A year ago — in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and a contentious reexamination of race in America — an array of artists, songwriters, managers, producers, lawyers, and other music executives came together to form the Black Music Action Coalition , a nonprofit group dedicated to holding the slow-to-change music business accountable for its theatrical diversity pledges.
The wryly named “MIA Report Card,” short for “Music Industry Action Report Card,” grades dozens of organizations, from the Recording Academy to Spotify and Apple Music to Live Nation and AEG to record labels, on how thoroughly they have followed through on their June 2020 vows to elevate black employees, financially commit to racial justice initiatives, and/or take other steps to rectify decades-long legacies of racism in boardrooms while profiting off of black artists.