DEI
LONDON — A U.K. Parliament committee is calling on the British government to address the “endemic” misogyny and discrimination that many female artists face in the music industry.
A report from the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) published Tuesday (Jan. 30) urges ministers to take legislative steps to protect musicians and creators from sexual harassment, including banning the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases involving sexual abuse, bullying or misconduct.
The highly critical 70-page report acknowledges that female representation is improving in many areas of the business but warns that progress remains slow with sexual harassment and abuse against women common occurrences in an industry “still routinely described as a boys club.”
“People in the industry who attend awards shows and parties currently do so sitting alongside sexual abusers who remain protected by the system and by colleagues,” said the cross-party committee of MPs.
Their inquiry found a “culture of silence” existed across the music industry with many victims of sexual harassment or abuse afraid to report such incidents.
Victims who do speak out struggle to be believed or may find their career ends as a consequence, the committee found. They said that much of the evidence they had received had to remain undisclosed, “including commentary on television shows and household names,” due to confidentially and legal clauses.
The report follows an inquiry into misogyny in the U.K. music industry, which began in June 2022 and saw a number of artists and executives give evidence, including senior executives from all three major labels, representatives of the live industry, former BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac and British pop singer and Ivors Academy board director Rebecca Ferguson.
Giving evidence in September, Ferguson, who first shot to fame on the U.K. version of The X Factor, said that misogyny in music was just “the tip of the iceberg of the things that are happening behind the scenes.”
She said that women in the music business who experience abuse often feel that they “can’t speak up” because “they are scared they will never work again.” Ferguson told MPs that she had been informed rapes were going unreported.
In addition to sexual abuse and harassment, the inquiry found that women pursuing careers in music face limited opportunities compared to men, a lack of support and persistent unequal pay, while female artists are “routinely undervalued and undermined.”
The committee recommends that ministers introduce legislation to give freelance workers the same protections from discrimination as employees, as well as imposing a legal duty on companies and employers to protect workers from sexual harassment by third parties.
On the subject of non-disclosure agreements, the report said the government should consider a retrospective moratorium on NDAs signed by victims of sexual abuse.
The report also called for stronger safety requirements for industry sectors where harassment and abuse are known to take place, such as recording studios and music venues.
Additionally, managers of artists should be licensed, while record labels were recommended to regularly publish information about the diversity of their creative rosters, workforce and gender and ethnicity pay gaps – a practice that many labels and large music companies already do.
The committee said the music industry and the British government should increase investment and support in diverse talent, particularly in male-dominated areas such as A&R, sound engineering and production.
“Women’s creative and career potential should not have limits placed upon it by ‘endemic’ misogyny which has persisted for far too long within the music industry,” Caroline Nokes, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, said in a statement.
Responding to Tuesday’s report, Jo Twist, CEO of U.K. labels trade body BPI, and Yolanda Brown, BPI chair, said all parts of the music industry have “a shared responsibility” to tackle misogyny in music “head on.”
Silvia Montello, CEO of the London-based Association of Independent Music (AIM), said the report “makes for uncomfortable but sadly unsurprising reading.”
“It should not still be this hard, here in 2024, for women to be supported to succeed and to be taken as seriously as our male counterparts,” said Montello in a statement.
After years of stagnancy, women are gaining ground on the charts and at the Grammys.
A report on gender equality in the music industry by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative — which was supported by Spotify and is the latest in an annual series released by the groups — assessed 12 years and 1,200 songs from the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Charts, looking at artists, songwriters and producers.
The study, Inclusion in the Recording Studio? Gender & Race/Ethnicity of Artists, Songwriters & Producers across 1,100 Popular Songs from 2012 to 2022, is out Tuesday (Jan. 30.)
The study’s key takeaway is that women’s participation in music creation, which has historically lagged, has improved across several metrics.
On the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Charts, the percentage of women artists reached 35%, a 12-year high. The study attributes this change to the fact that 40.6% of spots on these charts in 2023 were occupied by individual women artists, an increase over 2022 when the number was 34.8%. Improvements were less significant for women-led bands or duos.
The number of women songwriters also increased, from 14.1% in 2022 to 19.5% in 2023. The study notes that this change was due “almost exclusively to the number of women of color credited as songwriters in 2023.” The reports cites 55 women of color receiving a songwriting credit in 2023, a jump from 33 women of color 2022 and 14 in 2012.
Fifty-six percent of songs in 2023 included at least one woman songwriter — an increase from 2022 and the highest percentage in 12 years.
“The changes for songwriters are doubtlessly due to the work of numerous groups working to support women in music,” Dr. Smith says in a statement. “Whether She Is The Music, Spotify Equal, Moving the Needle, Women’s Audio Mission, Be the Change, Keychange, Girls Make Beats, or others, there has been a groundswell of support for women across the last several years. This advocacy and activism is propelling change in the industry. While there is work to be done, these groups are well-positioned to keep fighting for change.”
