The Hyundai Mercury prize shortlist, announced on Thursday, was met with a chorus of approval from a broad sweep of critics and fans alike. An unusual feat. The list of 12 was a curation of British music at its best – vivid, eclectic and very much of the moment. The judging panel said: “This is music to make sense of our unsettling times – heartfelt, angry, thoughtful and thrilling.”
That is what art does at its best – captures where we are as a society, tells our many stories and is accepting of life. And that’s why it was great to see a list that was acclaimed, popular and representative of modern Britain. In addition to big names such as Bowie and Radiohead, the list included artists from diverse backgrounds including Skepta and Kano, Laura Mvula, Michael Kiwanuka, Bat for Lashes, and Jamie Woon – as well as the acclaimed transgender artist Anohni who was previously the lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons.
Talent is everywhere, but often the high-profile opportunities to recognise and celebrate a wide range of artists can be missed. I don’t think the organisers deliberately set out to create such a right-on, rich mix – the choice was entirely in the hands of the 12 independent judges – but it is to their huge credit that they took the time and effort to make sure the panel embraced a broad range of musical tastes and cultural genres. It includes people such as Jessie Ware, Jarvis Cocker and Annie Mac but also Naughty Boy and Clara Amfo, ensuring that grime and urban music – which has been ragingly popular for some time with anyone under 30 – were supported as strongly as indie music, pop, jazz and rock.
David Wilkinson, the chairman of the Mercury prize, told me that the heart of the awards was about recognising artistic achievement rather than commercial success – although making the list will clearly help that endeavour. They have shown that by widening the pool and being open-minded you can find tremendous talent across genres and champion home-grown artists from different walks of life – which is exactly what the music industry should do.
Music is one of our most important cultural expressions – it’s the magic glue that binds our increasingly diverse communities together, the common soundtrack to our lives. Not only are we a nation that loves our music, we are also very good at it. British music is having a golden age in terms of success in Europe, Asia and America. An industry colleague told me that he recently saw the grime sensation Stormzy pack out a massive club in Beverly Hills and was amazed to see that every person there knew every single lyric to every song. The talent we have is uniquely British and it’s storming the globe.
British music prides itself on having diverse artists and it is more inclusive than other creative sectors, such as television and film. But this diversity should also be better reflected in the behind-the-scenes executive talent that shapes and leads the business. Technological advances mean the industry is evolving rapidly – how fans listen to music and business models are constantly changing – but it needs to make sure its executives are in touch with the audience’s changing demographics.
The industry has embarked on an important and timely strand of work to improve this. It is being led by Keith Harris – who managed Stevie Wonder and is one of the most senior, well-respected black managers in British music – and Ged Doherty, who chairs the British Phonographic Industry which runs the Brit awards and who used to run Sony Music UK.
The first crucial step is to get a snapshot of what the workforce actually looks like. This has been done in few creative sectors, and although it is ambitious, it is vital to aid transparency. UK Music, which represents the whole music industry, is currently conducting its first diversity survey across major and independent record labels, publishers, rights collectors, the live sector and the Musicians’ Union. Once that data is in, the industry needs to commit to moving the needle in the right direction on race and gender – from entry-level internships, right through to the senior positions at the top of record companies.
The Brit awards has also surveyed its voting academy of music enthusiasts and is in the process of refreshing it to make it more representative on gender and ethnicity. The Brits is the most successful music awards show in Europe and it knows it has to be in touch with music fans.
The OscarsSoWhite scandal was a bit of a wake-up call. Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not. Culture and art are like politics in many ways: essential and vital to society. An expression of who we are and who we want to be. And at their best, they are of the people and for the people. As the Mercury list has shown, if you can open your hearts and minds, you can fuse great talent, diversity and critical acclaim and help make a bit of sense of our unsettled world.
