LOS ANGELES – Although music is often their solace, a recent study commissioned by the University of Westminster showed that people working in the music industry may be up to three times more likely to suffer from depression than the audience.
What do you want to know
- While prioritizing mental health and wellness can be challenging, Meta uses its platform to promote mental health to music industry trailblazers
- Girls Make Beats is a non-profit organization that teaches the next generation of female music producers, DJs and sound engineers.
- Meta recently launched a series of health and wellness events and a panel featuring Tiffany and other women in the music industry.
- Tolu Ayeni says they designed Meta Women in Music to create a community in person and on their platforms and bring women and women identifying artists together
While prioritizing mental health and wellbeing can be difficult, Meta uses its platform to promote mental health to pioneers in the music industry.
As the head of the non-profit organization called Girls Make Beats, Tiffany Miranda knows what it’s like to be the only girl in the room. She fell in love with singing at age 11 and soon realized that the music industry was dominated by men.
“A lot of the creative control came from the men in the room telling me who I should be, what I should wear, what a young girl should be in society and there was always a huge disconnect for me,” she explained.
It inspired her to learn the ins and outs of music production, never expecting to fall completely in love with audio engineering.
Her journey so far has been a continual battle with moments of self-doubt isolation and uncertainty, but Miranda said she found creativity and empowerment behind the boards.
“I went through so many challenges as a young girl navigating these spaces, but eventually got to work with a lot of hip hop heavy hitters like DJ Khaled and Lil Uzi Vert and French Montana and a lot of time, their response was that they had never worked with a woman before,” she said.
That’s why she started Girls Make Beats, a nonprofit that trains the next generation of female music producers, DJs and sound engineers.
Tiffany says she wants to be the guide she didn’t have, not only in music, but also in dealing with mental health.
“We’ve had testimonials from girls and parents themselves that they’re struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts and music has been an outlet for them,” she added.
It’s a safe space for expression that social media conglomerate Meta says it shares with music as well. So Meta recently launched a series of health and wellness events and a panel featuring Tiffany and other women in the music industry.
The woman behind this initiative, Tolu Ayeni, says she designed Meta Women in Music to create a community in person and on their platforms and bring women and women who identify artists together.
“We can’t show up for the people we love, we can’t show up for the communities if we don’t take care of ourselves,” Ayeni explained. “I always think of when you’re on the plane and they always say put your mask on before you help others.”
Whether it’s setting boundaries, working out or keeping a journal, she said. For Tiffany, becoming a mom helped her discover what self-care looked like through her lens.
“Coming into motherhood really made me look at myself and say I have to be good so I can be a better mother,” she said.
Now a better mentor too, paving the way for the many girls to follow in his footsteps.
Among the reasons for declining mental health reported in the study are poor working conditions, lack of recognition for the hard work that goes into their craft and for the women surveyed, difficulties navigating between motherhood and a career.
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