The music industry has exploited Black artists since its inception — and the call for reparations is growing | CBC Documentaries LoadedLittle Richard and Nina Simone are just two of countless legendary Black artists who didn't receive fair pay for their work. Watch Paid in Full: The Battle for Black Music on CBC Gem. The music industry wouldn't be what it is today without the contributions of Black artists.
"There's no music industry without Black input, right? Without the Black culture. And yet, the fortunes were made for all these people but very rarely for the people who created anything."Reparations are "measures to redress violations of human rights by providing a range of material and symbolic benefits to victims or their families as well as affected communities," according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"I want somebody to go back historically and see where royalties should be paid," she said. "For those who've been exploited by the music industry, I want people to take a look at the deals that were not ethically sound and that took advantage of a particular group or person."'There was serious economic harm, but there was also very, very powerful trauma to artists'
Bessie Smith, who was known as the Empress of the Blues, had a particularly bad arrangement in the 1920s and '30s. Myers cites the example of Stéphane Moraille, the Black singer featured on Montreal band Bran Van 3000's 1997 hit" who was erased from the marketing and promotion of the song, despite the fact that she was behind its identifiable chorus., award-winning Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon discusses his experience with a 360 record deal he signed at 19.