New York, NY (October 16, 2020)—Live Nation Urban has released The Black Tour Directory, a new industry online portal intended to create greater inclusivity in live tour and event productions.
The website lists hundreds Black tour managers, production managers, sound engineers, lighting experts, stage and set designers, stage managers, techs, travel agents, caterers, tour accountants, bus companies, security staff and more, all of whom can be found and contacted through the official site.
At its introduction, the site currently lists 32 sound engineers. The site includes an online form for professionals and businesses that wish to be listed there.
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Live Nation Urban president Shawn Gee commented, “When Jenifer Smith from Live Nation Concerts and NyAsia Burris from my team came to me with this idea, I thought it was genius and absolutely necessary. There are several amazing resource groups that exist like Roadies of Color, Diversify The Stage, Black Promoters Collective and many others, and we all have one common goal, to make sure once live entertainment returns at scale, there are more opportunities that exist for Black people, and all underrepresented groups of people, throughout the touring industry, particularly in technical and production positions.”
Added Jenifer Smith, Live Nation director of Tour Marketing, “I felt it was important to create accessibility to people of color that specialize in these fields in order to help diversify live events beyond the stage. As a Black woman working in the music and live events space for over 12 years, I understand the importance of representation within the industry. Using our platform as the leading promoter in the world, Live Nation has the ability to help change the narrative and to provide a powerful resource for the industry.”
Black Tour Directory • www.blacktourdirectory.com