Kudos to Tifanny Red and her great article on discrimination in the music industry. Nevertheless, per Variety, it is ironic that it’s Black Music Month, and Junetheen and voila there was a great article titled:
“If Black Culture Drives Pop Culture, Where Are the Black Senior Music Executives? (Guest Column)” … of course, it’s a “Guest Column” and while it told the truth … will it incite change? This may get some black folks mad at me but truth be told unfortunately, we play a part in the discrimination too.
I put in the headline on Facebook … “I’m a trade magazine owner for 27 years. KUDOS for writing the article and we all know it’s true (including white executives) but we also don’t promote ourselves enough and we are still subservient. We don’t like to ruffle feathers. We play a part in it too.”
It’s an article with good intention but is it JUST because it’s Black Music Month and Juneteenth or will we see more consistency in the coverage in Variety? LMAO. I’ll let you answer that question. Need help?
The article is by Tiffany Red, a Grammy-winning songwriter and songwriter advocate who has written hits for Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Jason Derulo and Zendaya, among others.
She is the founder and executive director of the 100 Percenters, a 501 c3 organization with the stated goal of advocating “for all music creatives with a focus on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and marginalized creatives.” She has spoken at length about the challenges faced by songwriters; this is her second Juneteenth essay for Variety… and t starts with …
“I think we can all agree that black culture drives pop culture. So why aren’t there more black senior-level executives leading the charge?
The most recent Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report states, “Looking at the nine major music companies (Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Cumulus, Audacy, Live Nation, AEG Presents) across categories (music groups, streaming, radio, live music and concert promotion), 100% of the top executives were white.”
Yeah, let that sink in. The reality is Black artists’ needs are different than our non-Black counterparts, but how can they fully be met without Black senior-level executives? Why is the Black voice missing from the board room?
Having Black executives in powerful positions in the music industry is essential to diversifying the business. I can’t help but think about where I am now and how I got here. I stand on the shoulders of some brilliant Black executives and managers, and I wonder if I would be in “The Room” if they didn’t walk me in themselves.” Read the rest of the article here