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Chairman of UK Music Diversity Taskforce Reviews Last 12 Months

A recent blog by Ammo Talwar – chairman of the UK Music diversity taskforce – published on Punch’s website, is recommended reading for unpacking diversity in the music industry over the last 12 months.

Published: 10 December 2020 | 9:45 AM Updated: 28 April 2021 | 4:32 PM
Photograph of a London skyline on a misty, early morning. The sun has just risen in the sky and the light is quite yellow.
"Now was the time for the music industry to stand up and back a radical, sustainable plan to repair the diversity deficit." Photo credit: Shutterstock

Talwar’s retrospective examines how “The outcry over the murder of George Floyd once again highlighed injustices in the law, amplifying the voices of the Black Lives Matter movement,” and the “difficult debates, decisions and discussions for all of us,” which followed.

He goes on to explain how “questions of privilege (perhaps “white”, perhaps “gender”, perhaps “place”) were being asked. How much of their success in the music industry was down to privilege, family networks, not undiluted raw talent? More importantly, how do we create better opportunities and better representation for the rest of us?”

Members are also encouraged to read the blog in order to find out more about UK Music’s important TEN POINT PLAN for sustainably developing diversity in the music industry, “drawn from the 2020 survey, based on new metrics, fresh evidence and lived experience of diversity in the music industry today, here in the UK.”

We recommend that members read Talwar’s full blog on Punch’s website, to understand the watershed moment that the music industry is at today – as, in the words which he uses to end the blog, “it’s simply time to act.”

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