Far Out Meets: Roger Wilson of Black Lives in Music – Addressing the racist realities of the music industry
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Credit: Far Out / Alexander Schimmeck
Why is there a significant wage disparity between Black and white artists in UK music?
Some people may have fooled themselves into thinking that the age of racism is over and that Black people now enjoy that thing they’ve been fighting for, for so long: total equality. However, the reality proves that this romantic notion would be very wrong. Significant wage disparities still exist between Black and white workers, and in addition to heinous racist crimes such as the murders of George Floyd and Jacob Blake, the indications show that there is still a lot of work to do.
In terms of the wage disparity, it is felt across sectors, and one place that it is particularly obstinate is in the music industry. In Britain, there has been an increased representation for Black artists over the last few years, but one would argue that this drive for more representation on the part of some of the white elements who claim to be all for ‘equality’, is at the very least contrived.
Recent findings reveal that the UK music sector is hostile towards Black artists and shows that Black women are most affected by this stance. A monumental report published in September 2021 by Black Lives in Music found that 63% of the Black musicians they interviewed had experienced either direct or indirect racism.
This included explicit racist language or distinctly different treatment because of race or ethnicity. Following this, 67% revealed that they had witnessed this behaviour. Microaggressions also run rampant, experienced by 71% and witnessed by 73%.
Anonymous participants recalled: “Having to repeatedly ask other artists to stop using the N-word,” they said, adding: “Jokes about skin colour, Africa and persistent questioning about where I really come from” and being typecast as R&B artists. Alarmingly, the figures rose amongst Black music professionals, with 73% experiencing direct or indirect racism, with 80% experiencing microaggressions.
The Black Lives in Music report was the first of its kind and intended to address the lack of data on the everyday experiences of Black people in the British music industry.
The report surveyed 1,718, creatives, performers and industry staff, with 64% of respondents from Black, Asian and mixed ethnic backgrounds. All-encompassing in nature, the respondents worked across genres and from grassroots levels right the way up to the professional. Although 55% lived and worked in London, it’s a damning indictment of the state of UK music, particularly when noting that 17% had long-standing physical or mental impairments, conditions, illnesses or disabilities. Charisse Beaumont, the chief executive of Black Lives in Music, said: “The data clearly shows change is needed across the entire music ecosystem, from grassroots education all the way up to record labels”.
The report only added fuel to the fire, confirming what we’ve known for years. Racism is systemic, insidious, and exists everywhere, and its manifestation in the British music industry is simply a by-product. Artists from VV Brown to Laura Mvula have weighed in on the topic, sharing their experiences. Mvula told Gal-Dem: “When I entered the scene, I was told, ‘You know there’s only room for one Black female artist at a time, Laura?'”.
Elucidating on this old-school, colonial form of racism, Mvula revealed that journalists would qualify her revered standing in music by discussing her classical education: “Which is just a way of apologising for me being there… and I played up to it. I thought it was a thing, like, ‘Look, here’s this Blackie that plays violin’.”
For more detail, hit-making rapper Tinie Tempah told PA Media: “You’re a rapper, so this is your budget, and you’re Black, but this is a folk artist from Shropshire… they haven’t sold as many records as you, but we think that they are more viable, so we’re going to spend more.”
Given that these are just two personal accounts of experiencing such a Cecil Rhodes-esque form of racism, such as the widespread use of the N-word, there can be no surprise that the economic disparities between Black and white artists are significant.
In the pre-pandemic era, Black music professionals earned on average £1,964 a month compared with £2,459 by their white counterparts. It was also found that white women in the industry made sums averaging £450 more per month than their Black peers. Furthermore, before Covid wreaked havoc on the world, white musicians were earning on average £1,454 monthly, opposed to £1,155 by Black artists. Again, women were the worst hit. White women took home roughly £1,282 a month, whilst Black women reported earnings of £1,026.
If this wasn’t a bitter enough pill to swallow, it doesn’t stop there. Showing just how endemic racism is in the UK music industry, Black musicians have been particularly hard hit when it comes to funding. 72% of white creators reported having secured at least one successful funding application from organisations such as the PRS Foundation or Arts Council, compared to a meagre 52% of Black artists.
Arguably, the worst part about all of this is the sheer hypocrisy. Remember the Blackout Tuesday on social media after the death of George Floyd? It was meant to highlight the numerous obstacles Black musicians and professionals face in the industry, as they have added no end of worth to it over the years, and were the creators of it. However, it quickly transpired that this was just another reflection of the ‘White Saviour’ mentality that the Western world has conned itself into believing real. Although there was well-meaning behind lots of it, the Black Lives in Music report showed that it achieved virtually nothing. Yes, the word “urban” is used to characterise Black music less frequently, but this is not enough.
Roger Wilson, the Director of Operations at Black Lives in Music, who has experienced the racist reality first hand, recently sat down with Far Out’s Tom Taylor and discussed the nature of the problem at length. “Structural racism is about mechanisms and processes. Individuals may be racist, but it’s the structures and mechanisms that perpetuate hard racism,” Wilson explained. “These structures and mechanisms exist outside the sector.”
There can be no surprise that there’s a wage disparity between Black and white artists in the UK music industry. It’s indicative of a much broader problem. Racism has not gone anywhere, and the systems and structures that perpetuate it are still hegemonic.
In order for Black artists to truly enjoy equality, the whole system has to change. As Wilson said, this exists outside of music, and what we see in music is just indicative of the problem. Of course, much progress has been made since the days of Martin Luther King in the ’60s, but there’s still much to be done.
Take the booing of the knee in football, for example, racism is still alive and well. Until it is truly defeated through collective action, Black musicians, sportspeople, nurses, cleaners, and filmmakers will still be unfairly treated, personally and economically. Unfortunately, it’s a tale as old as time that Black women bear its brunt, which shows that the fight is still on both fronts, the anti-racist and the anti-sexist.
It’s a multi-faceted problem that has as much to do with a Primeminister echoing the colonialist sentiment of old, using terms such as “watermelon smiles” and “piccaninnies”, as much as it does with Donald Trump’s disgusting comments regarding grabbing women by their genitals.
Let’s not kid ourselves. In the age of the culture war, it’s hard not to get lost amongst all the ‘alternative facts’ and baseless claims, but we can’t lose sight of the end goal, equality. There’s much to be done. Do your bit, support Black artists by buying their records and watching their live show.
