New report shows extent of racial bias in licensing against Black music events in London

Published yesterday (Wednesday October 14), the REMEL Report (Race Equality In Music Event Licensing) is the most comprehensive investigation to date into how licensing and policing shape the fortunes of Black and South Asian musicians, promoters and venues in the capital.

1. The economic impact of excluding Black and South Asian events is significant. There was a £1.1billion estimated spend on Black and South Asian live music in London in 2024, with an estimated £127-£141million lost annually in live music spend and a projected loss of more than £650million in total spend over five years, due to licensing bias.
2. Black promoters frequently have events shut down with little or no explanation, leaving no path for accountability or appeal.
3. O legado do Form 696 persiste, com avaliações de risco atuais identificando sistematicamente eventos de música ao vivo de pessoas negras e sul-asiáticas e impondo vigilância punitiva e condições pesadas sem evidências credíveis de risco aumentado de segurança.
4. Afrobeats, Hip Hop, R&B and Dancehall are flagged as “high risk,” while Indie, Pop, and Rock genres face little scrutiny.
5. Media fuels criminalisation with Black events framed as “mobs” or “chaos,” shifting blame from institutions onto communities.
6. Temporary Event Notices (TENs) are more likely to be refused in London’s most diverse boroughs, restricting opportunities for Black events.
7. Many white-owned venues are supported back into business after incidents, while Black venues are forced to close.
8. Black and South Asian events are being pushed out of central London by restrictive licensing, gentrification, and planning policy.
9. Inflated security, insurance and compliance demands fall hardest on Black and South Asian events.
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Eventos negros são cancelados, restringidos ou bloqueados em proporção desproporcional em comparação com eventos liderados por brancos. 46%: Parte dos casos afetados pela polícia em que o local foi fechado totalmente.

Inteligência não verificada, incluindo pesquisas superficiais online, é usada rotineiramente para justificar uma maior vigilância sobre eventos de pessoas negras e sul-asiáticas, reforçando suposições raciais de risco.

O impacto na saúde mental é implacável, pois cancelamentos, vigilância e pressão financeira estão provocando esgotamento entre empreendedores negros e do sul da Ásia.

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It draws on surveys, interviews, focus groups, industry workshops, freedom of information requests and analysis of licensing data.

Per the findings, Black events face disproportionate cancellations, restrictions or shutdowns compared with white-led events of a similar size. The document states that this is often done with little explanation given and no clear route to appeal.

The REMEL Report urges the UK government to assist in unlocking “the huge potential of the Black and South Asian music industry”.

O estudo de dois anos foi liderado pelo grupo de direção REMEL, composto pela Greater London Authority (GLA), pelo Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), pela UK Music, LIVE, pelo Musicians’ Union e por uma grande rede de promotores, artistas, operadores de locais e representantes comunitários.

It comes on the heels of a joint letter from the Musicians’ Union and BLiM to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, calling for action on racial bias in event licensing.

Charisse Beaumont, Chief Executive, Black Lives In Music, said: “Licensing doesn’t just affect a few artists or a handful of events. It touches every part of the music ecosystem, from the young artist trying to get their first gig, to the promoter building a platform for emerging talent, to the local venue that brings life to a community.

A boa notícia é que todos os envolvidos neste relatório, desde os órgãos da indústria musical, até o prefeito de Londres e a Polícia Metropolitana, receberam bem suas conclusões e querem ajudar a reformar o sistema, em benefício de todos.

The report cites the PM’s summer announcement to give music venues, clubs and pubs in England a 20 per cent cut in business rates next year. However, REMEL argues that there is a barrier in obtaining a licence in the first place for many Black and South Asian-led venues and promoters.

It states that events in London’s most ethnically diverse boroughs are blocked or hit with police objections at far higher rates than others.

Beaumont went on: “A rates cut does nothing for the promoter who, as REMEL documents, was charged £10,000 for police attendance at a show with no history of trouble, or a venue like the Colour Factory, which lost £55,000 after a tragic incident occurred outside the venue after operating hours.

Elsewhere, the UK Music ‘Black Music Means Business’ Report (2026) found that the estimated £24. 5billion of the UK’s £30billion recorded music market over the past 30 years has come from Black music genres.

Eles representam mais de 80 % do mercado total, com artistas britânicos contribuindo com aproximadamente £11,94 bilhões desse valor.

Além disso, o setor de música ao vivo do Reino Unido é um espaço altamente lucrativo, gerando £6,1 bilhões, de acordo com o LIVE Music Report 2024 (2024). Este valor poderia ser ainda maior com a reforma adequada.

However, REMEL has found that there is still “deep systemic and institutional barriers that limit even more success”.

Some respondents noted informal pressure from the police, with off-the-record briefings suggesting future licence reviews and other measures to stop Black-led events from happening.

Eles disseram que certos gêneros musicais são considerados um risco, apesar de evidências em contrário, ou que incidentes isolados em um evento podem gerar consequências reputacionais de longo prazo para um gênero.

Licensing authorities were felt to often misuse area-wide crime statistics to justify closing venues or denying licences, even when a specific venue has a clean safety record.

High local crime rates across an entire neighbourhood are wrongly blamed on individual music venues.

O relatório também mostra como promotores e proprietários de locais enfrentam “barreiras irrazoáveis” para seus negócios emergentes. Ele afirma que as autoridades de licenciamento insistem em mais pessoal de segurança ou médico nesses eventos, aumentando os custos a níveis insustentáveis, em comparação com eventos em outros lugares.

You can see a breakdown of REMEL’s key findings here.

Beaumont commented further on the study: “We are grateful for the collaboration of the Metropolitan Police, local authorities, music industry bodies and the GLA on project REMEL.

This was a collective effort with the goal to provide evidence and solutions for change in the licensing process.

Jon Collins, CEO of LIVE, added that the report “sets out all too clearly the long-term barriers and challenges faced by Black and South Asian people in London’s live music industry”.

Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust (MVT), commented: “This is the most important piece of research on barriers to culture that the live music sector has been handed in years, and everybody working in it should read the whole thing rather than the summary.

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Em números

• Mais de 80 % do mercado total, com artistas britânicos contribuindo com aproximadamente £11,94 bilhões desse valor