Music executive Ubi Franklin has stated he includes a contract clause for female artists, prohibiting them from getting pregnant during the agreement period.
Speaking on the Culture Sonic podcast, Franklin said the entertainment industry requires significant investment to develop an artist, and pregnancy can disrupt progress and jeopardise returns.
While he doesn’t oppose women having children, Franklin said they should establish a strong career first.
Franklin emphasised that the music industry is a serious business, distinct from social media entertainment, and that female artists face challenges regaining momentum after childbirth if their career isn’t already established.
He said: “So just imagine that you have an artist who you are investing in as a woman and she gets pregnant.. That’s over. It will take a lot for the artists to come back. Tell me any, any female artists in our industry who have had a baby, who had not built a proper career and then went to have a baby and came back. I’m not saying they cannot have children, but the thing is, while you have it, build a strong career. Just imagine that you invest money in a female artiste, you’re pushing the artiste, you’re pushing to a certain level.
“If I’m signing a female artiste, I always put it on a contract that for the duration of a contract, you will not get pregnant. If you’re watching me, this is a freaking business we should stop making it look like because you see artistes playing and everything on social media you can interact with artistes this is a freaking business. Right now to break an artist, with 150 million, you’ve not even started. Sometimes you can spend N300 million on an artist and get nothing in return.”
