Barriers facing black and south Asian music events ‘cost London up to £141m a year’

Key points

• A two-year investigation found that black and south Asian music events in London face disproportionate cancellations, restrictions and licensing barriers compared with white events.
• The REMEL report estimates these barriers cost London £127m to £141m annually, with projected losses exceeding £650m over five years.
• The report makes 19 recommendations, including more transparent, evidence-based licensing decisions and an independent review.

Black and south Asian music events in London face disproportionate cancellations, restrictions and licensing barriers compared with white events, according to a two-year investigation into racial inequality in the capital's live music industry.

The Race Equality in Music Event Licensing (REMEL) report, led by Black Lives in Music, estimates that cancellations, displacement and events prevented from taking place cost London £127m to £141m annually, with projected losses exceeding £650m over five years.

Genres labelled high risk

The report found that genres including Afrobeats, drill and dancehall are routinely labelled "high risk" despite a lack of credible evidence, while indie, pop and rock events face comparatively little scrutiny. Other events facing stringent restrictions included reggae gatherings aimed at older audiences, jazz nights and community events.

The research raised concerns over the use of unverified police intelligence, with promoters describing events being cancelled based on undisclosed information, online searches or unrelated incidents. Researchers found that promoters received little explanation for cancellations, faced substantial security costs and had limited opportunities to challenge decisions.

Our focus will remain on making fair, evidence-based contributions to the licensing process which balance the interests of venues, promoters, artists and local communities while never compromising on our ultimate priority which is to keep Londoners safe

— Neerav Patel

What officials said

Charisse Beaumont, chief executive of Black Lives in Music, said that although the investigation focused on London, the problems it uncovered exist nationwide. For Beaumont, the discrimination extended far beyond specific music genres: "It's about race. And that's what's so deeply sad about it."

Hakeem Stevens, the report's lead researcher, said police scrutiny had become harder to document. He said black and Asian performers faced disproportionate scrutiny, adding: "You've got white artists that perform black music, and they don't get given that level of scrutiny." The Met police commander Neerav Patel said the force would carefully consider the report's findings.