Black Lives in Music (BLiM) have conducted the largest survey of Black musicians and music industry professionals conducted in the UK.
Being Black in The UK Music Industry survey report highlights the widespread and systemic racism that Black musicians experience across the music industry with Black women disproportionately experiencing discrimination and disadvantage.
Key findings include:
- 86% of all Black music creators agree that there are barriers to progression. This number rises to 89% for Black women and 91% for Black creators who are disabled
- Three in five (63%) Black music creators have experienced direct or indirect racism in the music industry, and more (71%) have experienced racial microaggressions
- 36% of Black music professionals believe their mental wellbeing has declined, rising to 39% of Black women
- 38% of Black music professionals earn 100% of their income from music compared to 69% of white music professionals.
- 57% of black music creators have seen white contemporaries promoted ahead of them despite being more qualified
The report gives clear evidence of the issues and barriers that Black musicians face. Racism is preventing Black musicians from reaching their full potential and severely impacting their mental health. As an industry we must make tackling racism a priority.
Read the report in full
The BLiM survey report makes several recommendations to address the issues and emphasises collaboration across the UK music industry as key to addressing imbalances.
The MU fully supports the recommendations made in the report and are more committed than ever to working with our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee, the MU Network for Members who Experience Racism and through our partnerships with organisations including BLiM and Power Up, to tackle racism and ensure that being Black isn’t a barrier to having a successful career in the music industry.