Black and White Music

In Black & White Music report I investigated a very small part of the music industry from the USA (0.09% musicians); more precisely, I investigated the contribution and the artistic merit (greater or lesser) of black artists (0.03%) and white artists (0.05%) in the production and writing of their albums. The artists investigated in this report are Taylor Swift, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan, Adele and Beck. I selected these artists because the music produced and released by them was used by various artists and journalists as examples of allegations of discrimination and racism which takes place in the music industry in the USA.

The aim of the research is split into 2 levels:

in the first level: I explored, analysed and created a comparative study about the contribution and the artistic merit of black and white artists in the production and writing of their albums; to achieve this aim, I added contribution and artistic merit into one bubble of research and treated the two concepts with the same meaning, then I divided the bubble into 8 points of research.  

the second level: is about using the findings from the eight points of research to offer a response to three conventional wisdom advanced by black artists and their supporters against the rules and awards offered by The Recording Academy.


Black & White Music report it is unique and original which investigates the artistic merit of six of the best artists in the music industry of the USA; in these pages, there is an advanced comparative analysis of the music released by famous artists that was never done before.

Black & White Music report was born out of the urgent need to confront and challenge the three conventional wisdom advanced by black artists and their supporters who feel and promote the idea of injustice regarding the music released.

Black & White Music report can be used to calm the realities of discrimination and racism and provides a point of reference of the quality, originality and novelty of the music investigated in these pages; also, it is for future artists waiting to be discovered, and what they need to expect once they are part of the music industry.


Second Edition July 2023