New Black Music Incubator Launches To Empower Northern Music Creatives

CITY OF LIVERPOOL, LIVERPOOL CITY REGION.

New Black Music Incubator Launches To Empower Northern Music Creatives

Liverpool City Region Music Board’s Yaw Owusu (Credit: Robin Clewley/Supplied/Image was provided to The Liverpudlian with permission to share, courtesy of the Publicist on behalf of their client. We make no claim to this content).

• The OPEN SAUCE x Generator - Black Music Incubator Project is created to support Black industry professionals by giving them practical industry experience outside London.

• A viable industry model designed and led by Yaw Owusu, in partnership with Generator, who eye future nationwide implementation.

A collaboration between a range of Northern cultural organisations and music industry heavyweights is aiming to create new opportunities for Black music creatives.

Generator, the North-East headquartered music development organisation, and Nothin But The Music (NBTM), a Liverpool-based creative and cultural consultancy, has joined forces to launch The OPEN SAUCE x Generator - Black Music Incubator Project as a means to open doors for Black artists and musical creatives into the industry.

The initiative is part of the Liverpool City Region’s Music Industry Sector Development Pilot which was created thanks to the work of the LCR Music Board’s Black Music Action Group (BMAG).

Funded through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Strategic Investment Fund, it has been designed to deliver Black musical creatives tangible industry experience. The scheme is also winning fans from a number of influential organisations and industry record labels, including UNESCO City of Music, Interval Records and Warner Music UK.

The programme was partly developed as a response to the groundbreaking and influential ReMap Report*, which was released in April this year, and underlined the enormous gap in opportunities for those underrepresented in the music industry, particularly in cities like Liverpool, and across the North.

The report was led by Liverpool City Region Music Board’s Yaw Owusu, Dr Matthew Flynn who is a Senior Lecturer in Music Industries at the University of Liverpool, Vocal Coach and Music Mentor Jennifer John, and Kevin McManus who is the Head of UNESCO City of Music for Liverpool.

“Creating a national model from this is not only feasible, but also the collective goal all involved are striving for. This is just the start and will ensure Black music creators and industry professionals based in the North-East, the North-West and the North generally get better access, more opportunity and platforms and networks to ensure their skills are recognised.” - Mick Ross, CEO at Generator.

Mick Ross, CEO at Generator says he sees the success of the one-year pilot as pivotal in replicating the model across other parts of the UK. He said: “The OPEN SAUCE x Generator - Black Music Incubator Project is designed to advance emerging talent from all sides of the industry while filling the gap of the notorious skills shortage at present. The core mission is to provide work experience with a real living wage to those underrepresented.”

He said: “Creating a national model from this is not only feasible, but also the collective goal all involved are striving for. This is just the start and will ensure Black music creators and industry professionals based in the North-East, the North-West and the North generally get better access, more opportunity and platforms and networks to ensure their skills are recognised.”

Mick added: “The launch of this project ties in perfectly with the MOBO’s coming to Newcastle in February 2025 and will see us scale up our commitment, via local authority support, to produce an ambitious and impactful MOBO fringe programme focused on Black music.”

Also leading The OPEN SAUCE x Generator - Black Music Incubator Project is Yaw Owusu, founder of Nothin But The Music and a longtime advocate of creating a more inclusive music industry. Currently working on the PRS foundation’s Power Up as a senior manager, he’s a specialist in the design and delivery of musical and cultural projects, programmes and initiatives.

Yaw Owusu, Member of the Liverpool City Region Music Board & Founder of Nothin But The Music, said: “There’s been a lot of work done around equality and equity for Black music creators and industry professionals, but there remains a real need to do something impactful and tangible for those individuals who want to have a fair shot at launching a career in the music industry.”

The project is already identifying talented candidates, including Liverpool rapper KOJ, who has already released two singles ahead of his much anticipated debut EP ‘Villain With a Conscience’. He’s already been earmarked as ‘the future of UK rap’ by influential music publication, Oculate.

Another artist joining the project is Remée, a genre-bending artist who’s already worked on commercial projects with the likes of Levi’s and Size? She’s another who’s utilising the project as she gears up for a string of boundary-pushing releases.

Liverpool artist Remée (Credit: Kieran Irvine/Supplied/Image was provided to The Liverpudlian with permission to share, courtesy of the Publicist on behalf of their client. We make no claim to this content).

