UK: PPL names Tomi Oyewumi as partner of new division

Established in 1934 and currently headed by Peter Leathem, PPL is home to more than 120 000 performers and recording rightsholders, and licenses recorded music played in public or broadcast on radio or TV in the UK, as well as around the globe through a network of international agreements with collective management organisations.

Oyewumi will assist PPL to deliver its long-term strategy of addressing EDI issues within the company and the wider music industry.

“I am delighted and proud to be joining PPL as their EDI Partner,” she said. “I believe there is nothing more important than the impact you have on others. This is the legacy I want to leave behind, a legacy of positive change and equity.”

Oyewumi will lead PPL’s actions geared towards fulfilling its pledge to deliver the Black Music Coalition’s five calls to action and the UK Music Diversity Taskforce ten-point plan. The exec will report to director of people and organisational development Kate Reilly, and work closely with PPL’s Diversity Forum to achieve the goals. Established last year, the Diversity Forum comprises a voluntary internal group of PPL’s staff whose role is to drive ideas, deliver feedback and provide wider support to bring about positive change in the area of EDI.

“I am delighted that Tomi has joined PPL,” Reilly said. “Her experience in developing more equitable, diverse and inclusive organisations will be crucial to PPL as we work towards fulfilling our pledges to our staff and the wider industry. We have already made progress and I look forward to working with Tomi to continue these efforts.”

Leathem thanked Oyewumi for “joining us at such an important time for our industry. The desire for positive change, from all corners of the music ecosystem, is an encouraging sign and Tomi will play a crucial role in ensuring PPL is a place of work that welcomes and champions anyone, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, age, disability, background or any other protected characteristic. 

“Over the past year we have introduced a number of policies and initiatives and made positive strides to achieving our goals, but there is still much more we need to do. I am excited to work with Tomi to drive forward this positive change.”

Prior to joining PPL, Oyewumi worked for Heineken as the collaboration manager and head of the inclusion and diversity task force. In her previous roles, Oyewumi has been credited as playing a pivotal role in designing and shaping company policies to reinforce diversity. 

In addition to creating the EDI office, PPL has acted on a number of pledges in its quest to create a more equitable, diverse and inclusive workplace and industry, including committing to an annual budget to support Black organisations, educational programmes and charities, reviewing its mandatory anti-racism/unconscious bias training and creating a terminology guide highlighting inclusive and non-inclusive language.