This year’s cohort came together for the first time at London’s Southbank Centre on Friday 14 June. Image credit: Tamiym Cader © PRS For Music Foundation.
POWER UP has today announced the music creators, industry professionals and executives who will make up Year 4 of the multi-award winning programme.
Co-founded by PRS Foundation and Ben Wynter, POWER UP’s Participant Programme elevates pioneering Black talent and is a key feature of the long-term initiative launched to address anti-Black racism and racial disparities in the music sector.
The programme - specifically designed to fit the needs of each annual cohort of participants - assists in the development of their careers and practice, to empower creators and professionals to break through glass ceilings and accelerate change across the industry. This includes grant support of up to £15,000 alongside capacity building masterclasses, mentoring, coaching, mental health and wellbeing support, and access to added value support from POWER UP Partners and the peer network which is integral to breaking down barriers.
Find out more about each of the Year 4 Participants.
It’s wonderful to see so many MU members in this latest cohort
Dr Diljeet Bhachu, MU Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Officer says: “It’s really wonderful to see POWER UP grow from year to year, and to see so many MU members in this latest cohort.
“POWER UP continues to have a huge impact on the careers of Black Music Creators and Music Industry Professionals. The MU are proud partners and are really excited to see such a diversity of genre within this year’s cohort of Music Creators, breaking down stereotypes and perceptions of what kinds of music Black artists make.”
About POWER UP
Announced in 2021 alongside a premiere of Time To Power Up, POWER UP was co-founded by the PRS Foundation and Ben Wynter. It is managed by PRS Foundation in partnership with YouTube Music, Beggars Group and the Black Music Coalition.
The initiative brings together several music industry partners across all sectors to accelerate change, with supporters including: Creative Scotland, Simkins, Creative Wales, Arts Council of Wales, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Culture Liverpool and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, plus AIM, the BPI, the FAC, The Ivors Academy, the MMF, the MPA, MPG, The Musicians’ Union, PPL, PRS for Music, the PRS Members’ Fund and Believe, as well as Associate Partner, Daft Springer, who each bring added-value support to POWER UP Participants.
More than 80 Black music executives and creators came together to contribute and set the direction for POWER UP. An Executive Steering Group (ESC) was established in late 2020 featuring some of the most influential Black professionals in the UK music industry. Alongside the ESC, seven focus groups covering Recording and Publishing, Live, Platforms, Gender, Sexuality, Enterprise and Regionality delved deeper into the barriers Black music creators and professionals have experienced across the sector and how they could be addressed.
In 2022, POWER UP was awarded the inaugural IMPALA Changemaker Award, recognising the scale and speed of impact being made, while recommending partnerships and similar initiatives in the independent sectors across Europe.
Additionally, most recently in November 2023, POWER UP picked up Music Week’s Women In Music Awards DE&I Initiative Award, recognising specific initiatives from a business or organisation that has gone the extra mile to champion diversity and inclusion both internally and externally.
Learn more about POWER UP and previous cohorts from the Participant Programme.