Thanks to a joint investigation by BBC Three and the Guardian, allegations of sexual misconduct in opposition to the DJ Tim Westwood – claims he firmly denies – are lastly being heard. As I listened to the testimony of the seven girls who got here ahead, I had a robust sense of deja vu. Final 12 months I spoke to girls throughout the business for an additional BBC Three movie, Music’s Soiled Secrets and techniques, and plenty of tales mirrored these informed by Westwood’s accusers.
What I realized from making my movie, and in my analysis for a follow-up documentary, is that throughout the music business, there's a drawback with sexism, misogyny and sexual misconduct. It appears these on the high are solely moved to behave when there’s a serious scandal (and subsequently critical destructive publicity) brewing. A part of the issue is that proving allegations of sexual misconduct is notoriously onerous, particularly if these accused are highly effective and very litigious. But the #MeToo motion, which led to the downfall of the movie producer Harvey Weinstein and different highly effective figures, appears to have bypassed the music business solely, although many individuals I’ve spoken to imagine it's even worse than Hollywood.
Why? The problem of business gatekeepers got here up with virtually all the ladies I’ve spoken to inside music – and I’ve spoken to scores, from interns proper as much as executives and managers of Grammy and Brit award-winning acts. For a very long time, males have held the keys to the glamorous, enjoyable and horny world of music-making. Fascinated by growing a music act and turning into an A&R exec? Wish to fly world wide selling an artist’s work as a PR? Extra seemingly than not, you'll have to exhibit you’re good for amusing, can schmooze with one of the best of them, can get on with the person who’s more likely to be your boss – and, maybe, flip a blind eye to any shenanigans.
In some workplaces, girls say they've seen males watching porn on their computer systems, and brazenly discussing masturbation. There have been feedback from bosses concerning the tightness of their tops; their backs have been stroked suggestively at gigs; they’ve had sexually suggestive feedback whispered to them at awards events. And the ladies, by and huge, maintain their heads down. They chortle it off. To do something extra might spell the tip of a hard-fought-for profession. They're made to really feel that they’re dispensable, whereas the male exec, the supervisor, the artist – those that make the cash or management it – aren't.
One of many girls interviewed in my first movie was Kristen Knight, a DJ. She introduced rape costs in opposition to the DJ and label proprietor Erick Morillo, and informed me thatshe had initially reported what had occurred to colleagues, however that many had shunned her reasonably than supporting her. Morillo was discovered useless of a drug overdose simply days earlier than he was resulting from face costs in courtroom. Since his demise, a number of girls have come ahead to make comparable allegations.
In 2018 Lily Allen alleged in her guide, My Ideas Precisely, that she was the sufferer of a sexual assault by a music exec. Nearly everyone who’s anyone within the business thinks they know who Allen’s alleged assailant is, and that it’s somebody nonetheless working in music. Even when they're mistaken, the truth that so many individuals presume that there would have been no penalties for the accused following Allen’s allegation speaks volumes.
So what's the reply? In any case, whether it is proper that individuals are harmless till confirmed responsible, then it follows that an individual can't have their livelihood destroyed on the idea of 1 allegation. It’s actually difficult for a document label to sack them on that foundation.
The issue is that many document labels don't even appear to strive. In case you are making your means into the business, the chances are high that you’ll work for an impartial document label. When you’re assaulted by the proprietor of that firm, or the artist, then who are you able to go to to complain? There are sometimes no HR buildings in place, and even the place they do exist, which HR individual goes to scrutinise their boss, or the individual upon whom a sizeable proportion of the enterprise mannequin depends? And it’s a small world. When you rock the boat, girls have informed me, you’re labelled a troublemaker, and you might even end up frozen out of jobs in different firms. This lack of inside recourse can go away girls with solely two choices: calling out their abuser in public, with all of the connected dangers, or staying quiet.
The accountability must be even larger for the key document labels and revered music our bodies, the place there are HR programs in place. However I’ve been informed by dozens of girls that once they have made complaints to HR workers, the response has ranged from being gaslit, ignored, threatened with lawsuits, required to signal NDAs or quietly let go. In a single instance, a junior member of workers informed me she had revealed that she had been raped the night time earlier than by one of many bosses, and the response from her supervisor was temporary sympathy, however nothing extra. In one other, an investigation was referred to as after allegations of inappropriate touching. The person in query was quietly shuffled out of the constructing and given a glowing reference within the music press with greatest needs for his future. The girl says she was compelled to signal an NDA. And so the cycle continues.
It's price highlighting that each one seven of the ladies who got here ahead to make allegations about Tim Westwood are black. They allege he abused his place and energy to prey upon them – actually, the subtitle of the movie is Abuse of Energy. If a white girl feels an absence of assist amongst her friends and seniors when making allegations of sexual misconduct, their testimony suggests the problem is compounded for black and brown girls, who usually must work even more durable to make it within the business.
Music might not have had its #MeToo second, however these within the business are more and more coming collectively to assist each other. There are extra feminine execs, extra female-owned ventures, and larger consciousness of what's and isn’t acceptable behaviour. Final month, former Atlantic A&R govt Dorothy Carvello launched her basis, Face the Music Now, to supply a protected area for girls to report their abuse and to assist them discover authorized counsel. And it’s not simply girls. Lots of the folks I’ve spoken to are males fed up of seeing their colleagues expertise abuse, solely to then be minimised and dismissed.
The music business has in its midst a number of artists, managers and execs who've been accused of sexual misconduct. It has the instruments to analyze and take allegations critically. It’s time to make use of them.
Tamanna Rahman is a film-maker based mostly in London
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