Just 6.4% of top music industry jobs held by Black or Black British people, says UK Music report

UK Music has released new data drawn from a recent survey that breaks down the ethnic backgrounds of those working in the UK music industry. 

The data highlights where more needs to be done to ensure diverse communities are well represented at every level of an industry that sustains almost 200,000 jobs.

It also suggested that the number of ethnically diverse workers joining the industry at entry level were not reflected at more senior levels.

The survey was commissioned in response to the recent dropping of the term 'BAME' - and to promote breaking down ethnicities with more specificity. 

The key findings were: 

• People who identified as Black or Black British represented 12.6% of the workforce at Entry Level but lowers to 6.4% at Senior Level.
• People who identified as Asian or Asian British made up 6.8% of the workforce at Entry Level - dropping to 4% at Senior Level.
• People who identified as Mixed represented 8.1% at Entry Level, falling to 5.3% at Senior Level.
• Those who identified as White accounted for 65.4% at Entry Level and 80.1% at Senior Level.  

UK Music Diversity Taskforce Chair Ammo Talwar MBE said: 'This data is really important as it’s the first time that UK Music has broken down different ethnic groups into sub-groups of Black, Asian, and Mixed Race - rather than using that outdated and disrespectful catch-all term ‘BAME’.

'It shows the value of dropping the phrase ‘BAME’ when talking about different communities because now we have far more clarity about the different ethnic groups who make up the music industry.

'Our UK Music Diversity Taskforce has a clear strategy in our Ten-Point Plan that we hope will lead the way for other organisations and other sectors to adopt.  

'We are determined to make the urgent changes needed to properly represent and support the communities and audiences we serve.'

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