The Battle For Black Music: Paid In Full

Episode
Episode Three
Broadcast Info
2024 (58 mins)
Description
This series charts the shocking story of how some of music’s most loved artists - from Louis Armstrong to Prince - were exploited by the music industry on the basis of their race. Starting at the birth of the recording industry with luminaries like Bessie Smith, through the glory days of Jazz with Nina Simone, the joys of Motown, Stax and Philadelphia records and ending with the fightback by visionaries like Master P and Jay-Z, the series includes some of the best music of all time. With contributions from artists like Gloria Gaynor, Ice-T, Smokey Robinson, Chaka Khan and many others it shows how whether through dodgy contracts, scheming management or ruthless streaming deals, we see how many of the songs you know and love have a dark truth behind them. This final episode picks up where the previous episode left off, with the rise of artists who in more recent years own their own rights and would decide for themselves what to do with them. Building huge management teams, moving into merchandising and entrepreneurialism, artists like Ice-T, Jay-Z, Drake and Stormzy realised the power of their global brands and became richer than their predecessors had ever imagined. But not all independent artists had it so good, with the rise of the streaming services, many found they could have massive hits and yet receive just a fraction of the income their songs were generating. Whilst they feel progress is going in the right direction, many black artists feel the battle is not yet won.
Genre
Business Studies; Music

How to cite this record

The Open University, "The Battle For Black Music: Paid In Full". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/250994 (Accessed 07 Jun 2025)