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At the Women in Music Awards 2022, we celebrated the achievements of 12 game-changing executives and artists as the industry came together to honor their work. Music Week spoke with 12 winners to tell their stories.
The Black Music Coalition (BMC) won the campaigner category for their work to eradicate racism from the music industry. To celebrate the organization’s achievements so far, Music Week’s executive committee, Char Grant, Aphra Henry-Fontaine, Cheryl Nowsu and Komali Scott-Jones…
Interview with Colin Harris
The Black Music Coalition is a black-led organization formed in 2020 to put a spotlight on the issue of racism against black people and communities. The moment brought together black executives working in the industry and reflected on their experiences of interpersonal and systemic racism in the music industry. Similarities in those experiences informed the creation of the BMC and its goals.
Char Grant, Afrea Henry-Fontaine, Cheryl Nowsu (who sits as the BMC’s chair) and Komali Scott-Jones, supported by a larger committee of black music execs who work at all levels of the industry, have since pushed the BMC’s goals. Cover to continue to be given.
BMC’s main mission is to eradicate systemic and structural racism in the music industry; Their work thus far has involved forcing industry organizations to change practices and processes that negatively affect black executives and actively working to remove racial barriers affecting black professionals and creatives. Their vision is to work collaboratively on these issues.
The BMC and its members give Black execs a voice and ensure that the challenges they face are recognized, heard and ultimately addressed. Here, we hear from the executive committee about their work.
As you said music week In our cover interview last year, the Black Music Coalition was created during a very difficult and traumatic time. What does it mean to have your work recognized in front of the music industry at this point?
Aphra Henri-Fontaine: “I am optimistic about it [the recognition] It means the music industry understands the need for the BMC to exist, that the BMC is here to be, to collaborate and work with the industry so that we can actually achieve our goals, because it’s not just us four black women who are very ambitious and want to make this happen. Making these changes has lasting implications not only for Black execs, Black musicians, Black artists, and Black creatives, but for the industry as a whole. Eliminating these systems would make a huge difference to the way companies run, it would affect profit margins, the employee experience, not just black workers, but across the board in general – an incredibly positive impact.”
When you consider the vision of the industry to eliminate racism and discrimination since the formation of the BMC – for you, is it enough? How does it feel from your perspective?
AH-F: “I think so [people at the] The top is saying all the right things. But things should come to us as an organization, no [us] always reach If change flows seamlessly through these organizations, there will be more incoming than outgoing. The conversation that goes on in the kitchen, in the cafeteria, in contract formation for black artists needs to change. It has to be more radical. It should be clearer than that.”
Art’s approach to eradicating racism needs to be more radical, more articulate
Aphra Henri-Fontaine
Comely Scott-Jones: “Until the industry acknowledges that racism is everyone’s problem, it’s going to be really hard to measure that change. I think once companies realize that when you have a diverse workforce at all levels – not just entry level positions or middle management – it makes your workforce extremely diverse and competitive, especially in the music industry where black music is a real titan. What it contributes economically and culturally. I think there are still a lot of people who are uncomfortable with the idea, and still want to think of it as a moment or a fad. And it really doesn’t. If we look at our counterparts in the States, you’ll see how much black music has grown in the last 30 to 40 years and how it’s contributed to these huge companies and all the fat cats in their pockets, so it’s really important the UK catches up and makes sure they’re that. The case is on the right side of history.”
What is your message to the industry that reads this, does your mission stand today? How can the industry collectively come together to help the Black Music Coalition?
Sheryl Nowsu: “It’s not essential to help us. You see when these kinds of movements happen and people raise the specter of racism and discrimination, that it’s often the lower classes, the oppressed groups, that are doing the work and doing the heavy lifting. Really, what 2020 should mean is people getting their houses in order. People should have dealt with the problems of racism, how it manifested in their workplaces, their structures, their procedures, in recruitment, in retention, in training and in access opportunities – all these things, that was their job. It can’t be and it shouldn’t be – and it’s not a complaint, it’s just the fact – for us to continue to message the music industry, because one has to ask the question, when you posted the black square of solidarity, which many organizations have done in music, What did you mean? What do you want to do? What did you mean?
“Because if the Black Music Coalition, Black Lives in Music, the UK Music Diversity Taskforce [and others], what if they didn’t take the sheet? What if we are all so tired, which we are, that we don’t accept this problem? Then you had exactly that [as an] What will the organization do?
Can you tell us any lessons you’ve learned from your conversations with black women professionals in the industry since coming together about the realities of working in the BMC business?
KS-J: “There are many executives, both male and female, who come to us with various problems. BMC is a safe haven for him. The problem black female executives face is being pushed out of the industry after a certain point. That whole circle from being the hot young thing that they really want on their team because it looks cool, it looks diverse, you’re a bright young spark, actually, ‘you know too much,’ ‘you’re too confident’ or, ‘you’re too loud’. After a certain point there is a lot of resistance, which means they don’t feel comfortable and feel there isn’t really an upward path.
“From the artist side it’s also about visibility, erasure, where black women’s voices are often suppressed but they’re often the voices that people lean on in the hardest times. It’s very frustrating and then you can’t express that frustration because ‘Oh, you’re being aggressive. ‘ or ‘You are difficult to work with.’ That’s it – the music industry is a microcosm for the social issues we all face in different areas of our lives and why this work is so important and resonant. It’s really important that we create spaces like this where we can uplift women, spotlight women. , can talk about their successes, how they’ve contributed, and make sure they’re always on the map instead of feeling like they’re slipping through the mud of invisibility. That’s a goal we all want to see progress in the short term; not tokenistic hiring, [but] Ensuring that these women’s talent is being developed that they are rising up properly.”
How does it feel to be part of the executive committee of BMC? What did you learn about each other? How did your relationship develop during this time?
CG: “I would say it’s an absolute privilege, personally. It’s a part of my life now that I wouldn’t change, it’s something that comes down to all of us. I didn’t get into music to be an activist. It evolved around us in such a way that, at times, it felt like it was taking us away, but I think we always stayed strong and reminded ourselves of our goals and our goals. We’ve had the benefit of having great interns along the way and developed an understanding between us of how to get the best out of each other, the grace we need to do this work. We are all building lives, careers, and other things, and juggling all of these things is challenging. But to see us channel some of that energy into a place of real focus and achievement, we’re coming out as a stronger organization that continues to have purpose. For me, this is another important string to my bow. I wear it proudly. I wish organizations like ours didn’t have this need, but here we are.”
The music industry is a microcosm for the social issues we all face in different areas of our lives
Comely Scott-Jones
Clearly the existence of BMC is making a huge difference to your membership and beyond. What does the future hold for this organization? How do you plan to continue to make an impact?
CG: “We’ve been quietly creating an important piece of work this year – a report card, which many industries have already told us about what they’ve been doing to change the problems of systemic racism over the past two years. within their organization. We have not received an exact date as to when we will issue the report, but we are working closely with the American sister coalition, BMAC (Black Music Action Coalition), to ensure and align that there is a global perspective. So that’s going to be an important task that will come off in the next few months.”
SN: “We are also opening up our membership to all Black execs. It will bring Black Execs together as a true community organization because we have specific needs and issues that affect both Black men and Black women in the industry. By opening up membership, we want to effectively position ourselves as the voice of Black execs, and as a voice that when issues arise in the industry (as they often do), but also a voice that is clear. And people who can’t ignore that because the executives really helped build the infrastructure of this industry, they’re self-starters in that sense. So, the future for us is a body of Black execs across the UK as we work towards our overarching aim and goal of eradicating anti-Black systemic and interpersonal racism within the music industry.”
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