August finds us in the middle of South Asian Heritage Month. To celebrate this year the BPI and Lila look forward to an exciting event later in September and Sania Haq from Lila shares some preliminary findings from the South Asian Sound Check.
Between May and July 2025, over 300 South Asian music creators and professionals across the UK took part in the South Asian Soundcheck. Spearheaded by Lila, this was the first in-depth survey of its kind to explore the experiences, challenges and ambitions of South Asians working across the music industry.
Lila, a non-profit dedicated to empowering South Asians in music, created the Soundcheck to gather more data on an overlooked part of the UK’s music industry.
“We aim to get to a place where we have clear pathways to industry, and there is support and celebration of South Asian representation. The South Asian Soundcheck is the first step in making that change,” says Vikram Gudi, founder of Lila.
The Soundcheck has been developed with input and support from key industry stakeholders, including the BPI, UK Music, Musicians’ Union, Music Managers Forum (MMF), the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), PRS for Music, Warner Music Group, and Bradford City of Culture 2025.
The BPI has strongly backed this work as part of its long-term commitment to equity and inclusion. Hailey Willington, BPI’s DEI Manager, said:
“The Five-Year DEI Strategy the BPI launched last year is based on the fundamental belief that the more diverse and inclusive our music community is, the greater its prospects for success. Anecdotally, we can see that South Asian music is growing in its appeal and becoming increasingly influential, but it is important that South Asian members of our industry are supported and given opportunities to thrive, whether they work in front of, or as industry professionals, behind the mic.”
The survey was led by Sania Haq, a leading expert in inclusive research, who has previously designed studies for industry bodies including UK Music and the Intellectual Property Office, as well as for commercial music platforms.
The Soundcheck is a response to long-standing questions around representation, visibility and access. While South Asians have played a vital role in shaping the UK's musical identity for decades, their presence in mainstream spaces — from award shows and executive roles to artist rosters and festival stages — remains limited. This project set out to go beyond anecdotes, capturing insight directly from those navigating the industry today.
Although the full findings will be published in a few weeks, some early themes are already emerging. Professionals and creators spoke about a strong sense of pride in their heritage, a growing confidence in pursuing creative careers, and a deep entrepreneurial spirit. But they also pointed to barriers around access to networks, funding, and fair representation, including across genres.
Importantly, many also described their target audience focus being global. This points to a significant opportunity for the UK music industry to better support South Asian talent as a way of strengthening its own export potential and growing its reach in international markets.
The feedback makes clear that visibility alone is not enough; meaningful change requires sustained structural support. This work marks the beginning of a longer-term effort by Lila to centre South Asian perspectives and build a more inclusive, supportive ecosystem within UK music. The Soundcheck data will now feed into future advocacy, talent support programmes and partnership work across the industry.
The full report will be released in September, providing detailed insight into what South Asians working in music want, need and envision for the future. We would love to invite BPI Members to the report’s launch event on Tuesday 16th September which Lila is co-hosting with the BPI.
The South Asian Soundcheck Results: The Future Unveiled
Tuesday 16th September 2025, 6:30pm
The Gallery, Tileyard London, N7 9AH