New initiative launched by Recording Academy and Color of Change to create racial justice in music industry

News

The racial justice organisation Color of Change has teamed up with The Recording Academy to share the #ChangeMusic road map, an initiative aiming to generate positive change and racial justice within the Grammy awards organisation as well as the wider music industry.

Developed with the goal of holding the Academy accountable, the map sets out five steps of action and provides various resources to help stimulate progress.

The project’s mission statement says that #ChangeMusic will “work to increase the number of Black people and other underrepresented groups in key roles in the Academy, [its] affiliates, and across the broader industry” and “identify and dismantle systemic barriers to representation and equitable treatment of Black people and other under-represented groups across the industry.”

In addition, it sets out planned investment in Black careers and funding for anti-racist training, as well as additional financial pledges to support the goal of racial justice within the sector.

Speaking in a press release, Color of Change President Rashad Robinson said: “In a year of uprising, sickness, and distance, music has been both a healing force and a call to action. It’s helped us process our pain and drive social change. This moment offers an unparalleled opportunity to change patterns of exclusion and degradation and take action toward progress.

 “To honor and amplify Black artists’ past, present, and future contributions, the music industry must tear down the barriers that have been up for far too long. #ChangeMusic is our first step.”

Read DJ Mag’s feature, ‘Dance Music is Black Music: six months on’, where we speak to figures about fighting racism within the electronic music scene.

View the #ChangeMusic road map here.