Through their ‘Ezra Collective Future Foundation’, the celebrated jazz group will offer five young black women the opportunity to “learn, grow and gain real industry experience with our behind the scenes team in May 2025.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ezra Collective Foundation (@ezracollectivefoundation)

Speaking on the foundations website, the band stated the importance of increasing representation within the music industry, saying: “Young black women are totally under-represented in the majority of behind the scenes music roles.

“A key issue is, in never seeing someone who looks or sounds like you, someone who has walked a similar path in life – a lot of young women instantly eliminate these career options as a possibility for themselves.

“Through the work of the Ezra Collective Foundation, we look to break that cycle, and help develop a new generation and community of empowered and experienced young black women.”

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by BBC Radio 6 Music (@bbc6music)

Multiple reports and studies support the view that there is a severe lack of racial representation within the music industry, both in entry-level positions and executive roles.

The 2022 UK Music Diversity Report found that there had been a ‘decrease in diverse ethnicity employees in entry-level positions’, falling from 34.6% in 2020 to 23.6% in 2022. 

It has also been proven to be a problem across the pond, as The University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that among 4,060 executives across 119 companies, white male executives outnumbered black women by 17.7 to one.

Dr Stacy L Smith, author of the Annenberg report, said: “Under-represented and black artists are dominating the charts, but the C-suite (executive level) is a ‘diversity desert.”

She continued: “The profile of top artists may give some in the industry the illusion that music is an inclusive business, but the numbers at the top tell a different story.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Annenberg Inclusion Initiative (@inclusionists)

Through this latest initiative, Ezra Collective aim to tackle this problem and “sidestep the assumption that in order to even get a first foot in the door, you need to have endless experience, contacts, training and/or a degree.”

They are offering opportunities in numerous roles including artist management, tour and production management, front of house/live sound, band leadership and backline technician.

The jazz quintet are one of the most exciting and fastest rising acts in British music today. They recently had the honour of closing the 2025 Brit Awards alongside Jorja Smith, after winning the award for ‘Group of The Year’ earlier in the night. Check out what mxdwn.co.uk had to say about the awards night here.

If you’re an 18+ year old black woman available to commit to 10 days of work between 15th-25th May then head to the Ezra Collective Foundation website to find more information. Applications are open from now until April 11th, you can apply here or email foundation@ezracollective.com if you have any questions.

Merky FC was inspired by the lack of leadership positions held by those with Black Heritage. The partnership currently “creates a multi-year career programme, and opportunities for those who do not currently have fair access and representation within the industry.”

Amidst the launch of their second season on the programme (beginning October 2023), Stormzy and Adidas have released a report that highlights the importance of allyship within the football industry.

In a recent report published by Merky FC, the partnership announced their expansion, as they increase the number of football industry positions they recruit for from 15 to 50. Both Stormzy and Adidas are calling on their allies to form part of a career programme, which will commence in January 2024.

#Merky FC is back, but this year, we’ve got to go bigger.

Share one of the 50 #MerkyFC roles with a friend now to change the game. https://t.co/pllMjqO5zv@adidasfootballpic.twitter.com/qXSodEy07V

— Stormzy (@stormzy) October 5, 2023

All roles will include placements with leading brands, that will offer work experience in an effort to change the game for Black and Black Heritage youth. The Merky FC partners offering placements in this season of the programme are:

Adidas
Arsenal FC
EA
Football Co (GOAL)
Fulham FC
Guild
Hill & Knowlton Strategies
Homeground
IMG
ITV
JOE
KSS
LADbible
Manchester United
#Merky FC
Scottish FA
SI Games
Sky Sports
Soccerbible
TEAM
The Midnight Club
Transferroom
Twelfth Man
Veo
Wasserman
Women In Football

According to the report, 56 per cent of young Black and mixed-Black heritage people aspire to work in the industry, yet only 6.7 per cent of senior roles in football are occupied by someone from this community, and this partnership aims to break through these barriers to entry and provide more representation within football.

A press release states “adidas and Stormzy understand that allyship alone cannot tackle the disparities within the industry, however by using the #Merky FC approach – referring candidates, mentorship programmes and establishing role models, believe this can be replicated across the industry to help boost representation. “

Those interested in registering their interest in the roles Merky FC are offering can do so by clicking here. The deadline for registering interest is October 19th.

“We’ll do what we try and do every year, which is live up to Emily’s idea of a gender-balanced bill,” Bragg said. In discussing the selection for artists, he said: “We aim for as near as possible 50/50 as we can get.”

“To try and reflect society as it is, rather than being just me! I’m really just the front person, our area manager, our head of production, our key person putting together the debates are all female.”

Bragg also praised Emily Eavis, showrunner of Glastonbury, for keeping the spirit of the festival alive. He said: “She’s helped to put her stamp on the festival, the way she’s helped to renew the idea of what Glastonbury is”.

Keeping with the theme of gender-balance, Billy’s beliefs reflect those of The 1975 frontman, Matty Healy. The lead singer declared the band’s intentions to play festivals with gender-balanced line-ups only. 

This was in response to journalist Laura Snapes, over the lack of female and non-binary artists for this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival. As a result, Healy promised: “Take this as me signing this contract – I have agreed to some festivals already that may not adhere to this and I would never let fans down who already have tickets.”

The ‘Frail State Of Mind’ vocalist added: “But from now I will and believe this is how male artist can be true allies.”

Bragg recently performed at Glastonbury 2019. In an NME review of his performance, he was awarded four of five stars.

The review read, “But closing the stage tonight with a cheerfully low-tech performance – just Bragg, his guitar and occasional help from his lead guitarist – the singer-songwriter showed there’s far more to him than barking about politics.”