Industry organisation UK Music has published the findings of its Diversity Report, a survey that has been running annually since 2016 and tracks the progress being made to boost diversion and inclusion in the country’s music sector, a sector that contributes £5.2 billion each year to the economy and supports 190,000 jobs.
Key findings of this year’s workforce diversity survey include the fact that the number of people from black, Asian and other ethnic minority groups at entry level climbed from 23.2 per cent in 2018 to 34.6 per cent in 2020, a new high.
It was also found that representation of black, Asian and other ethnic minorities among people aged between 16 and 24 reached a record high of 30.6 per cent, up from the 25.9 per cent seen two years ago.
The proportion of women also reached a new high this year of 49.6 per cent, up from the 45.3 per cent in 2016. However, the number of women aged between 45 and 64 fell from 38.7 per cent in 2018 to 35 per cent this year.
A Ten-Point Plan has now been devised following widespread consultation by the UK Music Taskforce with stakeholders throughout the music industry, as well as analysis of the data included in the survey.
The aim is to put the music business right at the very heart of the drive to boost diversity and tackle racism in Great Britain, with steps including the compilation of a database of people accountable and responsible for diversity across organisations.
UK Music members will also commit and spend a certain amount of their annual recruitment budget to ensure diversity among the candidate pool.
And each member will identify a socially engaged organisation whose work relates to race or gender, in whom they can invest over the long term.
Ammo Talwar, UK Music diversity taskforce chair, said: “This plan is data driven, evidence based with metrics and lived experience. It’s the accumulation of nine months’ work across the whole music industry to support yet hold the industry to account.
“No tokenistic statements, no short-term wins but a truly collaborative long term plan that reboots the sector and ensures diversity is front and centre of all major decisions.”
Back in October, UK Music also called on the industry to dump what it described as the “outdated and offensive” BAME acronym, as part of plans to boost diversity and inclusion across the sector.
BAME stands for black, Asian and minority ethnic, but doesn’t relate to country, origin or affiliation and is often seen as misleading and inappropriate by many, especially people from diverse communities.
The hope is that by bringing an end to the use of this term it will acknowledge the unique experiences of people from different backgrounds, paving the way for greater discussion and insight in the future.
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