In the producing realm, fourteen, or 6.5%, of the producers credited in 2023 were women. This surpassed the previous record of 4.9% in 2019. Nearly half, or six, of the women producers in 2023 were women of color. But, over the nine years the study has assessed gender equality in production, 94% of the evaluated songs did not include a single woman producer. Across nine years, there have been 29.8 men to every one woman working as a producer.
The race/ethnicity of artists is also a focus of the report. In 2023, 61% of the artists on the Hot 100 Year-End Charts were from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group, while 39% were white. This was a 12-year high and an increase from 2022, when the number was 50.6%, but not significantly greater than the percentage of underrepresented artists in 2020, when the number was 59%.
The study also assessed the six major Grammy categories: record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best new artist, producer of the year and songwriter of the year.
The study found that nearly a quarter (24%) of nominations across these six categories went to women in 2024 — a jump from 15.5% in 2023. This overall change was reflected in four categories: record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, and best new artist. This year, nominees in these categories include Taylor Swift, Victoria Monét, SZA, Miley Cryus, boygenius, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo. In each of these categories, the percentage of women nominees increased significantly from 2023 to 2024 and from the first year the awards were evaluated in 2013.
For the fifth year in a row, no women were nominated for producer of the year.
“Awards like the Grammys show us how women’s contributions to the industry are received,” Dr. Smith says. “The increases in nominations this year are a positive step in recognizing the creative work that women did last year in competitive fields. The Recording Academy has clearly taken inclusion seriously and worked to increase the diversity of its membership, particularly its voting members.”
But, she continues, “There is still too little recognition for women producers and songwriters in those categories, and there are too few women of color nominated for their work. For music industry honors to truly reflect the creative workforce and the audience they serve, there must be a place for women and particularly women of color in these awards.”
Other key findings:
• In 2023, 164 artists appeared on the Hot 100 Billboard Year-End Chart. Of these, 64.6% were men, 34.8% were women, and 0.6% were gender non-binary.
• Across the 12-year sample, women artists were the most likely to work in pop (34.7%) and least likely in alternative (14.4%) and hip-hop (14.9%).
• Across 12 years, Drake had the most credits as a solo artist, appearing 52 times, double that of Justin Bieber, who appears on 25 songs. Nicki Minaj was the woman with the highest number of credits, appearing 25 times, while Ariana Grande followed with 23 songs and Rihanna with 22.
• The percentage of underrepresented women on the charts in 2023 was 65%, with this number the same as 2022 and and almost doubling since 2012, when it was 33.3%. “Put differently,” the study says, “women of color continue to dominate the charts.”
• In terms of genre, across 12 years, women were most likely to write pop (20.1%) and dance/electronic (19.6%) songs, and least likely to write hip-hop and rap (7.5%) and country (9.9%) songs. Even in pop music, where women songwriters most often appear, they were outnumbered by male songwriter by a ratio of 4 to 1.
The slowdown in corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives inspired the theme at this year’s ADCOLOR Conference: “Double Down & Double Up,” representing a call to expand DEI efforts in the advertising industry. And the speakers, nominees, and honorees at this year’s event — held Nov. 9–11, 2023, in L.A. — provided numerous examples of how different experiences, viewpoints and backgrounds expand the reach to audiences.
Since Tiffany R. Warren founded the conference in 2005, ADCOLOR has brought LatinX, Black, Asian, LGTBQ+ and disabled creatives to the forefront of a conversation that had long excluded them. The upbeat and informative event celebrated how far the industry has come, yet reminded attendees of the importance of sharing knowledge and opportunities to ensure that progress continues.
This year’s event was the first since the United States Supreme Court further weakened affirmative action policies in a decision handed down in June. A video highlighting the decision was displayed on video screens as attendees participated in panels and workshops, serving as a constant reminder of what was at stake.
In a panel titled “Men of Color in the C Suite,” Epic Records president Zeke Lewis, Mediahub executive vp/executive director Alejandro Claiborne and Billboard president Mike Van shared insight on what it means to be part of a rare club and the unique responsibility of being a trailblazer in the top job.
“Race and gender manifest differently,” Claiborne noted in response to a question about making space for women on their team. “My job is to advocate, to create a safe space…psychological, socially, physical. When in mixed company, I try to make sure her voice is heard so others know I have her back.” Van also shared that the Billboard executive team is majority women: “The sooner I can work with women on a team, the likelihood of success is very high.”y
As Van noted, the journey to the C-suite will include failures along with successes. “Figure out and understand what you stand for,” he said. “Don’t expect success to be linear.”
ADCOLOR Nominees and Winners
The ADCOLOR 17th annual awards ceremony was held on the final night of the conference, with the black-tie event celebrating creators of inclusive advertising. Below, the winners of Ad of the Year and Most Valuable Partnership honors shared their thoughts on their respective wins.
