Media company Vice and magazine Gal-Dem have launched Open Secrets, an editorial series that explores abusive behaviour in the music industry.
The series gives insight into individual stories of harassment and violence, the ways in which these stories can be swept under the rug and the difficulty victims and survivors face in being heard.
On Vice, writer Stephanie Phillips speaks to people who have quit the industry completely after experiencing harassment and abuse. Music journalist Nicolas-Tyrell Scott considers what it means when abusive lyrics get a pass from record labels and the public. In an extract from The Secret DJ, an anonymous musician recounts her experience with racism in the business, and a group of music industry insiders explain how the structure of the industry itself makes it difficult to come forward and report these stories.
For Gal-Dem, an anonymous DJ writes about their experience of speaking out about the abuse they faced in the underground music scene. Music supervisor and journalist Jumi Akinfenwa writes on the concept of whisper networks and how marginalised groups have worked to protect each other where institutions and the media have failed. Journalist Ray Sang looks at how useful 'muting' an artist is as a form of solidarity with survivors, and writer and lawyer Rahel Aklilu looks at the organisations and collectives trying to build something better and safer in music.
All articles will be published throughout the week across Vice and Gal-Dem.
