UK charity Black Lives in Music (BLIM) has been named as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2023 by Fast Company, joining prestigious brands such as OpenAI, Disney, and Tiffany & Co. The list showcases businesses leading their respective industries.
Black Lives in Music aims to tackle inequality in the music industry by inspiring change and creating a fair, equal, and safe environment. Their Fast Company award citation is ‘For holding the music industry accountable’.
The organisation’s report Being Black in the UK Music Industry Pt. 1 revealed that the majority of those who took part have experienced direct or indirect acts of racism in the music industry, with a link between this discrimination and mental well-being, especially among Black women. Published in September 2021, this was the largest survey of Black musicians and industry professionals in the UK.
The company has partnered with over 85 music organisations to address traditional barriers to inclusive practice and will launch an anti-racism code of conduct for the music industry endorsed by the Creative Standards Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) in Summer 2023.
The code will raise standards and tackle discrimination, covering issues such as discriminatory behavior, micro-aggressions, support mechanisms for staff, mandatory anti-racism training, equal pay and contracts, career progression, and achieving proportionate representation in the artist, technical, and production communities.
Read more on the Fast Company website.