Ad of the year
Campaign: “The Black Elevation Map”
Client: Black & Abroad
Agency: Performance Art
Honorees: Eric Martin (co-founder/chief creative officer, Black & Abroad) and Kent Johnson (co-founder/chief strategy officer, Black & Abroad)
The Black Elevation Map is a digital app that was created for Black and Abroad, a travel and lifestyle company that focuses on unique experiences for Black travelers. Inspired by the Green Book, a guide for black roadtrippers that highlighted businesses that would welcome them, the app “takes cultural data, including Black population data, historical markers, Black-owned businesses and social media activity, and visualizes it as points of interest on a dynamic, searchable elevation map of the United States.”
How does it feel to win Ad of the Year on your first try?
Eric Martin: It’s exhilarating. Mainly because when we started the work, we had no idea of where we were heading as a business. This was in the prime of the pandemic. There was literally no signals of when this thing would be over. …We just worked with what we had. We spent almost a year putting this together. When we launched it [during] Black History Month 2022, we had no idea where it would go, we just knew we were doing what we could. We were keeping it authentic, and we had an amazing pool of talent that we were able to tap into. An amazing run of businesses that were willing to participate and enlist themselves. And then we had the support of our community.
Why was the message of the ad important to you?
Ken Johnson: I think the Black community was looking for a way to share that information. There had been a consolidated moment. We were sharing lists of our favorite restaurants, etc., but it didn’t seem like it made it accessible if I’m out and about and I want to pull up a map around me that I could patronize immediately. We didn’t see that platform out there, so that was our driving force. We were tapping into the legacy of Victor Green, creator of the Green Book. How do we tap into what he’s done and bring it to our time and make it accessible and familiar for everyone? We all know how to pull up a map on our phones, but if we are able to pull up a map that already has our interests in mind, what would that do for the businesses being impacted?
How was it inspired by the Green Book?
Johnson: The Green Book was a tool for survival. The energy has shifted to how do we in the community make sure these businesses survive. We want to see these businesses around. We want entrepreneurs in our space to be able to make it past those first couple of years that are the hardest. Now we make sure that businesses are able to keep payroll up, reach new audiences. The spirit of survival is still there, [but] the direction is commerce.
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Most valuable partnership
WhatsApp and Translation
Honoree: Ghada Soufan, integrated marketing manager, WhatsApp; founder of MENA for ADCOLOR
WhatsApp teamed up with creative agency Translation for Naija Odyssey, a short film in which Greek-Nigerian Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo “tells his origin story of many origins as he reconciles his roots, birthplace and sense of belonging between cross-cultural worlds.” The film derived from an endorsement deal Antetokounmpo signed with WhatsApp last year.
What’s behind the growth of WhatsApp?
WhatsApp connects over 2 billion people around the world, which is really amazing. It has grown so much over the past two years. It really is the utility app that connects diasporas, communities, families, loved ones, friends, academic groups, elementary schools. So it’s been amazing to see the growth, but also the usage standpoint, the utility and the connections it’s provided for our users.
How do you handle that kind of rapid growth?
We handle the growth with excitement. We were excited about telling the story of WhatsApp as a brand. A lot of people use WhatsApp, [and] being able to really deliver [on] its purpose in connecting loved ones and representing marginalized communities, and really being for the people, and delivering features that can help anyone from teenager to a grandma to use it simply and reliably, has been really amazing.
A lot of people leave accessibility out of the DEI conversation.
That’s why we really refocused our audience with that partnership with Translation on people that are dual culture or multihyphenated. They work between the hyphen. For myself, it’s Arab-American, someone else it might be African-American, Nigerian-British. Wherever you are, we provide the closest thing to [a] face-to-face relationship, that intimate connection, through our app.
How does having a diverse team add to the success?
We have one of the most international teams. We truly have representation [and] truly a global diverse team. We have people from India, Brazil, Germany, U.K., U.S., Asia, Nigeria. We look for diversity not just in terms of a Western point of view, we’re a global diverse perspective. We aim to celebrate those people in our work and in how they use the app.
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A record-breaking 2,400 people have joined the Recording Academy as part of the organization’s 2023 new member class. Fully half of the new class is composed of people of color, while 46% are under the age of 40 and 37% are women. The Academy calls these statistics “a demonstration of the Academy’s commitment to remaking its overall membership.”
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The Academy further said that the 2,400 new members includes 1,700 new voting members and 700 new professional members (people who work in the industry but aren’t involved in the creation of recordings). This brings the total current membership to about 14,000 – 11,000 voting members and nearly 3,000 professional members.
The Recording Academy’s membership model is community-driven and peer-reviewed to create a more diverse and engaged membership base. Since implementing this new membership model in 2019, people of color have gone from comprising 24% of the Academy’s total membership to 38%. The percentage of Academy members who are women has also increased in that time frame, albeit at a more modest rate, from 26% to 30%.
“I’m proud as our organization continues to evolve and build a membership body that reflects the diverse talents and backgrounds that make up our music community,” Harvey Mason, jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Our commitment to diversity and inclusivity, however, is an ongoing effort. While we celebrate our progress, we also acknowledge that there’s still more work that must be done. Our members play a crucial role in everything we do, so representation is integral to our mission of supporting and uplifting music makers.”
