A three-part documentary from the production companies of Idris and Sabrina Elba is set to explore historic exploitation of Black musicians. The post Documentary to explore historic exploitation of Black musicians appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Claims that London’s Metropolitan Police may be racially profiling musicians are sparking anger in the UK. The post MU and Black Lives in Music investigate racial-profiling reports appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

US-based campaigning organisation the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) has published its latest ‘Music Industry Action Report Card’. The post Black Music Action Coalition publishes its latest industry report card appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

As The Great Escape – one of the key conferences for the British music industry – kicks off in Brighton, two industry bodies have published reports quantifying the success of their music funds. The post PRS Foundation and MMF reports hail success of music funds appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The Restoring Artistic Protection Act (RAP Act) has been reintroduced by Democrat congressmen Jamaal Bowman and Hank Johnson. The post The RAP Act aims to limit use of music lyrics in US court cases appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Producer Fraser T Smith is launching a new scheme to support underrepresented producers, with backing from PPL and the Music Producers Guild. The post Future Producer Academy will support underrepresented producers appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Sony Music UK has teamed up with the UK’s Digital Catapult initiative to launch an accelerator for Black startup founders. The post Sony Music UK backs new accelerator for Black startup founders appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Saffron supports women, non-binary and trans people in the music industry. Now it needs help to continue that work in the future. The post Saffron seeks £50k to continue its gender-equality music work appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

TuneCore has partnered with Gritty in Pink to support the latter’s marketplace for women and gender-expansive people in the music industry. The post TuneCore’s latest diversity move is a partnership with Gritty in Pink appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The latest report analysing diversity in the music industry trains its sights on audio production and engineering. The post How is diversity in audio production and engineering? Not great… appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Spotify has published the 2022 edition of its ‘Equity & Impact’ report, summarising efforts in areas including climate action and diversity. The post Spotify publishes its latest Equity and Impact report appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The latest controversy around Spotify concerns the $100m Creator Equity Fund that it announced just over a year ago. The post Spotify faces questions about its Creator Equity Fund spending appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The deadline for applications to ‘Women Empowerment++’ is Friday 17 March with the program due to last six months. The post Symphonic’s ‘Women Empowerment++’ mentorship program returns appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The Music Business Association (Music Biz) has offered its views on the recent legislation passed in its home state of Tennessee. The post Music Biz criticises Tennessee’s new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Deezer was celebrating International Women’s Day yesterday. Its announcement included a less-than-celebratory stat however. The post Deezer reveals that only 23% of its Top-100 artists are women appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The UK’s Glastonbury Festival confirmed the final two thirds of its main-stage headliners lineup on Friday. The post Glastonbury all-male headliners problem: ‘We’re trying our best’ appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

It’s now 11 years since the UK’s PRS Foundation launched its ‘Women Make Music’ initiative in 2011. Now it has launched a report. The post PRS Foundation reports on its ‘Women Make Music’ initiative appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Last June, the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) published a report called ‘Three Chords & The Actual Truth’ on country music diversity. The post Academy of Country Music teams up with Black Music Action Coalition appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

More than 600 music festivals and organisations have now taken Keychange’s pledge committing them to being more inclusive. The post Keychange’s next phase has a four-point ‘Pledge Action Plan’ appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

This is a guest post from Matt Griffiths, CEO of UK charity Youth Music. He discusses diversity and representation in the UK music industry, explores the challenges that still exist, and explains how Youth Music is tackling the issue.  Representation within the industry is a systemic issue. With the BRIT Awards taking place this weekend, conversations about the […]

This report aims to provide cut-through on the big issues that we think will dominate 2023. In it, we’ve isolated the innovative ideas from some of the most influential thinkers across the music industry – and then drawn out the key learnings for you to take forward as the year unfolds.  In this report, four key perspectives on the coming […]

