The BPI has published its inaugural Five-Year Strategy for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Launched to coincide with the end of National Inclusion Week, the document sets out the BPI’s vision and strategy to actively promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), both within its organisation and in support of efforts by its label members and across the wider industry.
The 20-page document, which opens with forewords by BPI CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE and by the members of the BPI’s Equity and Justice Advisory Group (EJAG), highlights the need for collaboration and a collective industry approach.
It acknowledges the need to build on existing good practice and to dovetail with the UK Music Diversity Taskforce’s original 10 Point Plan and its Five-Ps model for change – covering people, policy, partnerships, purchasing and progress to change the status quo.
Paulette Long OBE and Kwame Kwaten, co-chairs of BPI Equity and Justice Advisory Group (EJAG), said: “We recognise inclusion is an ever-changing journey, and as we look to represent and give voice to unheard communities, we will continue to support, advise, challenge and liaise with the BPI on ongoing and future efforts and strategies, so that the UK music industry can be respectfully representative of all communities and individuals. We welcome the BPI’s Five-Year DEI Strategy and are pleased to have contributed to it.”
Dr Jo Twist OBE, BPI chief executive, said: “We believe it essential that everyone who works in music, in whatever capacity and from whichever background, feels valued and is given the opportunity to realise their full potential within it. Our industry will find it hard to be in tune with tomorrow if it does not embrace inclusive practice today, and we hope this Five-Year DEI Strategy will help to give further focus to the important work already taking place at the BPI, across our label members and the wider industry.”
“The BPI’s five-year plan is an ambitious and aspirational strategy that embodies the kind of action we envision for the industry," said Ammo Talwar, chair, UK Music Diversity Taskforce. "When we initially developed the Ten Point Plan and 5Ps Action Plan, our goal was for UK Music members and the wider industry to adopt bold strategies like this. By embedding EDI principles into their organisation, the BPI is taking meaningful steps toward creating a more equitable and diverse workplace within the recorded music sector. We look forward to seeing the positive impact this will have across the industry at large.”
Here, Hailey Willington, BPI DEI manager and author of the strategy, talks Music Week through the ambitions and targets within the inaugural Five-Year Strategy for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion…
What do you hope to achieve with a five-year strategy – why is such long-term planning important?
“Embedding diversity in our workforce, equity in our policies and procedures and inclusion in our industry environments is obviously long-term work. There will be some quick wins, but meaningful change requires continuing commitment and investment, thinking not just about where we are today but where we want to be in five years and the future beyond that.
“As a UK Music Diversity Taskforce member, the BPI is committed to UK Music’s The Five Ps – a theory of change model designed to measure change and assess impact over the longer term. Having a five-year strategy is an important part of that. Our strategy, which runs from 2023-2027, is outcomes-focused, identifying three strands of the BPI’s activity – external industry engagement, internal practice and membership collaboration – and the outcomes we want to see in 2027 as key indicators of inclusive progress for each strand. We believe that only by looking at where we want to go can we identify the interventions necessary to get there.”
This is being introduced at a time when labels are slimming down and facing financial pressure. How do you advance this agenda when there are financial challenges?
“There is no escaping that adequate resource is important to making progress on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) agenda. The inclusive thing to do is not always the easy choice, but investment in inclusive practice isn’t solely financial – human, time and cultural investment in inclusion are also essential.
“Another important ingredient of this work is embedding practice into all areas of an organisation and the ways in which it functions. Indeed, with any organisational change there can be an opportunity to consider new inclusive and equitable systems. It’s always important to remember that not embedding inclusive practice also comes with a cost, and that, as a general rule, the more diverse a business is, the better it performs.”
We believe that only by looking at where we want to go can we identify the interventions necessary to get there
Hailey Willington
How do you judge the progress that has been made so far across the industry?
“There have been significant steps forward in the past few years and there are labels and organisations in our industry and within our membership who are doing great work and leading in this area. However, there are still challenges and much work to be done.
“I’m heartened to see more people in the industry discussing areas such as disability, neurodiversity, sexual orientation and socioeconomic background and approaching them in an intersectional way. Hopefully, over time this will enable us as an industry to set and achieve a baseline of what ‘good’ inclusive practice looks like.
“We believe that DEI is a non-competitive issue, and trust that by collaborating and sharing learnings we can help enable large-scale change and support the work already being done. Our strategy aims to prioritise and put front and centre the idea of collaboration, and we hope it will be an important driver of continued progress.”
How important has the BPI’s Equity and Justice Advisory Group (EJAG) been for progress in this area? What role will this body continue to have in the DEI efforts for the BPI?