The Recording Academy reports that the new member class is 50% people of color, 37% white or Caucasian and 13% unknown. The 50% people of color statistic breaks down like this: Black or African American, 28%; Hispanic or Latin, 10%; Asian or Pacific Islander, 5%; South Asian, 2%; Middle Eastern or North African, 1%; and Indigenous or Alaskan native, less than 1%. Four percent replied that they prefer to self-describe.
In terms of gender, 54% of the new member class is male, 37% is female, 8% is unknown and 1% is non-binary. Less than 1% replied that they prefer to self-describe.
In terms of age, 46% of the new class is under 40, 40% is over 40 and 14% is unknown.
All of these numbers refer to total members — which encompasses both voting members and professional members.
The Recording Academy also specifically asked voting members in the new member class to indicate which genres they are most aligned with. (They could choose more than one genre, so the totals exceed 100%.) Pop leads, as expected, with 41%, followed by R&B (29%), rock (23%), rap (22%), jazz (21%), alternative (21%), global music (17%), classical (15%), dance/electronic (15%), contemporary instrumental (13%), American roots music (12%), gospel/Christian (12%), Latin (12%), country (11%), visual media (10%) and seven other genres that each had less than 10%.
Jazz and classical rank higher than their market share would indicate. Latin and country, two of the hottest genres of recent years, rank lower than their market share would indicate; notably, the Grammy nominations that were announced on Nov. 10 were light on Latin and country representation in the Big Four categories. Latin was shut out completely in those marquee categories, while country was represented by just a pair of best new artist nominees: Jelly Roll and The War & Treaty (and that husband-and-wife duo is primarily associated with Americana). This brought criticism from people in the Latin and country fields.
Full statistics surrounding the demographics of the new class can be found here.
The Recording Academy reports that it’s 98% of the way toward its goal of adding 2,500 women voting members by 2025. It expects to achieve this milestone next year, a year ahead of schedule.
The final round of voting for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards extends from Dec. 14 until Jan. 4, 2024. All voting members, including those welcomed in the 2023 new class, are eligible to vote.
In addition to voting in the Grammy Awards process, members can submit product for Grammy consideration, propose amendments to Grammy rules, run for a Recording Academy board position or committee, vote in chapter elections and more.
For more information on the Recording Academy’s membership process and requirements, visit here.
I’m a California-raised Filipino American who spent my formative years (in the mid-aughts) worshiping bands like Death Cab for Cutie and much of the Myspace-era Warped Tour scene. So when I was 16, I decided to pursue my dream of starting my own band. But as I took a closer look at the artists I loved, the realization hit: Apart from Joey Santiago of the Pixies (who is Filipino), there was no one who looked like me.
Even as I transitioned into the business side of the music industry — working at large management companies, agencies and in touring — the lack of diversity was hard to ignore. And while the industry has changed a lot since I was a teenager, it still has so much room to grow.
As an active songwriter and senior director of A&R at Angry Mob Music Publishing, I’m a big advocate for songwriting camps and the significant opportunity they offer to everyone involved. I recently joined an organization called Mono Stereo Groove, which focuses on the representation of AAPI songwriters in the industry, and, inspired by all of the amazing work being done by those involved in the organization, I wanted to spearhead my own initiative. So at Angry Mob, I decided to introduce a diversity initiative into all creative areas, including by focusing on one of the most important elements in all of songwriting: the community.
This is why I recently launched the New Normal Writing Camp — an all-inclusive, diversity-forward camp that says it all in the name. I wanted to show that diversity should be represented not only on the artist level but also within the writing rooms, which have been very slow to catch up in terms of diversity. Our first annual New Normal Writing Camp, held in June 2023, featured 70% female artists/writers and 50% women producers representing more than 12 cultural backgrounds and featured artists including UMI, Deb Never, Yuna and Paravi. The hope is that camps like this will continue to push the industry to embrace all of the beautifully diverse writers and producers who deserve to be in high-level writing rooms.
The music industry can be difficult to work in, and these songwriting camps give the participants a chance to be themselves, get out of their comfort zones and make music in an intimate, safe space. Through these camps, I have the opportunity to create a diverse environment where songwriters and other professionals can network with those who do and don’t look like them, be exposed to a variety of genres and work with people with whom they otherwise may not have had the opportunity.
The best parts of these week-long writing events are the beautiful songs that are created and the lasting friendships that come out of them. It’s truly special to see people connect through their life stories, cultures and interests, creating music that reflects those. Unless you’re a person of color, it might be hard to grasp how crucial it is to see others who look like you pursuing their dreams and being given a fair shot in a white male-dominated industry. That’s why camps like these — also including Spotify’s GLOW camp for LGBTQ+ writers, Spotify’s Frequency camp for black writers and ASCAP’s She Is the Music camp for women songwriters — are so important.