Today saw the second evidence session of the UK Parliament’s inquiry into misogyny in music and the music industry. The post Misogyny in music: ‘The imposter syndrome is created by the systems’ appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The Australian government has launched a new National Cultural Policy called ‘Revive’ which includes establishing a new music industry body. The post Australian government backs new cultural policy with $286m appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Spotify has launched a new program to boost the profiles of LGBTQIA+ artists through a mixture of playlists, advertising and collaborations. The post Spotify’s new Glow initiative will focus on LGBTQIA+ artists appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The Australian music industry has been rocked by recent revelations about sexual harassment and harm within its workplaces. The post Support Act publishes guide to sexual harm and harassment appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The diversity within the country music industry has been a hot topic in recent times, as last year’s criticism of the sector showed. The post Kadeem Phillips: ‘If we don’t innovate country, the genre’s going to start to fall off’ appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The Keychange Initiative was started to improve gender representation in the music industry. How is that mission going? The post Diversity, equity and inclusion in music: ‘You have to look harder’ appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Gender-equity organisation Keychange is starting 2023 with the addition of 74 people to its ‘Talent Development Programme’. The post Keychange adds 74 people to its talent development programme appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Today’s roundup of articles from Music Ally in 2022 focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion within the music industry. The post 14 music diversity, equity and inclusion must-reads from 2022 appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Music Leaders Network offers coaching, training and networking for women and people who identify as non-binary or trans. The post Music Leaders Network women’s leadership scheme opens 2023 applications appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

British charity Youth Music’s incubator fund has so far provided  more than 800 paid work opportunities in the music industry. The post UK charity Youth Music launches latest round of incubator fund appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Believe and TuneCore have published two of their annual ‘Be The Change’ gender equality studies so far, in 2021 and 2022. The post Believe and TuneCore enlist Luminate for gender equality study appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

UK Music’s latest Workforce Diversity Survey data is an important guide both to the progress made so far, and areas for improvement. The post UK Music report reveals updated stats on industry diversity appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

There are a few stories from YouTube to let you know about today, starting with the announcement of its Black Voices Fund class of 2023. The post YouTube roundup: Black Voices Fund music class and Shorts updates appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Attitude is Everything is an organisation campaigning to improve accessibility to concerts and festivals for disabled people. The post #FestivalsWithoutBarriers campaign aims for more accessible festivals appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

There has been a growing wave of concern and anger within the music industry about how Black artists’ lyrics have been used as evidence against them in US courtrooms. The post Labels, artists and DSPs join campaign to protect Black art appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Startup Blokur has released its second ‘Songwriters’ Review’ report, based on its analysis of Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube. The post Olivia Rodrigo was 2021’s top songwriter – but only 15% of the top 100 were women appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

British organisation Black Lives in Music has announced its anti-racism code for the music industry, which will be adopted in 2023 with the backing of industry bodies and the UK’s Independent Standards Authority. The post Black Lives in Music unveils its industry anti-racism code appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

The Musicians’ Union’s response to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee ‘Misogyny in Music’ inquiry has been published. The post Musicians’ Union publishes ‘Misogyny in Music’ inquiry response appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Girls I Rate is campaigning for gender equality and female representation and recognition in the creative industries The post Girls I Rate seeks next generation of women hitmakers appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

British songwriters body The Ivors Academy is getting into the accelerator game, but not for startups. The post Ivors Academy’s Advocacy Accelerator aims to boost diversity appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

More than 170 people applied for the prize, with five winners announced this week: Novaa, Jenny Gerdts, GOTOPO, Maxi Menot and Nora Medín. The post First Female* Producer Prize winners announced in Germany appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

An initiative launching in the UK is hoping to widen music venues’ horizons… to the daytime, with a particular focus on six areas. The post British music venues encouraged to plan daytime activities appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Its second annual ‘social media safety index’ analyses how well the various platforms score for LGBTQ safety, privacy and expression. The post GLAAD warns that social media services are failing LGBTQ users appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

UD (formerly Urban Development) has been working hard for a long time to support young Black musicians in the UK. The post London’s £4.1m ‘Talent House’ opens to support Black music appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Midia Research has published a second ‘Be The Change’ report exploring the challenges faced by women in the music industry. The post ‘Be The Change’ report reiterates challenges for women in the music industry appeared first on Music Ally. Source: Music ally

