Black Lives In Music release revealing report on racism and discrimination in the UK music industry

Image: Emiliano Vittoriosi / Unsplash

A recent report from UK organisation Black Lives In Music (BLIM) has revealed devastating information regarding racism and discrimination in the country’s music industry. The report comes as the result of a survey launched by BLIM in March which launched inquiry into barriers to progression, unequal pay and other acts of discrimination based on ethnicity. From the survey, a number of key findings emerged. As reported by Resident Advisor, these include: 

• 86 percent of all Black musicians agree that there are barriers to progression. This rises to 89 percent for Black women and 91 percent for Black creators who are disabled. 

• 88 percent of all Black music professionals agree that there are barriers to progression.

• 63 percent Black music creators have experienced direct or indirect racism in the music industry, and 71 percent have experienced racial microaggressions.

• 35 percent of all Black musicians felt the need to change their appearance because of their race or ethnicity, rising to 43 percent for Black women.

• 38 percent of Black music professionals earn 100 percent of their income from music compared to 69 percent of white music professionals.

Other reported findings include Black musicians feeling typecast to “urban” genres despite their personal musical ambitions, not receiving equal studio time to white musicians and not receiving the same performance opportunities. The report uncovers the discriminatory truth about the music industry, and sheds light on how racism plays a major role in shaping the industry at large. 

The full report is available to download here.