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Diversity: ‘Change needs to come from the top’

Black music professionals are calling for the industry's power brokers to be held accountable for effecting change from the top down

By IQ on 16 Sep 2020

Tales from Covid: Yves Pierre, ICM Partners

Yves Pierre, ICM Partners


Black music professionals are calling on the industry’s behemoths to help diversify the industry from the top down.

In IQ‘s recent feature, Opening Doors, several key industry figures called on the industry’s power brokers to reflect on their responsibility to effect change.

“We have to hold companies and senior management accountable. It takes a long time to change culture, but that can be accelerated if the desire for change also comes from the top,” says Natalie Williams, former head of research for UK Music.

“If you’re a senior executive, then maybe you should look at yourself and the friendship circle that you have – if that’s not diverse, then you could be part of the problem.

“Ninety per cent of people do not think they are part of the problem, so they end up passing the buck to their HR department,” she added.

While ICM Partners agent Yves C Pierre says “The pool of people put in power need a diversity check from within, because we can see they’re great at buying IP but I think that’s the easy route.

“The power brokers need to step out of their comfort zone and confront the task of changing what’s become the norm internally from the inception of the business model.”

Read the entire feature here.

 


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