Analytics firm Chartmetric has published its trends report for the first half of 2021, analysing the fastest growing artists on various streaming services and social platforms. Spoiler: Olivia Rodrigo had a decent six months! There’s some good stuff on tracks ranked by their TikTok growth, including the tale of a 1960 track called ‘Bongo Cha Cha […]

A new report in the UK has explored some of the barriers that women face when trying to develop their careers in the radio industry. Published by Radio Silence and Women In Ctrl, the report is based on interviews and surveys with more than 100 women working in the British radio industry. The findings aren’t […]

It’s International Women’s Day today, which means an inbox full of related press releases, many of which are simply new spins on things that were announced last year or the year before. Which neatly illustrates the challenge being tackled: the music industry is good at saying the right things (and sending out press releases about […]

The UK’s Music Managers Forum (MMF) is bringing back its MMF Unite series of virtual events focusing on race, racism and injustice. They’re kicking off next week with ‘Black Women Mean Business’, an online panel on 9 March featuring Nike Durosaro (Big Drum Entertainment), Shikayla Nadine (SNM Management) and Shauni Caballero (The Go 2 Agency), […]

Ahead of International Women’s Day next week, Abbey Road Studios is holding an ‘Equalise’ festival online, with a focus on responding to the fact that fewer than 5% of music producers and engineers are women. The event is a mixture of masterclasses, panels and mentoring sessions, and runs until Monday. Sessions still to come include: Becoming […]

There’s a new group in the UK that aims to support women entering the music industry. It’s called Moving The Needle, and is launching ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March. The group is planning to offer a mixture of mentorship, training, events and networking to young women “of all backgrounds, ethnicities and personality types”. […]

Distributor Ditto Music is the latest company trying to widen access to the music industry. It has launched a new scheme called Industry Access aimed at people from minority and working-class backgrounds. It will include a training programme for up to 100 people aged 16 and over, as well as a music industry fair and […]

Culture Collective managing partner Jonathan Azu was one of the speakers on our NY:LON Connect ‘label evolution’ panel last year. Now he’s starting a new project that aims to help the wider music industry evolve. It’s called Diversity in Music, and is a talent database of Bipoc (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) and women music professionals looking for […]

Yesterday’s third track in the NY:LON Connect conference we co-run with Music Biz focused on diversity, equity and inclusion in the music industry, starting with a keynote session involving Binta Brown, founder of Omalily Projects and co-founder of the Black Music Action Coalition, and Paulette Long OBE, deputy chair of UK Music’s diversity taskforce. “I’m […]

Independent label Ninja Tune’s Big Dada subsidiary already has a strong reputation for its hip-hop releases, but now it is relaunching with a new mission statement. Big Dada will now be “run by Black, POC & Minority Ethnic people for Black, POC & Minority Ethnic artists” – the company provided a “for lack of a better […]

PRS Foundation is hoping to follow the success of its Keychange initiative, which supports underrepresented genders in the music industry, with a new movement tackling anti-Black racism. It’s called ‘Power Up’, and is launching as a partnership with YouTube Music, Beggars Group and the Black Music Coalition, with the backing of a number of industry […]

British industry body the BPI is trying to expand its membership, particularly from labels and music companies owned by people from “underrepresented” communities in the current industry. That means “women, people from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background, people with disabilities, or those who identify as LGBTQIA+” according to the body, which is offering […]

BAPAM is the British organisation that provides ‘performing arts medicine’ in the UK, supporting musicians and other performers in their physical and mental health. Its latest initiative focuses on the latter for a specific group: Black, Asian and minority ethic (BAME) musicians. It’s a bursary scheme jointly funded by charity Help Musicians and collecting society […]

Every year, SheSaid·so publishes its Alternative Power list of people in the music business, as a more diverse version of the traditional industry power lists. 2020’s Alt List is open for nominations now, with a deadline of 22 November and a theme of ‘resilience and adaptability’. According to the organisation, this is “an opportunity to […]

The recent death of DJ Erick Morillo, and multiple accusations against him of sexual assault, have shone a light on issues of sexual harassment and discrimination in the electronic music world. Industry body the Association for Electronic Music (Afem) has now drawn up a code of conduct to tackle this behaviour. You can find it here, with […]