When chatting about my intention to create writing environments that reflect the world we live in, the response from some industry professionals is usually one of surprise. While that response isn’t necessarily bad, it proves this inclusive approach is far from the norm. But it shouldn’t be. What the industry is blinded to is the potential to miss out on this generation’s next big artist/songwriter/producer — all because its leaders aren’t investing in underrepresented songwriters. All companies need to prioritize this issue, and I feel incredibly lucky to have the Angry Mob team behind me, championing my passion and continuously working alongside me to ensure we’re building a diverse roster of clients and organizing diverse writing camps.
It’s obvious that the music industry has a lot of growing to do, and I could have given up on it a long time ago due to my own experiences with close-minded gatekeepers — but I know that my work, however small, can really move the needle in the right direction. I am extremely proud to be a Filipino American, and it’s important to me to create spaces in the industry where the AAPI community and other underrepresented POC can grow and pursue opportunities that are often not given to them, helping ease the need to work twice as hard to even be considered.
My hope for the future of our industry is equity. I am honored to write about this topic and even share my experience, but I would also like for opportunities in the music industry for underrepresented groups to look the same as everyone else’s. Harkening back to the name of the songwriting camp I launched at Angry Mob, I’m optimistic that we can make diversity in songwriting camps the new normal and not something we need to push for any longer. When combined together, the small steps we take within the industry to provide opportunities to underrepresented groups will impact the future of music in immense ways.
Ralph Torrefranca is the senior director of A&R at Angry Mob Music. He is also a songwriter and the singer/guitarist in the post-punk band Cuffed Up.
Mahyar Abousaeedi – Turning Red, Incredibles 2
Tom Berkeley – An Irish Goodbye, Roy
Toni Bestard – Background, Foley Artist
Kimberley Browning – Certified, Waiting for Ronald
Alex Bulkley – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Hell and Back
Bruno Caetano – Ice Merchants, The Peculiar Crime of Oddball Mr. Jay
Dean Fleischer Camp – Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Catherine
Kenneth A. Carlson – Diner Formal, Dating Avi
Trent Correy – The Godfather of the Bride, Drop
Joel Bryan Crawford – Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Croods: A New Age
Claire Dodgson – Minions: The Rise of Gru, Despicable Me 3
Fabian Driehorst – Night, The Chimney Swift
David DuLac – Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Happy Feet Two
Maureen Fan – Namoo, Crow: The Legend
Tiffany Frances – Dot, Hello from Taiwan
João Gonzalez – Ice Merchants, Nestor
Sara Gunnarsdóttir – My Year of Dicks, The Pirate of Love
Mark Gustafson – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Travis Hathaway – Incredibles 2, Brave
David Jesteadt – Inu-oh, Belle
Daniel Mark Jeup – Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2
Thomas Jordan – Lightyear, Up
Charlie Mackesy – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Ian Megibben – Lightyear, Soul
Cyrus Neshvad – The Red Suitcase, The Orchid
Jaime Ray Newman – Skin, Life, Unexpected.
Richard O’Connor – My Friend Nearly Killed Patti Smith, Marianne
Lachlan Pendragon – An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It, The Toll
Jesús Pimentel Melo – Miramelinda, Un Bel Morir
Emmanuel-Alain Raynal – Steakhouse, Easter Eggs
David Ryu – Luca, Coco
Nidia Santiago – Negative Space, Oh Willy…
Mónica Santos – Between the Shadows, Amélia & Duarte
Nelson Shin – Empress Chung, The Transformers: The Movie
Eirik Tveiten – Night Ride, Other Lives
Nathan Warner – Encanto, Zootopia
Ross White – An Irish Goodbye, Roy
Since joining Billboard in 1999, I’ve had the privilege to witness countless R&B and hip-hop artists pour their hearts out onstage and to share their hard-won journeys offstage. During that time, I’ve also had the privilege to tell the stories of songwriters, producers, executives, managers and staffers across the music industry who all play vital roles in the success and evolution of these genres — but never more urgently than in the last three years.
On June 2, 2020, #TheShowMustBePaused brought the music business to a standstill for a day of racial reckoning. It was high time to reverse decades of systemic bias practiced by an industry that had become disproportionately wealthy through the efforts of Black people, their music and culture.
Initially, the industry listened, but the Black Music Action Coalition’s latest report card indicates that the promises made have been largely performative.
Over the last three years, Black executives have won some major C-suite appointments. These include Tunji Balogun joining Def Jam Recordings as chairman/CEO; Rayna Bass rising to co-president of 300 Entertainment; Lanre Gaba’s promotion to co-president of Black music at Atlantic Records; Ryan Press ascending to president of North America at Warner Chappell; Carolyn Williams’ appointment to executive vp at RCA Records; and, most recently, Ezekiel Lewis moving into the role of president of Epic Records.
