Black music events are “cancelled, restricted or shut down” at higher rates than white-led events, costing the music scene up to £141 million a year, a report has found.
The Race Equality In Music Event Licensing (REMEL) project found the closures and restrictions put more than £650 million at risk over five years.
Report findings
The two-year study was led by the REMEL steering group, comprising Greater London Authority (GLA), the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), UK Music, LIVE, the Musicians’ Union and a wide network of promoters, artists, venue operators and community representatives.
The report found that the black and South Asian music sector “still faces deep systemic and institutional barriers that limit even more success”.
It cited respondents who were told of informal pressure from the police, with off-the-record briefings suggesting future licence reviews and other measures to stop black and South Asian-led events from happening.
Genres flagged as high-risk
Key findings from the report included that certain music genres were “assumed to be a risk despite evidence to the contrary”, or how “single or isolated incidents at one event can create long-term reputational consequences for a genre”.
The report noted that genres such as afrobeat, dancehall, R&B and hip-hop were flagged as “high-risk”, while other genres such as pop, indie and rock faced “little scrutiny”.
Temporary Event Notices (TENs) were more likely to be refused in London’s most diverse boroughs, restricting opportunities for black and South Asian-led events.
Venue closures and crime statistics
The report stated that many white-owned venues were “supported back into business” after incidents, while black venues were “forced to close”.
It also said licensing authorities were “felt to often misuse area-wide crime statistics to justify closing venues or denying licences”, even when a specific venue had a clean safety record.
It stated that high local crime rates across an entire neighbourhood were “wrongly blamed on individual music venues”.
Recommendations and response
The report recommended that the Home Office and the GLA should hire an independent panel of experts to conduct a review of the venue and event licensing system and to “embed equality and human rights law” in licensing law.
It also recommended that local authorities should publish annual data on licensing decisions, monitored by an independent panel “to ensure full transparency”.
It recommended that events and venues should be framed as “public assets” that deliver social and economic value, rather than treating them as “automatic risks”.
Charisse Beaumont, chief executive of Black Lives in Music, said: “This was a collective effort with the goal to provide evidence and solutions for change in the licensing process. It’s now time to move from recommendation to action.
“We need the REMEL recommendations and principles embedded into the very fabric of the licensing system to create a truly thriving nightlife.
“When licensing decisions are shaped by racial bias and over-policing in music events, it suffocates creativity, stifles entrepreneurship and blocks economic opportunity.”
