Grammys vow to boost black artists

LOS ANGELES • The organisers of the Grammy Awards launched an initiative on Thursday to elevate black voices at all levels of the music industry and ensure that black artists are fairly compensated for their work.

The #ChangeMusic Roadmap, launched by the Recording Academy and racial justice non-profit organisation Color of Change, said black contributions to the music industry have historically been undervalued.

Black artists "have created styles of music, the culture, the trends and the success of this business - yet too often are left unheralded and excluded from the rooms in which the most important decisions are made", the organisers said.

The initiative follows a cultural reckoning spurred by street protests across the United States this summer over systemic racism, as well as pressure on the music business to increase the number of black people in its corporate ranks.

Rap and R&B music overtook rock in 2017 to become the biggest music genre in the US, but there are only a handful of black executives in senior jobs across the industry.

The Recording Academy, which votes on the Grammys, has come under fire in recent years from black artists such as Drake, Jay-Z and Kanye West for seemingly favouring white artists.

In more than 60 years of the Grammys, only two hip-hop albums have ever won the Album of the Year prize.

The last black artist to win the coveted accolade was Herbie Hancock in 2008.

The Recording Academy in October launched the Black Music Collective in response to the criticism.

The #ChangeMusic Roadmap calls for the fair distribution of royalties, an examination of old recording contracts for potential inequities, anti-racist training, annual reports on pay disparities and an increase in the number of black people in leadership positions.

"This moment offers an unparalleled opportunity to change patterns of exclusion and degradation," the Recording Academy and Color of Change said in a statement.

REUTERS