Black Lives in Music Industry Wide Anti-Racist Code of Conduct
Together We Can Beat Racism.
Introduction
This Code of Conduct is authored by Black Lives in Music (BLiM) and supported by UK Music members (Musicians Union) in collaboration with Action 4 Diversity and Development (ADD). The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) is responsible for endorsing this Code of Conduct (the Code). This Code is part of BLiM’s continuing efforts to maintain and foster a culture of integrity, diversity and inclusivity in the UK music industry. Specifically, BLiM wants this Code to help safeguard Black, Asian and ethnically diverse employees, freelancers, interns, volunteers, workers, sub-contractors and all other music creators working in the UK music industry. It is important to remember that the population of the UK is ethnically diverse. Many people from ethnic minorities in this country are British citizens and many non-British citizens from black and minority ethnic communities are entitled to work here.
The central aim of this Code is to create an ecosystem within music in which no individual, group or organisation experiences discrimination or acts in a discriminatory manner on the basis of race, which is a Protected Characteristic (as defined in the Equality Act 2010).
Specifically in respect of anti-racism, this Code sets out various discriminatory behaviours which, when carried out by an Individual who is required to comply with the Code, might be a breach of the Code and could lead to penalties and / or sanctions.
Intersectionality plays a significant role in this regard, where different aspects of a person's identity can overlap and intersect, thereby amplifying their experiences and perspectives. Therefore, it is our responsibility to acknowledge and respect these intersections.
Understanding intersectionality helps us further appreciate the complexity of discrimination. As discriminatory conduct isn't always attributable to a single, easily identifiable characteristic.
This Code is in addition to and not instead of the Participant’s obligations under any and all applicable laws. Anyone who believes that they have been discriminated against, either directly or indirectly, by an employer, a prospective employer, agency or other entity or individual because of their race may have certain rights under applicable law in addition to any rights under this Code, including by bringing a complaint before an employment tribunal or industrial tribunal.
All Participants (as defined below) agree to be bound by this Code, including in respect of all of the Participants activities in the UK music industry. submit to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the relevant body which applies to them.
The following definitions shall apply in this Code:
Individual: A person involved in the music industry, whether as an employee, freelancer, intern, volunteer, worker, contractor, sub-contractor, music creator, other creator or a person performing any other role.
Protected Person: An Individual who is entitled to protection from discrimination (including, without limitation, discrimination by perception or by association) on the basis of race/ethnicity, such as (without limitation, and merely as an example for illustrative purposes) Black, Asian and other ethnically diverse Individuals.
Worker: An Individual who is engaged by an organisation to work in any capacity, whether on an employment basis or otherwise, such as (without limitation, and merely as an example for illustrative purposes) employees, interns, freelancers, contractors, volunteers and people in other roles.
Scope
This Code has been designed to have a broad application and may be appropriate for all members of, and participants in, the UK Music industry including but not limited to freelancing individuals and large companies.
This Code will be endorsed by CIISA who will provide mediation, investigations, findings and recommendations.
The Code aligns with UK Music's "The Five Ps", namely, People, Policy, Partnerships, Purchase and Progress. An action plan which maps out five key pillars that UK Music expects the music industry to use as a framework for delivering sustainable results.
Participants should check for updates of this Code on no less than an annual basis. If any Participant is not clear in respect of any aspect of the Code, they should contact BLiM for clarification.
The Code: Commitments and Participant Duties
1. Personal Safety For All
The mental health and wellbeing of all individuals in the UK music industry, including employees and artists, is key to a sustainable music industry.
We agree to foster a safe and inclusive work culture at all times, with a zero tolerance for hate speech, microaggressions, direct or indirect racism or discrimination of any kind, including against Protected Persons at all times.
We will achieve this by:
Upper leadership modelling the right behaviours of fairness, and fostering inclusive practices, including in respect of recruitment, retention, and promotion.
Implementing an organisational-wide Policy, designed to avoid, reduce and mitigate bullying, harassment, discrimination and any harmful conduct that may impact on Protected Persons based on their racial identity.
