The organisation is calling for black musicians and music creators across Britain to take part in ground-breaking research in a bid to create more opportunities for black musicians in the industry
Sign up and take part in the Black Lives in Music survey here.
Its keys goals are to:
✔ Be a catalyst for meaningful change and meaningful action towards a genuine diverse community within music
✔ Provide meaningful opportunities at grassroots level for black musicians to aspire to be part of the wider talent pool
✔ Support and empower black artists to realise their ambitions
✔ Advocate for equality for the careers of musicians and the music industry workforce
Research from Arts Council England showed that of leadership roles occupied by employees at almost 100 of its leading National Portfolio Organisations, only 10% of Chief Executives, 11% of Senior Managers, 11% of Chairs, and 15% of board members were from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds.
But there is currently no data about the experience and everyday reality for black musicians in the UK. The organisation will address this by launching The Black Lives in Music survey – ground-breaking research looking at the issues black creatives faces in multiple areas including racial discrimination, mental health, well-being and economic disparity. The results of the survey are set to be published in an annual BLiM report in May 2021.
BLiM Co-founder and Chief Executive Charisse Beaumont said: “We are bringing together all black musicians and music professionals for this research in order to create change. Your participation will make this data, which currently doesn’t exist, the most powerful data set about black musicians in the world which will be used to drive positive and lasting change.”
BLiM has created a 10-step digital charter urging music organisations to agree to meet in order to reflect the nation’s diverse culture and combat systemic racism within the industry. The organisation will support other organisations to work towards developing balanced professional ensembles with people of colour, recruitment of black people representing senior management/board level and programmes, and mentoring and support for the progression of black musicians into professional ensembles.
Found out more about BLiM here.
