In the wake of the controversy surrounding the BRIT Awards and a supposed lack of diversity present in its nominees and eventual winners, the Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry Ged Doherty has now responded.
Before the awards show, a number of artists spoke out about the nominees and how they failed to accurately reflect the movement of youth culture within Britain towards certain genres, such as grime.
Lily Allen and Marina Diamandic, better known as Marina and the Diamonds, voiced their displeasure at the ceremony while criticising its nomination processes.
“Skepta, JME and Stormzy are all unsigned artists, who would gain from them winning anything? In fact, them being nominated or even winning poses a direct threat to ‘music industry figures’.” Allen wrote on her Facebook page last month.
Reading about artists talking about BRIT Awards + lack of diversity. I just looked at the nominees and it’s kind of sickening…
— Marina Diamandis (@MarinasDiamonds) February 24, 2016
While after the winners had been announced at the ceremony, Craig David addressed the lack of recognition for grime when speaking to The Mirror. “Sometimes some genres of music aren’t represented and this year it happened to be grime. It’s very clear that it hasn’t been,” he said.
Doherty has now responded to these claims in an article in the Guardian by admitting how the system failed to recognise these artists that may not be breaking into the Top 40 charts, but do have significant fan bases away from the more immediate spotlight.
“The awards should, first and foremost, reward the very best and most popular British music. But the playing field must be even. Everyone, regardless of background, should have an equal opportunity to impress. The Brits Voting Academy is made up of 1,100 people from across the music industry but, in truth, it needs updating.”
He also pointed to how other awards shows were suffering from the same types of criticisms and why now was the perfect time to change the perceptions of them. “We’re not the only industry facing this issue. Hollywood is now looking hard at itself after last Sunday’s Oscars. Every part of society, not just the entertainment business, needs to step up and make sure it embraces its full range of talent.”
The Chairman then went on to outline his vision for the awards show in the future that would seek to ensure that, “ahead of 2017, the voting academy will, wherever possible, have equal male/female representation and at least 15% BAME participation, in line with national trends. As well as being more diverse in terms of age and region, so that it can be more truly representative of modern British music.”
Image: BBC