Encouraging all Individuals to report any issue of racism, bullying and harassment, or discrimination that cannot be resolved within a company to BLiM directly for further support including a digital toolkit for people to directly report to electronically or signpost to a partner organisation. Alternatively, Workers and co-workers should contact an independent Conciliation service, such as ACAS. This is a positive example of a bystander when someone witnesses a co-worker being subjected to racist comments or behaviour and intervenes in order to stop it. For example, by speaking up, reporting the incident internally or to the relevant authorities, or offering support and comfort using the Mental Health First Aid ‘ALGEE’ approach to the affected Worker.
Encouraging active bystanding, whether by appropriate intervention or by reporting the incident to the relevant organisation, person or authority; or offering support and comfort to the Worker being attacked. By intervening, the bystander is able to contribute to a safe and inclusive work environment for all.
Fostering a ‘Speak Up’ culture, where no one is retaliated against, ostracised or belittled for asking questions, challenging the status quo or pursuing their rights. This includes any concerns raised regarding a working practice that is unfair, harmful or in breach of professional standards.
2. Anti-racism Training
We will make BLiM’s anti-racism training mandatory as part of the company's health & safety procedures for all Workers, starting at upper leadership and board members. Such training will be promptly rolled out to all other Workers on a company-wide basis.
3. Achieving Inclusion and Diversity
We will be inclusive in all areas of our practice and organisational culture. This includes fostering an inclusive environment.
Examples of such inclusivity include being supportive, open-minded and acting without prejudice in respect of names, hairstyles, dress, speech or cultural identifiers that might relate to Protected Persons. We shall be culturally intelligent, and where appropriate, will celebrate diverse identities, backgrounds and cultures as a collection of people contributing to the UK and export economy.
We aim for diverse representation in our workforce. Protected Persons who are impacted on the basis of racial or intersectionality identities will be afforded opportunities to voice their lived experiences in our organisation and we will meaningfully engage with this feedback which may inform future planning and initiatives.
Our policies or practices will not be discriminatory, including in respect of Protected Persons or their cultures. We contribute to the retention, promotion, endorsement, and celebration of Protected Persons.
4. Equal Pay
We will rigorously aim to ensure that rates of pay are fair and equal, regardless of racial identity. We will use reasonable endeavours to make this transparent, through open reporting (to the extent we undertake open reporting, and further to the extent it is acceptable under applicable law).
We will achieve this by:
Conducting an annual review in respect of pay, focusing on whether there is any pay disparity based on ethnicity and racial metrics;
Publishing the findings of our review annually and publishing our salary bands on a platform that is accessible to all Workers; and
In the event that pay disparity is found, making a plan and setting goals for eliminating racial pay disparity in our workplace within the next calendar year.
5. Equitable Contracts
We will draft and offer contracts to all applicants, artists and prospective employees on equal terms to address the prevailing issues of pay disparity.
We will achieve this by conducting a quarterly review of all contracts to understand the terms offered to all candidates. We will address issues of pay disparity for all Protected Persons should we find them during this review process. Fairness is and will remain the goal here, whether staff, artist, conductor or other Protected Person with a working contract.
6. Equitable Funding
We will ensure that funding, grants and support offered to successful applicants who are Protected Persons is fair and equitable. We ensure that our selection processes are robust in respect of any and all such applications.
We will achieve this by:
Conducting a quarterly review of funding and grant contracts, to understand and reflect on the terms offered to applicants.
Designing and implementing an appropriate methodology and structure to ensure fairness in respect of funding and grants, taking into account the aforementioned quarterly review.
Publishing impact and demographic reports publicly.
Using the review finding to continuously improve the design and implementation of our existing structure to ensure fairness and parity of funding.
Where applicable, our equitable funding strategy would include outreach and promotional programmes aimed at talented hard-to-reach Protected Persons.
7. Providing Career Progression Opportunities
We commit to eliminating all barriers to progression for Protected Persons. As part of this commitment, we aim to achieve a percentage of Protected Person representation on our board and in senior management (using statistics from the 2021 UK Census) by 2026.
We will achieve this by:
Identifying present barriers to progression including career pipeline and working in consultation with BLiM to remove such barriers to progression, and prevent them from reappearing.
Implementing sessions with hiring managers to explore opportunities for promotion for Protected Persons;
Implementing leadership, mentoring and succession planning opportunities to upskill Protected Persons; and
Conducting a review every six months, with a breakdown of company data to evaluate and ensure these aspirations and objectives are being met. This may also include a review of the recruitment process. We will report our findings to BLiM.
