Professor Mykaell Riley has contributed to and sat on the Steering Group of Parliament’s landmark Black Music Means Business Report, the first European study to quantify the commercial contribution of Black music to the UK economy across 30 years of recorded music. The report draws upon Professor Riley’s Beyond the Bassline research, which outlines the profound impact of Black British musicians on the UK music industry, revealing that Black music has contributed an estimated 80% of the UK’s £30 billion recorded music market since 1994. The report has been covered extensively in national press including The Guardian.
Commissioned by UK Music and initiated by the UK Music Diversity Taskforce, the report was released on 17 March and draws on extensive industry data, interviews and roundtables with around 80 executives and artists. It provides the first official definition of “Black Music” and maps more than 130 genres across three tiers, demonstrating the scale and influence of Black British creativity. The research, conducted by Counterculture, reveals that Black music has contributed an estimated 80% of the UK’s £30 billion recorded music market since 1994.
The report’s economic analysis is built on a genre classification framework drawn directly from the work from Professor Riley, Director for the Black Music Research Unit (BMRU) and Principal Investigator for Bass Culture Research at the University of Westminster, and Dr Aleema Gray, Lead Curator of the Beyond the Bassline exhibition at The British Library.
The report states that no previous work has mapped Black British genres as comprehensively as the Beyond the Bassline research, with their identification of 29 Black British music genres being used in the report to highlight that these genres have generated over £1.24 billion of the market in the last 30 years and continue to grow in economic importance. Building on this, the study identified 138 genres with roots in Black musical traditions.
This is the second occasion in which BMRU research has reached Parliament. The 2017 Grime Report, part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded Bass Culture project, contributed directly to a change in London Metropolitan policing and the removal of Form 696, a risk assessment form used by police to gather information on music events and performers, widely criticised for disproportionately targeting grime and other Black-led music scenes.
Despite the global success of Black British music, the report reveals an ongoing opportunity gap, with Black artists and experts facing disparities in pay, representation and career progression. To address these challenges, the report sets out eight recommendations, including improved funding for Black music spaces, recognition of Black music in education, stronger export support and more equitable industry partnerships. Several of the recommendations align directly with the BMRU’s active research programme, including the AHRC-funded Equalize project on music in schools and the BBC Boarders collaboration that has now generated over 50 IMDB credits for Westminster students across three series.
Professor Riley joined industry leaders, policymakers and cultural figures at the launch event at Speaker’s House in Parliament on 18 March, which also celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Music Of Black Origin (MOBO) organisation, the annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in music of black origin.
Professor Riley’s involvement reflects Westminster’s leadership in Black music research and its commitment to supporting a fairer and more inclusive music industry through the work of the BMRU.
Speaking to The Guardian, Professor Riley said: “Black music is popular music. It’s not that the report has discovered that; it’s that it’s backing up and underpinning what people already know in the industry with hard data. What makes the report special is recognising that the DNA of black music is not just who’s creating it, but it’s the long tail of influence. We need to support music in education and a change in the psychology and perceptions of what is popular music in Britain.”
Professor Riley’s contribution towards the report directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4: Quality Education, 10: Reduced Inequalities and 17: Partnerships for the Goals. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
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