“Since 2016 the Equity and Justice Advisory Group has been a fundamental partner in the BPI’s DEI work, including The BRIT Awards. EJAG exists to assist the BPI in advocating for the progression of DEI work across the sector in line with our strategy and vision.
“One of the many ways in which EJAG supports us at the BPI is by providing the voice of a critical friend to create collaborative and inclusive change, and they have been important collaborators in the process of writing this strategy. We have just finished a round of recruitment for new members to join the founding EJAG members and we are excited about the next phase of EJAG’s work, as we all collaborate to engage with and deliver this strategy.”
As an organisation, how is the BPI itself performing on this front?
“There are areas where we’re pleased with our progress to-date: for example, we are proud of the work we have done to increase diversity around ethnicity and gender on the BPI council, and we have played an active role in supporting industry initiatives, such as Seat At The Table. At the same time, we acknowledge there is more to do, for instance around reviewing policies and procedures through a lens of inclusivity. We think it’s important to ask ourselves what else can we be doing to go above and beyond what is required of us.
“The importance of developing our own internal practice is demonstrated in the Lead By Example strand of the strategy. For us, it comes down to doing what we say when it comes to DEI best practice. 2023 and 2024 have very much been focused on this internal strand, and the strategy over the whole five years acknowledges the importance of continuing to develop our own internal organisational commitment to inclusive practice. We expect to hold ourselves to high standards over the long term.”
How important was the DEI manager role being introduced? How have you found the role at the BPI?
“My role has been an opportunity to bring existing DEI project work together from different parts of the organisation; increase the organisation’s capacity for DEI work and go about it in a more strategically focused way. One of the first things that struck me when I started at the BPI was how deeply the commitment to DEI work runs throughout the organisation.
"I won’t gloss over it and pretend that DEI work isn’t sometimes challenging – it is, but I’m incredibly grateful to be able to work with colleagues in departments across the BPI who are committed to incorporating inclusive practice into their planning and projects, and it’s fantastic to know that I have the support of an executive board who believe that inclusive practice is fundamental to the success of the BPI, our members and our industry. I value being able to work with so many wonderful partners, both internally and externally to the BPI as we collectively work to continue and help achieve further meaningful change across our recorded music community.”
I’m heartened to see more people in the industry discussing areas such as disability, neurodiversity, sexual orientation and socioeconomic background
Hailey Willington
You list outcomes including diverse representation around gender and ethnicity in BRIT Awards and Mercury Prize nominations lists. How do you achieve that when these are not within the organisation's direct control?
“There are certainly factors around awards that are outside our direct control and influence in the wider industry. However, within any awards framework there are things we can do to make nominations lists as inclusive as possible. This includes making sure that we have diverse judging panels and voting academies; that we monitor and address any areas of underrepresentation within those groups; that nominations lists are sufficiently broad; and that categories and eligibility criteria are relevant and facilitate the representation of diverse and acclaimed talent. This requires continuous review and necessitates working with partners across the industry.
“The UK is rich with exceptional, diverse talent. We see our role in awards as facilitating a framework where that talent, and the diverse artists who achieve success, can be acknowledged and celebrated.”
How will you collaborate with other organisations such as UK Music?
“Collaboration is a significant part of our Five-Year DEI Strategy. It’s echoed in the strategy’s membership strand, Support and Connect, and in the outcomes and objectives of our industry strand where we want to see a high level of positive self-reported impact from engaging with BPI Partner organisations such as Saffron Music, the BRIT Trust and Power Up.
“The BPI are founding and active members of UK Music’s Diversity Taskforce, and the legacy of UK Music’s Ten Point Plan has had a huge positive impact on the BPI as an organisation. This strategy is also closely aligned with UK Music’s Industry Action Plan, The Five P’s. We believe that making impactful progress on inclusion issues necessitates collaboration. We represent our members in recorded music but we also know that we need to be working with the wider industry, and UK Music has an important role to play in that. Because of this, we have intentionally included the commitment to publish an annual report sharing our successes and challenges with the industry, key stakeholders and our UK Music Diversity Taskforce partners in the plan.”
How will you report on progress over the next five years? And how transparent will the process be?
“We believe that transparency and the trust that it helps build are essential to achieving effective and impactful DEI work. There are likely to be specific details that are unable to be shared due to sensitivity or confidentiality both for our organisation and members. However, our approach of focusing on outcomes rather than publishing action plans and deliverables has been designed to mitigate this. We are committed to reporting on our progress against them and transparently sharing our learning.
“By sharing our experiences, challenges and best practices with our membership, partners and the wider industry, we aim to do our part to embed large scale change and inclusive environments across the sector. We believe that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are non-competitive issues. Whether you are an individual or part of an organisation large or small, we invite you to collaborate and join us on this journey.”
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