8. Achieving Representation in the Artistic Community
We commit to making artistic programming representative of the demographic of contemporary society including in terms of guest artists, musicians, musical directors, commissioners, conductors and repertoire.
If relevant to our organisation, and subject to applicable law, programming data is to be maintained for a reasonable period, for the purposes of transparency, accountability and benchmarking representation.
9. Achieving Representation in the Technical and Production Community
As mentioned above in this policy, we commit to eliminating barriers to progression for Protected Persons. As part of this commitment, to the extent we have a production workforce, we aim to achieve a percentage of Protected Person representation within such workforce that reflects the racial makeup of the locality (eg. London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester etc) in which our office is based (using statistics from the 2021 UK Census) by 2025.
We will achieve this by:
Implementing sessions with hiring managers to explore equal opportunities for Protected Persons;
Implementing leadership and mentoring opportunities to upskill Protected Persons; and
Conducting a review every six months to evaluate and ensure these aspirations and objectives are being met. We will report our findings to BLiM.
10. Accountability and Compliance
We commit to being accountable to our Workers. We will listen to our Workers who are Protected Persons, and to their ideas and feedback to foster change. We encourage all our Workers to engage with the BLiM Toolkit.
We commit to communicating our compliance to this Code in our mission statement, strategic plans, operating principles, job descriptions, employee manual, client and vendor contracts, reports and publications.
11. Monitoring Third Party Vendors
We will ensure that our commitment towards anti-racism extends to our relationships with our vendors, partners, stakeholders, sub-contractors, and freelancers.
We will achieve this by:
Seeking the inclusion of a commitment to anti-racism within our contracts with prospective vendors, suppliers and partners;
Addressing any reported racist behaviour of our vendors whereby measured and proportionate action will be taken with the support of the Independent Standards Authority;
Vetting all third party and affiliate companies thoroughly. This could include requesting and obtaining the company's or individual's equality, diversity and inclusion data and policies;
Reflecting this third-party monitoring commitment within our company's EDI policies including recruitment and procurement.
12. Data Collection and Reporting
We will track any incidents relating to racism that are reported internally each year. We will complete the annual survey and reporting template provided by BLiM, setting out all of the data we have collected, on an anonymised basis, to help ensure best practice when it comes to tackling racism. We will ensure that we are fully compliant with data protection laws when collecting such data and sharing it with BLiM.
13. Providing Support Mechanisms
We will maintain a list of support services that can be used by anyone within our organisation who has experienced racism, harassment, bullying or discrimination. Where issues are raised that may be of a criminal nature, we may encourage the affected Individual to report the incident to the authorities. We will direct the Individual to the appropriate support service in order to help safeguard their wellbeing.
14. Education of Rights
We will openly encourage all professional and recording artists, musicians and performers to understand their legal rights and obligations, including on recruitment, copyright and contractual matters. We will uphold these practices as part of our corporate responsibility to promote (for example artists') education of the business and contractual aspects of their musical endeavours.
The commitments above are not limited to a traditional worksite. These obligations extend to other locations where Workers who are Protected Persons are required to be in the course of their work or service.
We will implement this Code of Conduct in accordance with the Black Lives in Music Anti-Racism Guide, which can be accessed here: https://equitrack.blim.org.uk. If you have any questions, please contact our internal anti-racism representative: equitrack@blim.org.uk
Context
According to The Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful for anyone to be discriminated against because of their racial identity. A racial group can be made up of two or more distinct racial groups, for example Black Britons, British Asians, British Sikhs, British Jews, Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers.
'Black Lives in Music' is dedicated to helping organisations, commissioners and workers eradicate racist, discriminatory practice, towards cultivating progressive and inclusive environments. This is done through education, implementation, inquiry and support.
Everyone in the UK music industry, regardless of position or involvement, has a responsibility to bring about and maintain continuous progress as drivers of change.
We stand for racial equity, fairness and providing a safe, empowering and thriving working environment. Specifically for Black, Asian and ethnically diverse employees, freelancers, workers, sub-contractors and musicians. The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation and we will uphold the law by maintaining a workplace free from all forms of discrimination, including racism.
As organisations and commissioners, we commit to working with Black Lives in Music (BLiM) to create a safe, anti-racist environment for our employees, musicians and workers and maintain best practice.
