Black Artist Database’s NIKS & DJ Westfa on creating equitable music spaces for the Black diaspora

In episode eight, Nico is joined by NIKS and DJ Westfa. NIKS is the Co-Founder of the Black Artist Database (B.A.D), a crowd-sourced list of Black artists, producers and labels, while DJ Westfa is the organisation’s Events Coordinator.

B.A.D was launched in 2020 in response to the murder of George Floyd and "to surface the richness of creative talent from the global Black diaspora, in pursuit of wage equity, transparency and stable employment for our extended creative communities.” It has since expanded to include events, a record label and workshops with the likes of Ableton.

They cover:

The origins of B.A.D as a Google spreadsheet

How Bandcamp aided B.A.D’s development

The B.A.D record label

If the music industry has changed for the better for Black people

The need for diverse club and festival lineups 

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