Workforce diversity survey and plan published by UK Music

UK Music has published the 2020 Workforce Diversity Survey in its UK Music Diversity Report. It also unveiled a bold Ten-Point Plan to put the music business “front and centre” of the drive to tackle racism and boost diversity in Britain.

Since its launch in 2016, the globally respected survey tracks progress to boost diversity and inclusion in the UK’s music industry that contributes £5.2 billion a year to the UK economy and sustains 190,000 jobs.

Among the key findings of the 2020 Music Industry Workforce Diversity Survey are:

• Representation of Black, Asian and other ethnic minorities among those aged 16-24 in the music industry stands at record 30.6% – up from 25.9% in 2018.
• Proportion of women increases from 45.3% in 2016 to new high of 49.6% in 2020.
• Number of people from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority communities at entry-level rises from 23.2% in 2018 to new high of 34.6% in 2020.
• Number of women in the 45-64 age group drops from 38.7% in 2018 to 35% in 2020.
• Representation of Black, Asian and other ethnic minorities at senior executive levels rises from 17.9% in 2018 to new high of 19.9% – but that means they fill just one in five senior posts.

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The survey findings from UK Music – the collective voice of the UK music industry – come in the wake of a year of action, triggered by the death of George Floyd and the protests in support of Black Lives Matter.

They follow a concerted campaign in the music industry to reset itself to better support the black community with events such as #BlackoutTuesday. The results will also inform industry initiatives to build on the work that followed the #MeToo campaign to highlight sexual abuse and harassment.

The survey collates data from across the music business including studios, management agencies, music publishers, major and independent record labels, music licensing companies and the live music sector.

The findings of the survey give the music industry, Government and other stakeholders an unparalleled insight into where improvements are needed regarding diversity and inclusion – and highlights where positive change is already under way.

The survey is overseen by UK Music’s Diversity Taskforce which has worked since it was established in 2015 to boost inclusion and diversity across the industry.

The survey reveals the music industry continues to make good progress on improving diversity and the work done to boost inclusion in the four years since the surveys started is paying off.

However, more work is needed and the urgent need for faster change has driven the creation of UK Music’s Diversity Taskforce’s Ten-Point Plan, led by its chair Ammo Talwar MBE and Deputy Chair Paulette Long OBE.

There have been great improvements at entry level for both women and Black, Asian and ethnic minority representation. However, the results show that more needs to be done to improve representation and retention of both women and Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities at senior levels and among older age groups of those working in the industry.

This year, a record 3,670 people working in the music industry took part in UK Music’s survey. The survey results are published every two years.

The survey findings informed the work carried out this year by UK Music’s Diversity Taskforce which worked collaboratively with music industry leaders and UK Music members to draw up its new ground-breaking Ten-Point Plan.

The plan includes commitments from UK Music members to commit and spend in areas such as recruitment and training to support diversity objectives and set internal diversity targets.

Read the full plan and story.

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