Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang aren’t done holding the music industry accountable for not fighting racism and supporting the Black community.
. The music industry has a long history of profiting off Black music and culture. As in many other fields, Black people who work in music are often underpaid and severely underrepresented in positions of leadership despite genres created by Black people continuously leading the charts and being the source of inspiration for other genres. This movement is also especially timely as June is Black Music Month.
Many folks in the music industry heeded the movement’s call for reflection. Columbia Records was one of the first labels to make a public statement about the movement. “We stand together with the Black community against all forms of racism, bigotry, and violence,” a post on its Instagram page said. “Now, more than ever we must raise our voices to speak up and challenge the injustices all around us.” The company also halted business for the day.
Jon Platt, who is Black and the chairman and CEO of the Sony/ATV, the world’s largest music publishing company, wrote in an essay for Music Business Worldwide, “We must create a platform that provides each and every colleague the encouragement for true self-expression.” He added, “For people of color, this means the comfort to connect, mourn and heal in authentic ways that might be unfamiliar to, or uncomfortable for, some colleagues.
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