But sadly, there have also been too many examples of exasperating tone-deafness. Among them are Motown Records’ reintegration under sister label Capitol Records and accompanying staff layoffs during Black History Month following the departure of chairwoman/CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam. There was also the debacle involving Capitol’s racist Black virtual “robot rapper” artist, FN Meka. Both Habtemariam’s exit and FN Meka were cited in the BMAC’s report card, along with the organization’s concern that the industry could revert to its pre-#Show status quo.
Black music executives and creatives I’ve spoken to over the last 18 months say the backsliding is already happening.
As one major-label Black senior executive told me, “I don’t need another initiative that’s conceived, developed, executed and resourced by Black executives. There needs to be a through line of white executives doing this. We need to see them put value to the things [we do] that have derived value for them. Until we see that on a consistent basis across the board, we’re not really going to see change.”
We can’t let DEI become just another flavor of the month. It’s time for the industry leaders who declared they were allies in 2020 to renew their pledges to the Black music community to make meaningful — and rightfully deserved — systemic change happen. No one ever loses sight of the almighty bottom line in this or any business. But please keep this in mind: Change will lead to even greater success.
Late afternoon on May 15, Cameo Carlson, CEO of the management services company mtheory, took the stage at the Music Biz conference in Nashville to address a room that appeared less than half full. “This is inarguably the most important conversation that will happen at Music Biz,” she said. “And it’s unfortunate that not every registrant of this conference is here as they should be.”
The subject of the panel was the latest Music Industry Report Card from the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), a non-profit organization founded in 2020 to combat systemic racism in the music business. Inside the JW Marriott in Nashville, Naima Cochrane, who authored the latest report, talked attendees through its findings. BMAC had printed enough copies of the 41-page document to place one on each seat in the large event room; as the panel wrapped, event staffers went from chair to chair, filling their arms with orphaned reports.
The underwhelming attendance that Carlson noted during her remarks would probably not have surprised more than a dozen Black executives who spoke for this article. They all expressed concern or frustration that the push for racial justice in the music business, a popular cause in 2020 and 2021, has stalled, despite the efforts of various task forces and organizations that formed across the industry in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. “All that shit is over,” one Black major-label marketing executive scoffs. “That’s the feeling industrywide.” (He and several other executives requested anonymity in order to speak candidly.)
Labels “don’t really want change,” adds Ray Daniels, a former major-label A&R executive who runs R.A.Y.D.A.R. Management and hosts The GAUDS Show podcast. “They want quiet.”
In the live-music business, BMAC noted, “Black people were systematically shut out for decades”; Mari Davies, vp of talent and booking for Live Nation Urban, told Billboard in May that there hasn’t been “enough change, enough new faces.”
Some assessments of the industry’s drive for racial equality were more restrained. Shawn “Tubby” Holiday — a longtime major-label A&R executive, BMAC co-founder and manager at Full Stop — is “disappointed there weren’t that many changes overall when it comes to minorities getting bigger positions or having bigger voices.” Still, “there was some improvement” in terms of promotions, he says. Plus “a lot of companies were willing to talk about how they can make improvements, and they were open to change.”
And BMAC co-founder/co-chair Willie “Prophet” Stiggers contends “change is showing up incrementally.” “There are real initiatives on the ground,” Stiggers says. “There are real champions inside these buildings.” He points to new projects like the Academy of Country Music’s OnRamp program, which offers a guaranteed income of $1,000 a month to 20 Black artists, as well as mentorship opportunities.
There are other efforts ongoing. Carlson was at Music Biz to discuss the Equal Access Development Program, which aims to elevate members of underrepresented communities in country music. And in 2020, the major-label groups all hired executives to aid their diversity and inclusion efforts and announced the creation of large funds — $100 million in the case of Sony Music and Warner Music Group, $25 million in the case of Universal Music Group — that would give money to organizations focused on equity and advocating for marginalized populations. (None of the labels’ diversity, equity and inclusion [DEI] leaders were available for interviews.)
Sony said last year that it has committed over $70 million to nearly 450 organizations — $30 million from Sony Music and the rest from other parts of the corporation — and close to half of those are focused on Black communities. Warner said it allotted $25.5 million in “grant commitments,” and Universal noted it has given to 270 organizations.
And yet: UMG senior vp of people experience Natoya Brown told the Music Biz audience during another panel discussion, “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: What Now?,” that there is “fatigue” around the word “diversity.” “People,” she said, “are running away from the word.” Ryan Butler, the Recording Academy’s vp of diversity, equity & inclusion, noted on the same panel that “the amount of people losing their DEI jobs” this year seems roughly similar to the amount of hires in the field in 2020.
“People may have DEI fatigue,” Cochrane acknowledges. “But the reality is people have to be prepared to walk and chew gum at the same time. This cannot be a temporary thing.”