YouTube’s music chief Lyor Cohen convened a panel to discuss racial justice and the ‘race to equality’ in the music industry. Published on Friday, it included contributions from Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas (who founded #TheShowMustBePaused); Binta Brown (co-founder of the Black Music Action Coalition); Public Enemy’s Chuck D; UMG’s EVP of business and legal affairs […]

The UK’s umbrella industry body, UK Music, has published its latest report on music industry diversity. Its findings highlight a mixture of progress made, and work still to do, as you’d expect. There have been rises in the proportion of women in the industry (from 45.3% in 2016 to 49.6% in 2020) as well as […]

The Keychange initiative pressing for gender equality in the music industry – including on its live stages – has a new frontier this week. Poland has become an official partner for the movement, and tomorrow will see an event co-hosted by Key Change and festival organiser Spring Break to introduce its first two ambassadors in Poland: Avtomat and Karolina […]

UK charity Youth Music has published a new report, Reshape Music, which explores the challenges facing disabled musicians ‘in education and beyond’. It’s the result of interviews with hundreds of musicians, music educators and retailers. “Disabled people make up over a fifth of the population and yet they are hugely under-represented in the music industry […]

British music industry body the BPI has launched an equality and justice advisory group, which it says will “advise and challenge the BPI on matters initially focused on race and gender in order to further support and promote equality and inclusion in music alongside other industry initiatives”. It’s an expansion of the existing Brits Diversity Advisory […]

“I remember looking for podcasts hosted by Black people. I think I found four in the UK!” Renay Richardson is the CEO of podcast production company Broccoli Content, and also a prime mover behind the ‘Equality in Audio Pact’, an initiative encouraging the industry to tackle “the lack of opportunities for minority talent both in […]

We’ve written regularly about the activities of Shesaid·so, the community for women and gender minorities in the music industry, which was founded nearly six years ago. Now it has announced plans to launch a new community ‘hub’ for its members, and also a Patreon campaign to raise ongoing funding to support that – including from non-members. “With your […]

Signing podcaster Joe Rogan to an exclusive deal certainly gave Spotify’s share price a boost, but it’s also created some internal headaches for the company. Vice has a story about some recent internal meetings with staff at Spotify to discuss concerns about the back catalogue of The Joe Rogan Experience. And no, this time it’s not […]

A report published by the UK’s Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre yesterday suggests that more needs to be done to open up these industries – music included – to people from working-class backgrounds. “Echoing wider research, we find widespread and persistent class imbalances. Those from privileged backgrounds are more than twice as likely to […]

The Techstars Music accelerator has announced its plans for 2021, including the addition of Amazon Music as a new ‘member’ partner. The program will also run entirely virtually for the first time when it kicks off on 16 February 2021, including its selection process, which is underway now. Its managing director Bob Moczydlowsky is also […]

British organisation Attitude is Everything focuses on accessibility in the live music sector. Now it’s launching a new campaign called ‘Beyond the Music’ which aims to create more opportunities for Deaf and disabled people in the music industry. The campaign will be “supporting Deaf and disabled people to gain the necessary skills, experience, support and […]

Warner Music Group’s push for diversity and inclusion across its company has a new boss. Dr Maurice Stinnett will be WMG’s new head of global equity, diversity and inclusion, having joined from a similar role at BSE Global, owner of NBA team the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center venue. Stinnett certainly has seniority: he’ll […]

Our main feature explores the evolution of live music, as we look towards a time when concerts are able to resume safely. What have we learned from the livestreaming boom during the Covid-19 lockdown, and what are the prospects for ‘hybrid’ online/offline concerts in the coming months? We’ve also got a feature recapping two thought-provoking […]

We reported recently on production company Broccoli Content’s launch of an ‘Equality in Audio’ pact to change the lack of diversity in the podcasting industry. Spotify was one of the companies signing up – admittedly after a bit of public nudging from Broccoli Content boss Renay Richardson – and now the streaming service has published some research that shows […]