Hannah-Morga Ipinson-Fleming, an exciting artist in her own right, has been undertaking paid marketing experience work with Interval Records, and Menelek Brown, who has been working on A&R (Artists and Repertoire) for the label are two others now involved in the project, and have been able to spend valuable time with industry professionals both at Interval and Nothin But The Music, and have just been assigned mentors at Warner Music UK to accelerate their growth with further, week long paid internship roles there.

Menelek Brown, who is on paid marketing experience working on A&R at Interval Records, said: “This project has already changed the trajectory of my career. The opportunities it has given me to work with top artists and industry professionals to work on live and impactful projects has been an exhilarating experience. Additionally, having access to TheWRD course has been great. It’s well-informed and easy to understand and digest. This whole experience has propelled my career and given me the confidence, skill set and connections to go to the next level. Most of all, the team are some of the most supportive, passionate and kind people I have had the pleasure of getting to know and work with.”

“We’re delighted to be collaborating with Yaw and Generator on such a powerful initiative. Interval Records’ involvement in the programme allows us to play a role in upskilling talented Black professionals and at the same time facilitate label opportunities for Black artists, addressing underrepresentation across two parts of the industry in tandem.” - Josh Daniel, Label Lead at Interval Records.

Josh Daniel, Interval Records’ Label Head, said: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with Yaw and Generator on such a powerful initiative. Interval Records’ involvement in the programme allows us to play a role in upskilling talented Black professionals and at the same time facilitate label opportunities for Black artists, addressing underrepresentation across two parts of the industry in tandem. We’ve already seen impactful results and it’s undoubtedly a national model in the making. Rolling this out across the country could be groundbreaking.”

Cllr Mike Wharton, Deputy Mayor of the Liverpool City Region and Cabinet Member for Business, Investment and Trade, said: “Following the recommendations identified in the ReMap report earlier this year, I’m pleased to see this project proactively tackling issues including those around equality and equity for Black artists and music creators in the industry.

Cllr Wharton added: “I hope it will see more opportunities for Black industry professionals endeavouring to grow a career in the music industry and support the creation of a more inclusive music industry as we move forward.”

Josh Daniel, Label Lead at Interval Records (Credit: Megan Savage/Supplied/Image was provided to The Liverpudlian with permission to share, courtesy of the Publicist on behalf of their client. We make no claim to this content).

*The ReMap Report was a specific study carried out between 2021 and 2023 to offer a detailed overview of how Black people contribute to, and participate in, the Liverpool region’s music sector and the specific challenges they face in doing so.

Its Main Findings Were:

• Issues of racism and other forms of discrimination in the Liverpool City Region (LCR) were consistent with existing UK-wide data on the issue.

• That a small, but significant number of highly experienced Black music practitioners have developed sustainable music industry careers living and working in Liverpool.

• Opportunities for Black musicians to perform and develop as performers in Liverpool is highly dependent on just a few critical venues and events

• A considerable amount of informal mentoring already takes place, but places responsibilities on those mentors who lack necessary training or time to fulfil the requirements of the role

• An indication that structural racism is most evident within Liverpool City Region music sector workplaces, across the live sector and on social media. 

Its Main Recommendations Were:

• For the Liverpool City Regional Music Board (LCRMB) to produce a clear Black music strategy that balances competing regional and national agendas, working towards an agreed set of prioritised aims around policies, strategies and initiatives that business and organisations across the sector can adopt and apply in tackling direct and indirect racism.  

• For the LCRMB to work with talent development programmes to target and secure higher-level funding, specifically aimed at elevating the local and national profiles of LCR-based Black artists and industry professionals engaged in contemporary Black music scenes.

• For LCRMB to conduct feasibility studies on opening and operating a dedicated Black music hub / space

• For the LCRMB to allocate a portion of the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) Training and Development budget towards devising and delivering a professional network scheme for emerging LCR Black music creators, creatives and industry professionals. 

• Supporting UK Music’s Music Manifesto pledge to progress diversity and inclusion, the LCRMB are to work with the LCR’s Race and Equality hub to build alliances and partnerships nationally, focused on DEI and anti-Black racism within the UK music industry.

Kevin McManus, Head of UNESCO City of Music for Liverpool, said: “We’re delighted that the Liverpool City Region Music Board, through the Combined Authority’s Strategic Investment Fund, has been able to support such an impressive initiative. I hope other local authorities and organisations will take the initiative and think dynamically by following this model.”