Grime music is ‘under threat’ from discrimination, warn rappers and MPs

The future of grime music is in danger, according to artists and MPs. A new report into the UK’s live music scene by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee found that rap and hip-hop artists face significant discrimination from music venues.

Despite the commercial and critical success of artists like Stormzy and Skepta, grime musicians often have their gigs cancelled at short notice after venues raise “unfounded concerns” over licensing.

“Prejudices against grime artists risks stifling one of the UK's most exciting musical exports,” MPs say in the report. The committee comprises a mixture of Conservative, Labour and SNP politicians.

During hearings, grime artist ShaoDow told MPs about his experience of British music venues. “A few years ago I was doing a club tour around the country,” he explained to Sky News. “On the day I was due to arrive at one of the clubs, I phoned up the venue beforehand to check everything was in order and the venue said, ‘Oh, I’ve just realised you make hip hop. We can't do that here because we will lose our licence’.”

According to the DCMS committee’s report, gigs and festivals account for almost one quarter of the music industry’s ￡4.5bn annual contribution to the UK economy.

The review also warned consumers to be wary of the popular ticket resale site, Viagogo. MPs found that the site, which allows sellers to set sky-high ticket prices and omit important details, used “misleading sales practices.” They concluded that the company had “caused distress to too many music fans for too long.” Last month, The Telegraph’s Paul Kendall found that opera- and theatregoers frequently felt swindled by the site.

A spokesman for Viagogo said: “We are disappointed that the DCMS have singled us out particularly, when hundreds of thousands of British citizens use our service to buy and sell tickets to their favorite live events every day and never experience any problems.”