Black Lives in Music has created an industry-wide code of conduct that’s designed to raise standards and tackle discrimination in the music industry.

The code, endorsed by the U.K.’s Independent Standards Authority, will launch at the beginning of 2023 and be implemented in spring.

It covers issues such as discriminatory behavior, micro-aggressions, support mechanisms for staff, mandatory anti-racism training, equal pay and contracts, career progression and achieving proportionate representation in the artist, technical and production communities.

The code “will have the power to investigate the most serious and complex cases of bullying and harassment, as well as advocating for positive culture and discrimination,” BLIM Chief Exec Charisse Beaumont said.

“It will have legal expertise behind it as well. There are pockets of support, but if you're looking for help, where do you go? That's why it's really important to have that overarching, strong messaging of consequence, of protection. That you do not have to have fear of retaliation. And I think that can be found with the ISA.”

The code follows Part I of BLIM’s Being Black in the U.K. Music Industry report, which was published last year. The survey revealed that the majority of those who took part (1.7k participants) had experienced direct or indirect acts of racism in the music industry.

The majority (88%) also agreed that there are barriers to advancement for Black music professionals and findings detailed a racial pay gap.