The latest music company making promises about how it plans to make its senior management more diverse is Live Nation. “We commit to increasing diversity at every level of our company. This will start at the very top with our Board of Directors, where we plan to nominate more Black, indigenous and people of color […]

As the guests on the recent #TheShowMustBePaused edition of the Music Ally TV Show made clear, music companies promising to address a lack of diversity in their businesses is good, but the proof will be in what they actually do to make that happen. With that in mind, see what book-publishing giant Penguin Random House UK […]

US industry body the Recording Academy has faced a lot of criticism about the diversity of its membership in recent years. It’s hoping to win some praise for its 2020 intake though. More than 2,300 new people have been invited to join, and while the big names include John Legend, Ozuna and Yolanda Adams, it’s the demographics […]

US industry body the Recording Academy has announced a partnership with racial justice organisation Color of Change, including making a $1m donation to it. The pair will be working together on initiatives including creating a Black music advisory group for the Academy; a membership campaign to sign up more Black voting members; and an industry-wide […]

British charity Youth Music is launching a £2m ‘Incubator Fund’ that aims to help 18-25 year-olds – particularly those from under-represented groups – get into the music business. The fund itself is for music companies, offering grants of between £5k and £30k to spend on wages and support for these young people. Youth Music is especially […]

Music publishing company The Royalty Network has launched an initiative to help emerging Black musicians, producers and songwriters build contacts and careers in the music industry. Called Black Empowerment Thru Music, the scheme will include offering free studio time at the company’s Los Angeles facility; financial support for organisations; grant matching; mentoring; webinars; donating instruments to […]

In the music industry, arguments over creators and ownership tend to focus on master recordings and publishing rights: how musicians can retain them from the start, or get them back later in their careers. Interestingly, there’s a similar debate starting in the podcasting industry.  As The Verge explains, it’s not just about the rights, but […]

“Black artists consistently top the popular music charts, but African-Americans and other people of colour are not adequately represented in decision-making roles in the music business,” is the first line of a press release from… the biggest label group in the music business. So what is Universal Music doing about this disparity? Having already pledged a $25m ‘change […]

Last December, Music Ally wrote about a report from startup Rostr analysing its database of music management companies and their artists. Now it has repeated the trick for 2020. Its report, which is free, is based on more than 3,000 management firms’ data, and ranks them by roster size, Spotify audience and YouTube subscribers. It also looks at […]

June is the annual Pride month celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community, although due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s celebrations will by necessity be much more digital. Music streaming services are joining the party with playlists and other activations, as usual. In the case of Pandora, that includes launching a new radio station called Qmunity. Sponsored […]

US collecting society ASCAP has launched a new paid internship program for students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Five students will work for ASCAP (remotely) during July and August, with plans to repeat the scheme every summer in future years. “We have a responsibility to seek to nurture talent and empower the next […]

June is Black Music Month in the US (or African-American Music Appreciation Month if you prefer: it was renamed by President Barack Obama in 2009, but its previous name is still often used). Spotify has revealed its plans for the month, including its previously-announced plan to devote its entire ‘New Music Friday’ playlist to Black artists for […]

Friday’s Music Ally TV Show focused on the #TheShowMustBePaused campaign, and the next steps that the music industry needs to take as a result. Our panelists were Mulika Sannie, Keith Harris and Estée Blu. Sannie is VP of business affairs at Kobalt, and also founded the UK Black Music Lawyers Network in 2018. Harris is […]

We wrote about the Equality in Audio Pact earlier this month. Launched by podcast producer Broccoli Content, it was a list of five pledges that audio production companies could make, including paying interns; hiring LGBTQIA+, black people, people of colour and other minorities for projects that aren’t just related to their identity; releasing race pay gap data; […]

One of the key points about the #TheShowMustBePaused campaign last week was that it was not a single day of action, but rather the springboard for much, much more. Today, there’s a lot to report on in that regard, within both the music and tech worlds. Start by reading Billboard’s interview with Brianna Agyemang and Jamila […]

Some racists are skinheads. Many skinheads aren’t racists – in fact, many are among the most committed anti-racists. This is hardly a secret, but Facebook got a blunt reminder this week, after mistakenly removing the accounts of hundreds of anti-racist skinheads, as well as pages devoted to ska and reggae music, and the organisation Skinheads Against […]

