The music industry needs to come together to ensure the top tier of the music industry is diverse and not just ‘full of old white boys’, a diversity champion has urged.
Sammy Andrews, founder of Deviate Digital, made the comments as part of a panel at the Brighton Music Conference (BMC), exploring how the dance music industry can promote diversity.
She said: 'Over the last year, whether you like it or not, things like Donald Trump's election have done a lot to put diversity issues on the table. If you rattle people's cages in that capacity, then people start realising there are problems and start talking about it in a way that is much wider than just our industry.'
Sammy said that everyone working in the music industry has a responsibility to come together to try and change the current status quo and create more equal opportunities for women and men.
'The top tier of our industry is still full of old white boys. That’s partly the problem. But we’re starting to see changes now at the top. I’m not slagging off the old guard, that’s how it was. It was a very white, male industry. But that’s not how it is now. The next generation is different. We know it can be changed. It’s a positive outlook but we all have a part to play in this.'
Inder Phull, co-founder of @KRPT LDN, was also speaking on the panel. He called on the industry to set achievable targets to boost diversity and make it a fairer sector in which to work.
'The industry should have targets in terms of pay, gender split, ethnic diversity,' he explained.
'We need to say "by 2020 we want to achieve this". Then we can start putting in plans to achieve it. We need to think about it as a wider industry. In companies like Channel 4, they track everyone who works on a TV show. The music industry should adopt this approach.'
BMC took place in Brighton 27-28 April with PRS for Music hosting two panels, one on how to making a living from music, the other exploring the organisation's new Music Recognition Technology.
PRS for Music's Education and Outreach senior manager Andy Ellis, who led the first panel at BMC, recently told us how he's pushing for greater diversity in music industry as part of his team's work.
Read our recent interview with Andy.
Sammy Andrews, founder of Deviate Digital, made the comments as part of a panel at the Brighton Music Conference (BMC), exploring how the dance music industry can promote diversity.
She said: 'Over the last year, whether you like it or not, things like Donald Trump's election have done a lot to put diversity issues on the table. If you rattle people's cages in that capacity, then people start realising there are problems and start talking about it in a way that is much wider than just our industry.'
Sammy said that everyone working in the music industry has a responsibility to come together to try and change the current status quo and create more equal opportunities for women and men.
'The top tier of our industry is still full of old white boys. That’s partly the problem. But we’re starting to see changes now at the top. I’m not slagging off the old guard, that’s how it was. It was a very white, male industry. But that’s not how it is now. The next generation is different. We know it can be changed. It’s a positive outlook but we all have a part to play in this.'
Inder Phull, co-founder of @KRPT LDN, was also speaking on the panel. He called on the industry to set achievable targets to boost diversity and make it a fairer sector in which to work.
'The industry should have targets in terms of pay, gender split, ethnic diversity,' he explained.
'We need to say "by 2020 we want to achieve this". Then we can start putting in plans to achieve it. We need to think about it as a wider industry. In companies like Channel 4, they track everyone who works on a TV show. The music industry should adopt this approach.'
BMC took place in Brighton 27-28 April with PRS for Music hosting two panels, one on how to making a living from music, the other exploring the organisation's new Music Recognition Technology.
PRS for Music's Education and Outreach senior manager Andy Ellis, who led the first panel at BMC, recently told us how he's pushing for greater diversity in music industry as part of his team's work.
Read our recent interview with Andy.
