London live music loses £141m a year to licensing bias, report finds

London's Black and South Asian live music scene loses up to £141 million ($185 million) a year to racial bias in licensing, a two-year investigation has concluded.

The Race Equality in Music Event Licensing report, shortened to REMEL, was published by Black Lives in Music. The investigation drew in the Greater London Authority, the Metropolitan Police Service, U.K. Music, the live industry body LIVE and the Musicians' Union, according to Billboard.

The report says Black-led events are disproportionately cancelled, restricted or blocked compared with white-led events. It says genres including afrobeats, hip-hop, R&B and dancehall are frequently flagged as "high risk". It also says Temporary Event Notices, the short-term permits used for one-off shows and late-night openings, are more likely to be refused in London's most diverse boroughs.

The money involved is large. The report estimates £1.1 billion ($1.45 billion) was spent in London on Black and South Asian live music in 2024. It puts the loss over the past five years at £650 million ($856 million). The yearly loss is put at between £127 million and £141 million in lost spend, according to Music Week.

That history matters. From 2008 to 2017, London promoters faced Form 696, a Metropolitan Police risk assessment that asked for the type of music to be performed and the ethnic make-up of the likely audience. The form was scrapped in 2017.

The report points to a recent case. Blue Note London had its venue licence opposed by the Metropolitan Police on "crime and disorder" grounds. Westminster City Council first granted the licence with reduced opening hours. It later granted the licence as applied for after a petition signed by 3,000 members of the public.

Charisse Beaumont is chief executive of Black Lives in Music, which led the REMEL work.

For fans, this means choice is shaped before a ticket ever goes on sale. A refusal or shorter hours can move a show, cut capacity or take a venue out of reach for certain tours.

For workers, the effect builds show by show. Each restriction trims bookings for artists, promoters, security, bar staff and crew.