73% of Black music professionals have experienced racism in the music industry, report finds

This article is adapted from 'Black Lives in Music publishes first report of its kind', published in Music Teacher magazine.

Black Lives in Music (BLiM) has published part one of its ‘groundbreaking’ report into the experiences of Black people in the UK music industry. 

The organisation was co-founded by Roger Wilson and Charisse Beaumont in March 2021, and its first survey was open for six weeks, closing on 30 April 2021.

Gathering anonymised data from 1,718 respondents, the results have been published as the ‘Being Black in the UK music industry’ report, divided into separate documents on ‘industry professionals’ and ‘music creators’.

Combining data and case studies, part one of the report focuses on a range of areas, including barriers to progression, gender and ethnic pay, Black women in music, and mental health.

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

• 73% of Black music professionals have experienced direct/indirect racism in the music industry, and more (80%) have experienced racial microaggressions

• Two in five (40%) Black professionals have felt the need to change their appearance because of their race/ethnicity, rising to 44% of Black women

• White music industry professionals earned more than Black professionals for their work within the industry pre-covid (£2,459 vs £1,964 per month)

• Black female industry professionals earned £1811 per month compared to white women industry professionals who made £2270 (£459 more per month) pre-Covid

• Half (49%) Black music industry professionals have earned less than usual from the music industry due to Covid-19

• White music professionals are more likely to have a music-related qualification (69%) compared to Black professionals (49%)

• Three quarters (75%) are dissatisfied with how the music industrysupports Black music professionals, compared to just 9% who are

  satisfied

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

• A deep dive into the data showed that just 40% of Black female professionals earn 100% of their income from music compared to 73% of white women.

• 22% Black music industry professionals earned less than 25% of their income from the music industry compared to only 5% of white music professionals.

• Financial stability and having a legacy are the top signs of success within the music industry amongst Black professionals

• 36% of Black music professionals believe their mental wellbeing has declined, rising to 39% of Black women.

In her foreword, chief executive Charisse Beaumont wrote: ‘If you want to see equality in the music industry then reading this report is essential to change. If you choose to ignore this report then you are ignoring your friends, colleagues and employees experiences to suit your own needs and that is a problem.’ 

Wilson said: ‘I've been an instrumental teacher for just short of 30 years – I've seen a real paucity of colour, a lack of diversity, in just about all of the educational organisations that I've worked in. That's in the private sector, the independent school sector, the university sector, and the secondary education sector.

‘What we're trying to do is level the playing field, not only at a professional level, but also in terms of entry level grassroots initiatives and opportunities.’

The survey is set to be released annually, again with accompanying reports.

The report can be downloaded here.

Hear more from Roger Wilson here. 

blim.org.uk