Managers Form Black Music Action Coalition
• On Tuesday June 2, 2020, the music industry went silent for one day to join the fight for equality as part of #TheShowMustBePaused. This movement has spread beyond the business and inspired tens of millions worldwide to follow suit. Galvanized by this historic moment, 30-plus preeminent artist managers, attorneys, business managers, agents and other industry executives joined forces to institute and introduce the first-ever Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC). Fittingly, the group chose to announce the news on the heels of Juneteenth.
This advocacy organization endeavors to uphold and actualize the mission of Black Lives Matter in the music industry and reach racial justice not just across labels, publishers, agencies, distributors, and DSP’s but throughout society at large. First up, BMAC laid out in their open letter to the industry (posted online) the urgent need to meet with each organization’s CEO, senior management and the heads of their newly formed task-forces to directly address systemic racism head-on and put plans in place for long-term and lasting change. BMAC will work together with these leaders to hold their companies accountable and implement a system of checks and balances to ensure change actually takes root. The group will also foster and shepherd various education, mental health, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, policing, social justice and political causes that directly impact Black communities. Many of the industry’s biggest artists endorsed BMAC’s open letter as a pledge of support to the Coalition’s initiatives.
Together, these individuals form one common voice, representing the interests of artists, producers, songwriters and executives. In the fight for racial equality, BMAC will advance the interests of these stakeholders in matters of equality and racial injustice.
BMAC is advised by an advisory board consisting of Clarence Avant, Irving Azoff, Quincy Jones and Ron Sweeney, and led by founding executive committee members Ashaunna Ayars (Founder, The Ayars Agency), Binta Brown (Music Executive/Artist Manager), Jamil Davis (CEO, The Revels Group), Shawn “Tubby” Holiday (Columbia Records, Co-Head of Urban), Prophet (Artist Manager/ Activist), Damien Smith (Artist Manager, Fullstop Management), Courtney Stewart (Founder, Righthand Co./Co-Founder, Keep Cool Records/Artist Manager to Khalid), and Caron Veazey (Music Executive/Artist Manager) and includes additional founding members Dre London (Founder, London Entertainment Inc./Artist Manager to Post Malone), Cortez “Tez” Bryant (Blueprint Group), Damien Granderson(Attorney, Granderson DesRoches LLP), and Anthony Saleh (Founder, Emagen Entertainment/Artist Manager to Nas & Future) among others.
BMAC partners and allies include Jeffrey Azoff (Fullstop Management/Artist Manager), Doug Davis(Attorney, The Davis Firm), Andrew Gertler (Founder, AG Artists LLC/Artist Manager to Shawn Mendes), Jennifer Justice (Founder, The Justice Dept.), Dina Lapolt (Attorney, Lapolt Law), Danny Rukasin (Artist Manager to Billie Eilish, FINNEAS & Oliver Riot), Ty Stiklorius (Founder/CEO, Friends at Work), Justin Sweeney (Attorney) and Lou Taylor (CEO, Tri Star Sports and Entertainment Group).