A group of Black executives working within the British music industry have published an open letter, through the Black Music Coalition and The Show Must Be Paused UK groups, with five “immediate calls to action” for the industry. They include mandatory anti-racism / unconscious bias training for non-Black staff at music companies; a specified annual budget […]

Something that came through very clearly about last week’s #TheShowMustBePaused day when music companies of all kinds paused their regular work to respond to the protests about racism and police brutality was that it couldn’t just be about one day: it was about paving the way for a host of actions and changes over the […]

Nicole Wyskoarko is EVP of urban operations at Interscope Records, and Amber Grimes is SVP of global creative at Capitol Music Group. Their joint keynote for the Midem conference, a video interview conducted by Billboard’s Gail Mitchell, was published this morning. It addresses topics including the current Black Lives Matters protests following the killing of […]

Last October, we reported on the latest podcasting joint venture by Sony Music: British company Broccoli Content, led by producer Renay Richardson. Its shows include ‘Anthems’, ‘Money 101’ and ‘Your Broccoli Weekly’, with a mission to tackle “the lack of opportunities for minority talent both in front and behind the mic”. Now the company has launched an […]

Spotify’s ‘Sound Up’ program aims to help people from underrepresented backgrounds take their first steps into the podcasting world. 60 people have so far gone through its program in the US, UK, Germany and Australia, with more than 20,000 having applied over the first two years of the scheme. Now Spotify is launching the third […]

shesaid.so – the organisation pushing for gender equality in the music industry – is launching new virtual mentoring schemes for women and gender minorities in Italy and France.  The schemes will be supported by YouTube Music, and will recruit 12 mentees in each country who will them be paired with either a local or international […]

Malaysian rock band Bunkface have a song called ‘Akhir Zaman’ [‘The End of Times’] which included homophobic lyrics like the line “LGBT can go to hell” (or “LGBT can go die”). The band had released a statement denying that this was hate speech, suggesting instead that they were protesting against the movement for LGBTQ+ rights in […]

Songtrust president Molly Neuman has been one of the key champions for diversity and inclusion in the music industry. In an op-ed piece for Variety, she has outlined some ways she thinks the music industry can do better over the coming years. It includes a rousing call to rightsholders across the industry, and an accompanying target. […]

This Sunday (8 March) is International Women’s Day, and as has become traditional, the big music streaming services are all celebrating the occasion. Spotify will be launching a new ‘Women’s History Month’ hub on Sunday, with all-women playlists and podcasts, as well as IWD-themed takeovers of some of its popular playlists. Apple is hosting a […]

Country radio stations in the US have been criticised strongly in recent times for their male-dominated playlists. A study published earlier this month by SongData’s Jada Watson showed why: women accounted for just 10% of daily spins and slots in Billboard’s year-end country airplay chart. But now a separate study commissioned by country media brand CMT suggests […]

The lack of women nominated in some of the key mixed-gender categories at last night’s Brit Awards was a talking point even within the awards itself. Now Vick Bain, the former CEO of songwriters body BASCA (now the Ivors Academy) has published some thoughts on the issue of diversity in music awards ceremonies and festival lineups that […]

The UK’s Reading and Leeds festival made its first major lineup announcement for the 2020 edition yesterday, and is already coming in for criticism on the grounds of diversity. The three main headliners are all men (Stormzy, Rage Against The Machine and Liam Gallagher), and of the 18 artists so far announced for the festival’s main stage, […]

The Keychange initiative – led by Reeperbahn Festival, PRS Foundation and Musikcentrum Öst – is about getting companies and events in and around music to sign up to a 50/50 gender balance pledge by 2022. As part of this push, it has revealed the 74 artists and industry professionals (drawn from 12 countries in Europe and North […]

With the Grammy Awards now done and dusted, organiser the Recording Academy can turn its attention fully to dealing with the fallout from the last two weeks – a boss on administrative leave; allegations from both sides that need to be investigated; and calls from outside for the organisation to speed up its promised reforms. The […]