In addition to potential “fatigue,” Cochrane says “one of the reasons that #TheShowMustBePaused” — which was the catalyst for the work stoppage on “Blackout Tuesday,” June 2, 2020 — “had so much weight was because Black music is such a large part of the music industry.” While R&B/hip-hop remains the genre market-share leader, its share of consumption fell from 27.7% in 2021 to 26.8% in 2022, according to Luminate. If that number continues to slip, Cochrane says, “our voice becomes a little less urgent” for profit-focused companies. (A representative for the co-founders of #TheShowMustBePaused, Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas, said they “weren’t available at press time.”)
A recurring concern raised by the Black executives who were interviewed was the absence of transparency and accountability when it comes to music companies’ diversity and inclusion efforts. “Labels don’t give up a lot of information,” Cochrane told the crowd at Music Biz. “You can’t get access to look at contracts. You don’t necessarily know demographic breakdowns.”
BMAC collates publicly available information, which is limited, to assemble its report. The organization also sends a survey to each music company it grades. While the questionnaire seeks additional information that’s not in the public domain, Cochrane says the response rate was low.
But even if a company receives a low grade on the report card, it doesn’t suffer a penalty unless there’s some sort of outcry. “There’s nothing that is pushing [music companies] to make systemic change within their organizations if there is no negative financial or business impact,” says one Black streaming executive.
“People need to be held accountable,” agrees David Linton, a longtime major-label executive who now serves as chairman of the Living Legends Foundation. “But how do you hold them accountable?”
Some artists and their teams are trying to build accountability into their contract negotiations. Ty Baisden, a manager and co-founder of Colture (which stands for Can Our Leverage Teach Us Real Equity), recently shopped a deal with his client Brent Faiyaz to all the majors. Faiyaz has over 700 million on-demand streams so far this year, giving him a fair amount of leverage in negotiations.
Baisden says he sent out a deal proposal including “a clause that said that for every term in his contract, Brent has to be allowed to control $2 million out of your social justice fund to invest back into the Black community.” But, he adds, “Every single major label cut that part of the deal out when they sent back the proposal.” (The R&B singer partnered with UnitedMasters instead.) “We’re in year three” since Floyd’s murder, Baisden says. “What type of progression have we seen?”
In 2020, Daniels, then senior vp of A&R at Warner Records, penned an incisive, widely circulated letter titled “Dear White Music Executives” about the many ways racism permeates the industry. Initially, he kept his identity secret. Later, he decided to come forward as the author.
Now, Daniels tells Billboard, “I wish I didn’t write the letter. I wish I didn’t stand on it. If I didn’t, my life would be coasting right now. It put a target on my back that I didn’t ask for. It felt like, ‘You cause trouble because you speak up.’” Daniels’ deal with Warner was not renewed. (The company declined to comment.)
After a beat, Daniels softens his stance. “Years from now, people tell me I’ll be happy that I wrote [the letter],” he says. “I just haven’t got there yet.”
Additional reporting by Gail Mitchell.
The Recording Academy’s aggressive efforts to boost the number of women and people of people of color at all levels of the organization, including at the very top, have borne fruit.
People of color account for fully 60% of the newly-elected board of trustees, while women account for 45%. People of color represented a majority of the board (53%) for the first time two years ago, as Billboard reported. Women then accounted for 44% of the board.
For the first time in Academy history, women are serving in the top two posts on the board concurrently. Tammy Hurt has been re-elected to serve as chair; Dr. Chelsey Green was elected vice chair.
Hurt is the third woman to serve as chair, but the first two women in that role, Leslie Ann Jones and Christine Albert, both served alongside male vice chairs. Tony Cisconti was vice chair under Jones from 1999-2001. John Poppo served as vice chair under Albert (2013-15). (Poppo subsequently served as chair from 2015-19.) Rico Love was vice chair under Hurt in her first term (2021-23).
Hurt, from the Academy’s Atlanta chapter, is “an openly out LGBTQ+ officer, a landmark for the Academy,” as the Academy’s press release puts it.
Gebre Waddell was elected secretary/treasurer, succeeding Om’Mas Keith. Albert, from the Academy’s Texas chapter, has been re-elected to serve as chair emeritus. It’s her fourth term in that role.
“I’m pleased to introduce and welcome the new national officers and trustees to our Academy family,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “This great, new group reflects our eclectic music community and will carry forward our mission of serving all music people. I look forward to working alongside this esteemed group to continue the evolution of our Academy.”
In partnership with Mason, the national officers lead the trustees and Academy senior staff to shape the mission and policies of the Academy and its affiliates. The Academy defines its mission as its “commitment to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, fight for creators’ rights, protect music people in need, preserve music’s history, and invest in its future.”
Eleven members of the 2023 –24 board of trustees are Grammy winners. J. Ivy won his first Grammy in March in the new category of best spoken word poetry album for The Poet Who Sat by the Door. Falu Shah won his first Grammy in 2022 for best children’s music album for A Colorful World.
John Legend is the current trustee with the most Grammy wins (12), followed by Angelique Kidjo (five); Yolanda Adams, Chuck Ainlay, PJ Morton and Michael Romanowski (four each); Jonathan Yip and Natalia Ramirez (two each); and Ledisi, J. Ivy and Falu Shah (one each).
