Barriers facing black and south Asian music events ‘cost London up to £141m a year’

Exclusive: A two-year investigation reveals that black and south Asian music events in London face significant cancellations, restrictions, and licensing barriers compared to white events, costing the city between £127 million and £141 million annually.

The Race Equality in Music Event Licensing (REMEL) report, led by Black Lives in Music, estimates that projected losses could exceed £650 million over five years. The investigation highlights that genres such as Afrobeats, drill, and dancehall are often labeled as "high risk" without credible evidence, while indie, pop, and rock events face minimal scrutiny.

Other genres facing stringent restrictions include:

• Reggae gatherings aimed at older audiences
• Jazz nights
• Community events

The report raises serious concerns regarding the use of unverified police intelligence, with promoters reporting cancellations based on undisclosed information or unrelated incidents. Charisse Beaumont, chief executive of Black Lives in Music, emphasized that the issues identified are not limited to London, stating, "As soon as we put the report out there, the call for our survey, people were upset that they couldn’t complete the survey because they were outside of London."

Beaumont further noted, "It’s about race. And that’s what’s so deeply sad about it."