In a landscape shaped by gatekeepers, ever‑changing algorithms, and fleeting trends, one fact stays true: access determines outcomes. For the next wave of women breaking into music, success hinges not just on talent but also on community, mentorship, and those who open doors—a principle embodied by groups such as Girls Who Listen.
This idea lies at the heart of the organization founded by Kadijat Salawudeen, a 2026 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. What started as a graduate‑school panel has blossomed into a comprehensive ecosystem that helps women launch and sustain music careers. Through mentorship, education, networking, and global outreach, the group aims to widen access and opportunity in an industry where women—especially women of color—have historically lacked institutional backing.
Women Influence Music, Yet Power Remains Uneven, According to Girls Who Listen
For Salawudeen, the mission extends beyond entrepreneurship. She notes that the organization essentially found her. What began as an initiative to carve out space for women in media has evolved into a broader movement grounded in access, community, and career development—emerging at a time when the industry’s equity gaps are impossible to overlook.
The urgency is evident in the data. The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative reports that women made up only 37.7% of artists on Billboard’s Year‑End Hot 100 in 2024. Behind the scenes, the disparity widens: women accounted for just 18.9% of songwriters and a mere 5.9% of producers across popular music. In practice, this shows that while women influence what listeners hear, they remain underrepresented in the rooms where those tracks are created, polished, and approved.
The outcome is a system where visibility outpaces access. A young woman may encounter more female artists leading cultural conversations than ever before, yet still find few routes into production studios, executive suites, or decision‑making roles that dictate long‑term careers.
Powerful women across the music industry gather around a table for a discussion on leadership, mentorship, and expanding opportunities for the next generation of professionals.
(Photo Courtesy of Kadijat Salawudeen)
Girls Who Listen: Moving Beyond Representation to Build Infrastructure
For years, discussions about women in music have focused on representation. Yet representation by itself does not fix structural inequities. The next step involves building infrastructure—the systems that decide who enters the field, who receives mentorship, and who sustains a career.
Salawudeen’s journey illustrates this tension. Holding both a bachelor’s and a master’s from St. John’s University, she juggled academics, internships, networking, and industry work before fully grasping how those experiences would compound. In retrospect, she views education not as a roadmap but as training in constructing structure amid uncertainty.
This balancing act resonates with many young women entering music today. Careers are frequently assembled from several roles at once—student, creator, intern, strategist, entrepreneur—before a single title stabilizes. Even as the pipeline of aspiring women in music expands, entry points remain uneven, especially in technical and executive positions.
The data highlights this gap. Women continue to hold fewer than one‑fifth of songwriting credits on major charting songs, and production roles remain heavily male‑dominated. The challenge is no longer a lack of talent or ambition; it is the need for sustained access to the rooms where creative and commercial decisions are made.
From Competition to Collective Advancement with Girls Who Listen
One of the most defining aspects of Girls Who Listen is its challenge to a long‑standing industry dynamic: framing women—especially Black women—as competitors instead of collaborators. In an industry governed by scarcity thinking, mentorship has frequently been inconsistent, informal, or missing altogether.
Salawudeen openly discusses entering spaces where guidance was often supplanted by gatekeeping, and where proving oneself was seen as a prerequisite for support. Instead of copying that model, she founded Girls Who Listen on the premise that knowledge should circulate, not be hoarded.
This philosophy is not merely theoretical—it informs the organization’s programming. Mentorship cohorts pair emerging professionals with industry mentors. Executive coffee chats provide low‑barrier access to decision‑makers. Resource libraries and networking events are crafted less as introductions and more as venues for sustained relationship building. The aim is to connect women with executives and, equally important, with one another.
Women music industry professionals connect and exchange ideas during a conversation in an office setting, highlighting the importance of collaboration, mentorship, and leadership in the industry.
(Photo Courtesy of Kadijat Salawudeen)
This approach aligns with growing research indicating that professional networks are among the strongest predictors of career mobility, especially in creative fields where opportunities flow through informal relationships rather than traditional hiring pipelines.
This reflects a broader generational shift. Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey found that learning opportunities, mentorship, and meaningful workplace relationships rank among the top factors shaping career decisions for younger professionals. In music, where geography still matters—hubs such as New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville continue to dominate—digital and hybrid communities are becoming essential for those building careers outside traditional centers.
Participants such as Jasmin Benward have also engaged with Girls Who Listen programming, reflecting the organization’s broader ecosystem of mentorship and creative support. Benward said, “What has given me undeniable insight, access, and community are the relationships I’ve built and continue to foster with incredible women and gender‑expansive folks in the business.” She added, “I am a byproduct of folks who have offered chance, education, and creative collaboration that helps me thrive as I navigate a new industry later in life.”
Girls Who Listen Is Creating Spaces Where Opportunity Can Accumulate
Girls Who Listen’s impact now reaches beyond the United States. Born in Nigeria and raised in the U.S., Salawudeen has long envisioned a global model of access. That vision recently took shape through initiatives that provide young women in Nigeria with educational resources, scholarships, and mentorship programming.
This effort mirrors a broader opportunity across African creative industries, where women remain underrepresented in technical and executive music roles despite increasing visibility among artists and performers.
That philosophy also inspired the launch of the Girls Who Listen Café in Nigeria, a hybrid space intended to serve as a coworking hub by day and a community gathering spot by night. Though unconventional for a music‑focused organization, the idea reflects a broader belief: opportunity often arises in informal settings—places where conversation flows freely, collaborations form organically, and access feels less conditional.
In this sense, the café is not merely an extension of the mission; it is the mission made tangible.
Looking ahead, Salawudeen envisions Girls Who Listen transitioning from a largely volunteer‑driven initiative into a fully funded institution with dedicated staff, expanded global programming, and a formal role as a talent pipeline for the music industry.
Kadijat Salawudeen distributes essential supplies to young women in Nigeria, supporting community welfare and empowerment initiatives.
(Photo Courtesy of Kadijat Salawudeen)
