruments, the training program will make workshops, resources and mentorship opportunities available to women ranging from the ages of 18 to 35 who want to start a music career.
Approximately 20 women will be selected as part of the initiative. They will be trained during Tem’s African tour, with each student learning at each stop. The women will also receive financial support after the tour. Along with funding for advertising, the program will give the participants support with music mixing and funding for legal fees.
“There are thousands of young women just like me with a voice, a gift and a desire to be heard. I want to be someone that shows people that there’s hope because I know the most heartbreaking thing is to see a light dimmed and a fire never ignited,” said Tems per her website. “While the music industry is great, there hasn’t always been a space for women. Women creators, women producers, women engineers, women writers.”
The launch of the new initiative comes amidst reports that there are more areas in which the music industry can expand to include more women. According to a 2025 report released by USC Annenberg, although there have been significant gains in the music industry for women, these gains have largely remained stagnant rather than continuing to grow. Approximately 37.7% of the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Charts featured women last year – up by only 2.7% since 2023.
According to the study, behind the scenes, only 18.9% of songwriters were women and only 5.9% of producing credits were held by women. Amongst BIPOC women, there was a dip in songwriting opportunities despite recording gains in 2023. Overall, while the number of white women songwriters increased, the number of Black women working as songwriters decreased. Out of the 14 women producers, only two were BIPOC women.
In general, only 40.8% of female artists were BIPOC women, down by a staggering 24.1% from 2023.
In an interview with the BBC, Tems highlighted her own experiences in the industry, emphasizing the barriers that women face in music and addressing how her initiative will help combat them.
“I realised that there’s always a cost. There’s always a price that you pay. And a lot of those prices I wasn’t willing to pay and there weren’t a lot of options,” said Tems per BBC. “I promised myself that if I get to a place where I can do more, I will make this initiative for women like me and maybe make it easier for women to access platforms and access a wider audience and success.”
