Artists and cultural workers: careers, gender, and the professionalization of female singers in Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil

Abstract

This research seeks to understand the conditions and social resources that shape the entry, retention, and advancement of female singers in Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil. It also analyzes the changing perception of the female singer, who has shifted from being viewed in terms of “talent and vocation” to being understood as a “cultural worker” strategically situated within the creative economy. The methodology is qualitative and is structured around two axes of documentary and bibliographic analysis. The first consists of a diagnosis of the social history of the music market in Sergipe and Brazil, as well as an investigation into the role of the state and the impact of funding laws on the professionalization of female artists. The second axis is based on data collection and the mapping of the profile and performance locations of female singers through digital platforms and environments. The study highlights new forms of managing artistic work through platformization and questions the position of the performing musician in a non-institutionalized market marked by informality and precariousness. The results indicate three structural obstacles: gender inequalities; the hyper-flexible exploitation resulting from platformization; and geographical and market barriers, marked by the hegemony of the Rio–São Paulo axis and the lack of collective organizations for musicians in the city of Aracaju.