Nonprofit organisation She Is The Music is campaigning to support women in the music industry, as well as to increase their numbers. Its focus so far has been on songwriting camps, mentorship programs and a global database of professionals, and now it has some heavyweight backing – including funding – from a range of companies in and around […]

And so the saga continues… In December, the US Recording Academy’s task force on diversity and inclusion published a report offering 18 reforms and recommendations for change at the body. In the wake of the last week’s ructions at the organisation, the task force has now issued a statement expressing its “shock and dismay” at the allegations surrounding the […]

In December, it was announced that Apple TV+ had bagged the rights to a documentary about sexual misconduct in the music industry, focusing on a then-unnamed executive (since confirmed as Russell Simmons) and presented by Oprah Winfrey. The documentary was being produced by Oscar-nominated filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering. Now the deal has hit the rocks […]

In September, InChorus Group and Shesaid·so teamed up to launch a global survey of bias and harassment within the music industry. Now they’ve published some of the first results, based on the first 172 respondents. The survey focused on incidents of bias, harassment and microaggressions experienced at work in the music industry. According to InChorus and Shesaid·so, […]

After all the recent controversies around data privacy and censorship, TikTok’s leadership won’t have enjoyed seeing this intro to a story on news site Netzpolitik. “Leaked documents reveal how TikTok hid videos of people with disabilities. Queer and fat users were also pushed out of view.” The story concerns a list of ‘special users’ whose posts’ […]

On Saturday and Sunday (November 16-17), Capitol Music Group held its 2nd annual music and tech festival, Capitol Royale, at its Los Angeles headquarters. The theme for this year was ‘Music on the Move’, with workshops, hackathons, panels, and social events revolving around the ever-changing landscape of music and innovation. Kicking off on Friday was […]

In Berlin, talk around music usually takes two paths: techno or the blockchain, and both involve a lot of earnest nodding. At the Most Wanted: Music 2019 conference, conversation was nudged towards the creation of new value streams, pushing for meaningful diversity, and embracing change in an age that demands it. The post Most Wanted: […]

The UK-based MOBO Help Musicians fund is now in its third year and has seen the available funding behind it grow from £40k to £60k. It is a partnership between the MOBO Trust and Help Musicians UK and is designed to support musicians from diverse backgrounds – underwriting all areas of creativity – from vocal […]

US advocacy group Time’s Up, which was set up to tackle sexual assault, harassment and inequality in the workplace, has a new boss. Tina Tchen, the organisation’s new president and CEO, is already known to the music industry, too: since last March she’s been working as chair of the US Recording Academy’s task force for inclusion, having […]

Spotify has opened a new recording studio in São Paulo, Brazil, with a very specific focus: women. It’s called Casa de Música – Escuta as Minas (translation: House of Music – Listen to Women) and has already been used by artists including Bibi Caetano, The Mönic, Souto MC, and Luana Marques. Here’s how Spotify described the new […]

With digital now firmly driving the music industry, the second day of the conference at this year’s Reeperbahn Festival saw a lot of chatter about the industry’s resolutely-analogue elements: human beings. From gender equality in terms even the least humane person can understand, to where bots meet humans, and how smaller, people-centric businesses can survive […]

Earlier this month, we reported on country star Martina McBride’s anger at Spotify’s recommendation algorithm, after its first 135 suggestions of tracks for a ‘country music’ playlist she was making were all by men. Spotify’s head of artist and label marketing in Nashville, Brittany Schaffer, seemed to have smoothed over the waters with a coffee […]

Does country radio in the US have a diversity problem? The debate has already been rumbling for a while, but a new research study puts some numbers to the lack of women on mainstream country radio – as reflected by Billboard’s official Country Airplay Chart between January 2018 and July 2019. “This study’s findings are not surprising: […]

The latest guest curator on Apple Music is Gay Times, the European LGBTQ media brand. It’s making a series of exclusive playlists for the streaming service, while the companies are also collaborating on a joint advertising campaign in the UK featuring artists including Kim Petras, Girli, Vincint and Alma, which ties in with this month’s […]