We undertake to discharge our responsibilities as set out in this Code. This Code applies to everyone in the UK music industry. Everybody has a duty of care regardless of their position or nature of engagement.
Legal Jurisdiction
This Code falls within the jurisdiction of the UK. It is not expected by BLiM that any signatory applies UK jurisdiction overseas. However organisations and commissioners have a duty of care to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all workers operating within and outside the UK. This includes updating company policies and procedures that can be reasonably applied.
Racial discrimination, domestic and overseas, are to be investigated thoroughly and any necessary action taken to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all workers. All workers should be able to report any incident that they become aware of, including overseas, to their reporting manager as soon as possible. Detailed reports and any relevant information should be provided to the line manager as soon as possible.
Some Definitions of Protected Characteristics
by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, unless otherwise stated
Racism
In the UK, the definition of racism is governed by the Equality Act 2010. The Act defines racism as "a racial group" being defined as a group of people who are defined by their racial identity, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin. The Act defines racial discrimination as treating someone less favourably than another person because of their racial identity. This includes any form of harassment, victimisation or any other detrimental treatment based on a person's racial identity - there are helpful definitions in this Code.
We understand that intersectional needs must be considered when addressing EDI matters. Specifically in the context of this Code, the intersectionality focus relates solely to social categorisations that are interconnected with racialised peoples' self-determined identities e.g., Black, Trans people; Indian, disabled people etc.
Direct Racism
"This is when you are treated worse than another person or other people because:
you have a protected characteristic
someone thinks you have that protected characteristic (known as discrimination by perception)
you are connected to someone with that protected characteristic (known as discrimination by association)
Your circumstances must be similar enough to the circumstances of the person being treated better for a valid comparison to be made."
Indirect Racism
"Indirect discrimination happens when there is a policy that applies in the same way for everybody but disadvantages a group of people who share a protected characteristic, and you are disadvantaged as part of this group. If this happens, the person or organisation applying the policy must show that there is a good reason for it."
Harassment
"Harassment occurs when someone makes you feel humiliated, offended or degraded. For example: a young British Asian man at work keeps being called a racist name by colleagues. His colleagues say it is just banter, but the employee is insulted and offended by it.
Harassment can never be justified. However, if an organisation or employer can show it did everything it could to prevent people who work for it from behaving like that, you will not be able to make a claim for harassment against it, although you could make a claim against the harasser."
Victimisation
"This is when you are treated badly because you have made a complaint of race related discrimination under the Equality Act. It can also occur if you are supporting someone who has made a complaint of race related discrimination."
Black Identity
In the UK, "Black" is generally used in the UK to refer to individuals with African, Caribbean or other Black British heritage. The term has been used to describe individuals who have experienced racism and discrimination based on their skin colour and ethnic origin.
It is important to note that the UK has a diverse Black community with individuals from different countries, cultures, and ethnic groups. The term "Black" does not necessarily refer to a homogenous group of people, but rather a diverse community with a shared history and experiences of racism and discrimination.
It is also worth noting that some individuals may prefer to use other terms or labels to describe their racial identity, such as African British, Caribbean British, or simply British. As with any term or label, it's important to respect an individual's choice of how they identify and to avoid making assumptions based on their appearance or background.
Positive Action
Some of the actions set out in sections 7, 8 and 9 may amount to what is known as "positive action". Positive action can be lawful in certain circumstances (although it is difficult to rely on in recruitment processes). However, for positive action to be lawful an organisation needs:
A reasonable belief (for example based on statistics) that:
Persons who share a protected characteristic (e.g. a racial group) suffer a disadvantage connected to the characteristic;
Persons who share a protected characteristic (e.g. a racial group) have needs that are different from the needs of persons who do not share it; or
Participation in activity by persons who share a protected characteristic is disproportionately low
If so, then it is lawful to take steps that are proportionate to achieving one of the following aims:
Enabling or encouraging persons who share the protected characteristic (e.g. a racial group) to overcome or minimise the disadvantage;
Meeting the needs identified in the second bullet point above; or
Enabling persons who share the protected characteristic (e.g. a racial group) to participate in the activity.
Accordingly, before taking any steps set out in sections 7, 8 and 9, participants should ensure that, within the context of their organisation, there are grounds for taking positive action and that the steps they intend to take are proportionate.
Participants should take legal advice before attempting to take positive action in relation to a recruitment process.