BLACK WOMEN IN MUSIC GLOBAL (BWMG)  |  FOUNDED 2017

 

Black Women in Music Global (BWMG) is a pioneering research institute advancing the study, visibility, and structural conditions of Black women across the global music industry. Grounded in cross-cultural Industrial, Work, and Organizational (IWO) psychology, BWMG was founded to address the longstanding underrepresentation and underexamination of Black women’s workplace, leadership, and career experiences across music.

​

BWMG is the first research institute in the world dedicated to the in-depth psychological study of Black women’s historically underexamined workplace and career experiences across music and entertainment ecosystems.

​

BWMG originated from groundbreaking cross-cultural doctoral research examining how Black women navigate power, identity, and structural conditions across the world’s leading music markets. That foundational study, conducted across North America and Europe, was the first of its kind in the psychological sciences and remains the bedrock on which the institute was built. [Read more about the foundational study →]

​

Since its founding, BWMG has continued expanding its scope across diverse cultural, geographic, and economic contexts. Its research spans more than fifteen business sectors within the music industry ecosystem, reflecting the full breadth of where Black women work, create, influence, and lead. The institute is also expanding its research reach into emerging territories, including Brazil and countries across the African continent.

​

Today, BWMG produces industry data and human insight that inform more inclusive and psychologically safer work environments, addressing the systemic and interpersonal barriers that constrain opportunity, weaken organizational culture, and limit collaborative innovation across the industry.

​

​

BLACK MUSIC HERSTORY (BMH)

​​

Black Music Herstory  is BWMG’s signature institutional cultural initiative, encompassing a digital living archive, global ambassadorship program, licensed campaigns, and public programming dedicated to preserving, amplifying, and celebrating Black women’s impact on music across the African Diaspora and the African continent. As an extension of BWMG’s broader institutional mission, it brings research, culture, memory, and public engagement into conversation through platforms, partnerships, and programs designed to honor legacy while shaping the future. To learn more, visit the Black Music Herstory   section of this site.