Mint Records’ Inclusive and Respectful Industry Initiative:
In February of 2020, Mint received an Industry Initiatives grant through Amplify BC for our Inclusive and Respectful Industry Initiative project. We graciously acknowledge the funding support for this project from Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia.
We would also like to thank Elevate Inclusion for leading us through this work, and to our friends in the industry and our artists who participated in the various steps of this work.
About the project:
As a commitment to making foundational changes at our label, we embarked on a project that sought to develop codes of conduct, supported by policies and procedures, a resource database and templates that could be made accessible to the public for wide use with the intention of creating a safer and more inclusive industry.
Background:
Since the rise of the #MeToo movement in October 2017, a new conversation has opened up in the mainstream media, illuminating some of the horrific conditions under which some have been surviving in the industry. For many this was not new information, however alongside the increased public consciousness around safety, exclusion and underrepresentation of marginalized workers in the industry, there has been an influx of diversity and inclusion initiatives. However well-intentioned the dialogue has been, the structural change needed to truly accommodate and support diverse artists, audiences and industry workers goes well beyond the minor changes that have come about on a surface level. There is still a great deal of foundational work to be done in order to build a truly inclusive and safe music industry.
We recognize that the foundational change has to start with our own business’ policies and procedures. Without this backbone the movement is meaningless and relegated to lip service to safety and inclusion without action. We intend to invite others to join us in making changes to create a new industry standard so that the work of building and maintaining truly safe, respectful and inclusive work environments does not fall solely on the shoulders of those who are hurt most by some of the antiquated and oppressive systems that are still firmly in place.
We have been gauging interest in collaboration and meaningful partnerships with our peers in the industry and the topic seems to be met with overwhelming enthusiasm. We encourage other labels and anyone else interested in this pursuit to use the templates and resources we’ve compiled in this project, and to follow suit by building their own policies and procedures so that we can rebuild the industry in a more safe, collaborative and meaningful way.
This work is never done, and these documents are intended to be living documents, reviewed and updated regularly.
Sample Safety Rider for Venues (2021)
