As many in the music industry know, over the past few years the police have come down hard on venues and promoters that put on events featuring grime, hip hop and other urban music. There’s no doubt that this has had a serious impact on the genre in the UK.
Recently Project Urban - a major event which was due to be held at O2’s Indigo club and feature some of the biggest names in Grime such as Tinchy Stryder, Ironik and Wiley - was scrapped after being considered a high risk event by police despite no specific intelligence about violence.
As a result a number of politicians and musicians have complained about the use of Form 696, the form that live music venues are now required to fill in detailing their audience, promoters, type of music played and other very specific and personal information.
Until recently, the form even contained a question about the ethnicity of the audience who would be attending a concert, which has led to concerns that form 696 is actually a type of racial profiling that is being used to crack down specifically on black music.
After being widely criticized after the shutting down of Project Urban, the police is now defending its use of the form saying that it has helped them to reduce violence at events.
What are your thoughts on Form 696?
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