Black music events in London get more TEN refusals and closures, report finds
The REMEL report puts the yearly cost to London’s music scene at around £114 million.
Black music events in London are more likely to be “cancelled, shut down and restricted” than white-run events, according to new research from the Race Equality In Music Event Licensing (REMEL) project, Mixmag reported.
REMEL was established in 2023 after Black Lives in Music and the Musicians’ Union raised concerns with London Mayor Sadiq Khan. For this report, it gathered data over two years, interviewing promoters, artists, venue operators and community figures and drawing on figures from the Greater London Authority, the Met Police, UK Music, LIVE and the Musicians Union. It found Black and South Asian-centred events “face deep systematic and institutional barriers”. Temporary Event Notices (TENs) were more likely to be refused in the capital’s most diverse boroughs.
Treatment after an incident also differed. White-owned venues were typically “supported back into business”, while Black-owned venues were “forced to close” by the authorities. The report also found that the Met Police and licensing bodies list certain genres as “higher risk” despite “evidence to the contrary”. Afrobeats, dancehall and R&B were the genres most often listed.
The report estimates that cancellations and restrictions have put £650 million in music investment at risk across five years. It says Black music events being targeted more than white events costs the music scene around £114 million a year.
The London Assembly says the research will be used to develop a London Race Action Plan, intended to guide councils, the music industry and the police “to identify best practice, share learning and take action.”
