UK music industry will install anti-racism code in 2023
A new code of conduct to eliminate racism in the music industry will be introduced next year. Designed by Black Lives in Music (BLIM), the UK Music Industry Anti-Racism Code will cover various issues, including pay, inclusion and general safety for POC in the industry.
The Independent Standards Authority supports the code and will offer protection to everyone working in UK music, from the artists who work for big companies to technical staff. It will force labels and other businesses to commit to a safe working environment for all, with a full effort made for inclusion. This will be achieved via training, data collection and full-proof accountability processes.
The code originates in a 2021 BLIM report which found that 63% of Black music makers had suffered racism in the industry, with a figure of 73% for professional Black musicians. These figures were comprised of 1,718 performers, staff and other creatives who disclosed that they had experienced bullying, harassment, microaggression and racist language. Duly, 36% of the professionals said this had contributed to a decline in mental well-being.
Elsewhere, Black musicians also described being stereotyped into genres such as hip-hop and R&B, as well as structural barriers blocking BAME from senior industry positions.
“The music industry has a hole in terms of what Black artists are chosen and what investments are made; the same type of music is being put out by Black people when in reality we do every kind of music,” explained BLIM chief executive Charisse Beaumont said (per The Guardian). “But that space is not being created for us. And why is that? Because the decision-makers at the top are not diverse.”
It has been noted that after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, many music labels and organisations pledged to bring in anti-racism strategies, but barely anything has come to fruition. Beaumont continued: “We get maybe a dozen contacts a week from people going through discrimination. A lot of the people that we speak to in the music industry and in music education are saying not much has changed.”
Other parts of the code outline the need for equal contracts, funding and pay, as well as adequate opportunities for career progression.
Beaumont announced the code at Wednesday’s (October 26th) parliamentary inquiry into misogyny in UK music. According to BLIM’s data, women, non-binary people, and those with disabilities experience the most discrimination in the industry. Black disabled musicians are “literally invisible”, according to Beaumont, with Black women the “most disadvantaged” because of sexual abuse and disproportionate pay.
Beaumont then turned her attention to women in live music’s technical roles. “The number is quite low because there’s a general consensus that it’s an unsafe environment,” she said. “Some of the sexual harassment and abuse that takes place gets reported, but it’s not believed. In a male-dominated environment, women are often very fearful of retribution, such as losing their job, so they don’t say anything.”
Of the need for regulation like there is in other industries, Beaumont concluded: “Right now, it’s like the wild west. Unlike in finance, schools and food, the creative industries have no accountability and no authorisation.”
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