Music industry women’s network Shesaid·so is celebrating its fifth anniversary by announcing a new conference called MEETSSS. The organisation is describing it as “the first female-first, music-forward conference” created for its community, with the event to be held in Portugal on 3-6 October this year. “The event will embody shesaid·so’s core brand values: collaboration, diversity and […]

A new report aims to shed more light on the “hidden barriers” encountered by artists with ‘access requirements’ – a term covering a range of impairments and health conditions. The report is the work of British music-charity Attitude is Everything, which interviewed 96 musicians, songwriters, DJs and producers from the UK about their experiences. Half […]

Deborah Dugan has been confirmed as the new president and CEO of the US Recording Academy, replacing outgoing boss Neil Portnow. Dugan has promised that she is keen for the organisation to use its platform “to affect positive change” – including around diversity in the music industry, an issue which saw Portnow cause controversy last […]

Actor and activist Jameela Jamil has interviewed Lizzo – creator of some of the greatest singles of 2019 so far – about issues around body positivity on Instagram. Jamil has been using her social media presence to call out advertisers and creators of “quick diet” “remedies” who use body shaming to sell their dubious products. […]

Should some of Spotify’s big playlists be more diverse in terms of the artists featured on them? Yes… says Spotify’s head of music, culture and editorial in the UK, Austin Daboh. He was talking at radio DJ Annie Mac’s London conference on Friday about diversity. “I think it starts from the team. On my team […]

The UK’s Musicians Union (MU) is the latest industry entity to launch a mentoring scheme for women. It’s working with SheSaid.so, the group which has already been active in this field. In the MU’s case, its scheme will see 20 women chosen: 10 mentors and 10 mentees, who’ll meet every month, while also attending bi-monthly […]

Startup InChorus Group is launching a platform that it hopes will help to measure incidents of bias and harassment within the music industry. The company wants to help people report “microaggressions” within their workplaces, before providing those companies with anonymised feedback – the idea being that people can blow the whistle on such behaviour without fear of […]

It’s Friday 8 March, which means it’s the annual International Women’s Day. Expect plenty of activity from pretty much every digital music service, with curated playlists and other content galore. Which is great, albeit also may raise questions about how today’s celebration can be carried through to the playlist-curation and artist-partnership decisions taken by these […]

This Friday (8 March) is International Women’s Day, which has become something that pretty much every music-streaming service throws its weight behind in some way, particularly curated playlists. Amazon Music, for example, has roped in a bunch of ‘guest curators’ from the artist world this year, and it’s a super selection: *takes deep breath* Jess […]

As part of the by:Larm festival last week, Spotify published some stats on the gender diversity of the 50 most-streamed songs in Norway last year. Spoiler: the stats were pretty discouraging. “Of 203 songwriters behind the 50 most streamed songs of 2018, only 11,3% were women, and only one of the 83 producers behind the […]

Ariana Grande may be setting the US charts alight, but there’s  a less-positive story about how women are faring in the UK charts, published by BBC News. “Three times as many male as female pop stars appeared on last year’s biggest hit singles… Ninety-one men or all-male groups were credited on the Official Chart Company’s top […]

Abbey Road Studios wants to recruit more teams with women founders to its Abbey Road Red startup accelerator, according to the studios’ MD Isabel Garvey. “We are acutely aware that we have no female founders, and very few women in our founder teams, and we are trying to be a little more diverse,” said Garvey, […]

This time last year, the US Recording Academy was facing strong (and deserved) criticism for poorly-worded comments by its boss Neil Portnow about how women needed to “step up” in the music industry. 12 months on, the Academy is offering something more constructive: a ‘Producer and Engineering Inclusion Initiative’ which aims to increase the opportunities […]

Welcome to the first Music Ally Report of 2019. We’re taking a look at some of the key challenges that lie ahead for our industry this year – and how they might be tackled. From diversity to startups via fake music and taking a bite out of radio, we hope it’s a constructive take on […]

Thought for the day: “Women want real men, men they can count on and yes, look up to. No amount of feminist theory will change that.” Or here’s another one: “Intersectionality is a form of identity politics, in which the value of your opinion depends on how many victim groups you belong to.” And just […]