Petition calls on Virgin Records founder and Chris Blackwell to back venture after profiting from such music. The Virgin Records founder Richard Branson and the Island Records owner Chris Blackwell should financially support a permanent exhibition dedicated to Black British musical history, according to backers of a petition.
The petition, which has been signed by artists and musicians including George the Poet, Jazzie B and Sonia Boyce, calls for a new home that would recognise and celebrate African and Caribbean performances, recordings and “contributions to the evolution of genres that have reshaped British culture, while safeguarding rare artefacts, recordings, memorabilia, and untold stories for future generations”.
The sociologist Prof Paul Gilroy, who also signed the petition, said executives who made significant profits from Black British and Caribbean music should put up money for the venture that would focus on the history of Black music in the UK. He said: “I don’t understand why the resources are all being squeezed out of the state, when actually there’s private sector resources, people like Richard Branson, people like Chris Blackwell, whose company has made enormous amounts of capital out of Black British music production and Caribbean music production.
“I think the people who’ve done so well out of the corporate side of Black music in this country ought to be paying for a building and a museum and an architect. They should be making a temple.”. Virgin Records was one of the earliest backers of reggae music in Britain and ran a dedicated imprint called Front Line in the 1970s (Branson sold the label for $1bn in 1992), while Island Records was the home of Bob Marley throughout his career until his death in 1981.
