A new race ‘report card’ is issued to know how the music industry has changed

Recently a new “report card” on race in the music industry puts several of the industry’s most influential corporations to work, challenging them to follow through on the obvious diversity commitments laid out last summer in the wake of nationwide protests over George Floyd’s death.

The Black Music Action Coalition produced a 37-page “music industry labor report card” over the weekend to have a bigger impact on the Juneteenth holiday. The committee elaborated the three major record labels that made to headlines after announcing large financial donations last year for a medium-to-poor grade, with Sony and Warner Music promising $100 million each and Universal $25 million.

merely a small portion of those charities have paid off so far as they have promised, according to the coalition’s report, which claims that it has increased the number of people of color in top executive positions at companies. The coalition, which was founded a year ago by a team of artist managers, lawyers, and others in the mainstream music business, has employed more people of color in top executive positions at companies. under duress to appoint.

The label was graded in four categories, including the basic commitments and future follow-up. The mentioned companies received largely Bs and Cs, according to the research. Nobody scored an A in the executive representation area, yet Warner didn’t get a D either.

Last week, the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative produced its own extensive research, showing that 7.5 percent of 4,060 executives at 119 different music companies were Black. (Record firms accounted for 14.4% of the total.)

The Black Music Action Coalition’s analysis was written by Naima Cochran, a writer, and former label executive. She said, “Our hope is that the MIA report card, especially coming on the heels of the Annenberg study, will, in some cases, inspire more conversation and efforts toward disruptive change.”

The three main record labels, as well as the majority of the companies identified in the research, declined to comment. However, others in the sector privately expressed their dissatisfaction with the report, claiming it was inconsistent or incomplete.

The report looked at a total of 18 businesses. While record labels received letter grades, other businesses like streaming services, talent agencies, and event promoters were awarded a score based on how “satisfactory” their efforts were. Not all aspects of the industry were covered, such as radio and artist management. The study will be broadened in the following years, according to the coalition.

“Our data is only as good as the record industry’s willingness to cooperate in providing information,” Coalition co-chair Binta Niambi Brown said in a statement.

Pandora, the Internet radio giant owned by SiriusXM, was one of the few whose efforts were deemed “unsatisfactory”, although few reasons were given for that rating. “As Pandora traded on their familiarity with Black and Latinx audiences and their impact on culture, we expected a more substantial commitment from them,” the report said.