Here’s more background on the four national officers:
Tammy Hurt is a drummer, music producer and television producer. She is the second person from Atlanta to hold the position. Her latest musical project, Sonic Rebel, incorporates original, genre-blurred, Dolby Atmos music beds and mashup remixes. Her boutique entertainment firm Placement Music, founded in 2010, has worked with such clients as FOX Sports, Paramount Pictures, CBS, MTV, HBO, BET, Sony, the NFL and NASCAR. Hurt was active in the campaign that led to the passage of the Georgia Music Investment Act, the state’s first standalone music tax incentive.
Dr. Chelsey Green is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, entrepreneur, and educator. Dr. Green and her ensemble, Chelsey Green and The Green Project, have released five studio projects, one of which (The Green Room) debuted and peaked at No. 22 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart in October 2014. Green performs concerts, music festivals and educational workshops around the world. Committed to music education, advocacy and youth arts access, Dr. Green is an associate professor at Berklee College of Music and also serves as a member of the Program Council of NewMusicUSA.
Gebre Waddell is a tech entrepreneur, mastering engineer, and published author. As CEO and co-founder of Sound Credit, he played a key role in the creation and growth of the platform, driving innovation in the field of music fintech and credits. With more than 20 years of experience as a professional mastering engineer, he has made contributions to works of prominent artists such as Ministry, Public Enemy, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. In 2013, his book Complete Audio Mastering was published by McGraw-Hill Professional,
Christine Albert is an independent recording artist and founder/CEO of Swan Songs, an Austin, Tex.-based nonprofit that fulfills musical last wishes. She has released 12 independent albums as a solo artist and as part of the folk/Americana duo Albert and Gage, and has appeared on Austin City Limits.
Here’s the full list of the Academy’s 2023-24 board of trustees:
Newly elected or re-elected:
Christine Albert
Marcella Araica
Julio Bagué
Larry Batiste
Marcus Baylor
Evan Bogart
Anna Frick
Kennard Garrett
Tracy Gershon
Dr. Chelsey Green
Jennifer Hanson
Tammy Hurt
J. Ivy
Angélique Kidjo
Ledisi
Eric Lilavois
Susan Marshall
Donn Thompson Morelli “Donn T”
Falu Shah
Gebre Waddell
Paul Wall
Wayna
Jonathan Yip
Trustees who are currently midterm:
Yolanda Adams
Chuck Ainlay
Marcella Araic
Nabil Ayers
Jennifer Blakeman
Alex E. Chávez
Doug Emery
EJ Gaines
Jordan Hamlin
Terry Jones
Andrew Joslyn
Thom “TK” Kidd
Mike Knobloch
John Legend
PJ Morton
Natalia Ramirez
Michael Romanowski
Von Vargas
The U.K. organization Women in CTRL is the second recipient of IMPALA’s Changemaker award, it was announced on Tuesday (May 30). The not-for-profit organization, founded by Nadia Khan, seeks to advance gender equality in the music industry.
Women in CTRL encourages women and non-binary persons to find their strengths, develop their own personal brands and build the tools and confidence to become leaders. The organization runs creative growth programs, community workshops, mentoring, training, organizing events and more.
Women in CTRL also publishes research and reports, such as the “Seat at the Table” report looking at the representation of women, with an intersectional focus on Black women, in the boardroom of U.K. music trade bodies. They also released the “Women in Radio” report looking into the experiences of women in the radio industry to identify the barriers women face.
Women in CTRL has also partnered with AIM and Amazon Music to launch a new apprenticeship program, “Amplify,” which aims to improve access to music industry careers for women and non-binary people.
“It’s an honor for Women in CTRL to be chosen as the second recipient of the Changemaker award,” Khan said in a statement. “This recognition affirms our work, inspires us to continue and highlights the independent community’s collective determination and passion in driving positive change within the music industry. Women in CTRL firmly believe in the transformative power of sharing best practices and learning from the exceptional organizations that IMPALA champions.”
“Women in CTRL is an inspiration to all in the sector who seek to bring change,” Helen Smith, IMPALA’s executive chair, said in a statement. “It’s an honor to be able to showcase their work through our Changemaker Award.”
The Changemaker Award puts the spotlight on projects that champion DEI work (dubbed “equity, diversity and inclusion” in Britain). The recipient is selected yearly by IMPALA’s DEI task force. Launched in May 2022, the award highlights projects that have an impact on the independent music sector. It is presented yearly during European Diversity Month.
The POWER UP initiative was the inaugural recipient last year. Launched in January 2021, POWER UP provides mentoring, support and grants for 40 Black music creators and industry professionals.
IMPALA was established in 2000 and now represents nearly 6,000 independent music companies. IMPALA’s mission is to grow the independent music sector sustainably, return more value to artists, promote diversity and entrepreneurship, improve political access, inspire change and increase access to finance.