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

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October 14, 2026

Aamna Mohdin, The Guardian

Indie, pop and rock events face comparatively little scrutiny, according to the Race Equality in Music Event Licensing report. Photograph: Kingsley Davis/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Live News.

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.

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.

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