London Music Masters rolls out diversity audit tool

Building strategies to dispel racism and drive change.  The music education charity makes its self-analysis tool free to encourage greater accountability and systemic change within the music sector.

In response to the longstanding need for more inclusivity and diversity within the music industry, London Music Masters and consulting firm AlixPartners co-developed I’M IN, a diversity and inclusion audit tool for the music industry

London Music Masters is making the audit free for 30 music organisations, from smaller organisations to larger ones, from conservatoires to music charities, and from for-profit organisations to non-profit, in a committed effort to get as many facets of the industry involved in effecting long-lasting change

I’M IN, the Inclusive Music Index, provides an opportunity for arts organisations to have a deeper response to the Black Lives Matter movement by enabling organisations to see themselves more clearly from a diversity and inclusion perspective through a set of challenging, provocative questions.

The audit tool requires organisations to self-assess against more than 100 questions themed around ten core elements ranging from recruitment to organisational culture. This nuanced approach shines a light on a myriad of structural and interconnected aspects, allowing organisations to re-evaluate and correct their practices and policies in terms of inclusion and understanding

The tool requires organisations to upload evidence to validate self-reporting, before assessment is carried out by London Music Masters supported by Diversity & Inclusion specialists from a range of music and non-music businesses. These assessors review the submission and provide music organisations with a deep report on their results, and a roadmap for progression

The evidence required to support high self-assessment scores can take any form, from documents displaying diversity and inclusion principles embedded in strategic planning, to job descriptions indicative of inclusive recruitment and retention strategies

The tool is designed to be an annual audit so that companies can measure progress over time

The 30 music organisations who sign up for I’M IN will get three of the ten strands free. These strands are Motivation, Leadership and Organisational Culture

Music organisations will be able to sign up to be one of the free 30 users here or at org/im-in. Applications are open from 6 July – 17 July

London Music Masters will announce the I’M IN cohort on 24 July. The 30 selected users will then be asked to submit their responses to the free strands by 17 August, before they will receive their feedback from specialists by 1 October

Users can access the entire annual audit for £800, which otherwise is behind a paywall

Speaking of I’M IN, LMM’s Executive Director Rob Adediran said: “The music sector has been grappling with diversity and inclusion for decades, and largely failing. Now for the first time we have come together with colleagues from many different music organisations to create a solution that acknowledges the complexities surrounding the diversity debate and provides system-level thinking to a systemic problem. This is not a new initiative that can be bolted onto existing structures, this is about organisational change.”

I’M IN was developed in 2017, with 10 music organisations involved in the initial development

Founded in 2008 by Victoria Robey, London Music Masters teaches 1,300 children each week to play the violin or the cello. Of these children, 41% are eligible for free school meals. In some of its schools, up to 70% of children come from disadvantaged backgrounds.