A Bristol-based management company has launched a new initiative to foster diverse talent within the music industry.
With the help of Youth Music, Harbourside Artist Management's Disability Empowerment Programme was created to enhance disability representation in music. The programme sees the company bring on a young manager with a disability, long-term health condition or neurodiversity to develop a fully funded EP, a full marketing campaign and music video alongside a chosen band or artist who identifies similarly.
Both the manager and artist joining the programme will be in the 18-25 age bracket, in order to address the lack of opportunities for young people who identify as having a disability.
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Previously, Harbourside Artist Management has worked with renowned artists who identify as having disabilities as well as championing disability inclusion, such as Lachi and Viktoria Modesta. However, as a result of an internal investigation, which found that only 1.8% of music industry workers identified as having a disability, Harbourside Management believed it was time to actively change that statistic.
The programme has since taken on Birmingham-based artist TU3SDAY (Jae Tallawah), who joined Harbourside to seek visibility as a Black, gender queer music artist with a disability.
With the support and guidance of the programme, Jae has since released their first single, Evil Eye, on July 15, with their four-track EP Love + Rage to debut on August 5. Such backing for their music release included the budget for production, marketing, artwork and a music video to the total value of £5000, with the additional help of Virgin Music UK Distribution, who offered their services to the campaign upon learning about the need for more opportunities for people of disabilities in the music industry.
Meanwhile, the Youth Music funded initiative was formed with the appointment of 21 year-old George Buckthought, who was appointed by Harbourside as the programme's intern/manager during their six month paid placement.
Speaking on their role, George said: “The initiative came at a perfect time for me, as well as gave me the autonomy to improve my skills in A&R and management. Jae’s EP celebrates their Queerness, Blackness and Disability - each song is a banger. It’s been a blessing to come onto the project and give Jae the chance to fully express their musical talent.“
Owner of Harbourside Artist Management Ben Price hopes the Disability Empowerment Programme can be the start of making much needed improvements in the industry and beyond. As the company aims to continue amplifying every voice, Harbourside believes by fighting to remove barriers in the music industry for young people, it can prompt others to take accountability and action.
Ben said: “We’ve identified a problem in our consultation last year, now we’re doing our bit to try and solve it. The programme has exceeded our expectations in the first year and we’re incredibly proud to have had Jae on board as our first artist.
"They are the perfect ambassador for a more equitable music industry. In George Buckthought I believe we have seen the beginnings of what will be a long and successful career as a music manager. We’re so happy to have been able to work with both of them”.
For more information on the programme, you can visit the Harbourside website by clicking here for further options.
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