Music Ally Focus #56: how do you boost the number of Black people in senior roles in the music industry? The creators of the Diverse Representation Music Database explain their ambitions for change.

Last year, the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative examined over 4,000 executives from 119 music companies and found that only 7.5% were Black. In this episode we’re joined by Jaia Thomas, founder and president of Diverse Representation, and Amity Paye, senior director of communications at Color Of Change, two organisations that recently announced the launch of the Diverse Representation Music Database, which connects music companies directly with Black talent across the USA. They’ll be talking about representation and equity in the music business, as well as the ambitions of the database, and the corporate accountability of the industry at large. Amity and Jaia also suggest how you can get started and be part of the change – even if you think you’re not powerful enough to make a difference. (Spoiler: you are!) Color of Change https://colorofchange.org The Diverse Representation Black Professionals Music Database https://www.diverserepresentationmusic.com The #ChangeMusic initiative https://changeindustries.org/changemusic ------- 👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb