On the 16th November 2020 Morrissey Central announced that Morrissey had been “dumped” by BMG. The post, probably written by Sam Esty Rayner, mentioned a new executive & his diversity plans.
BMG have appointed a new Executive who does not want another Morrissey
album. Instead, the new BMG Executive has announced new plans for ‘diversity’ within BMG’s artist roster, and
all projected BMG Morrissey releases/reissues have been scrapped.
https://www.morrisseycentral.com/messagesfrommorrissey/bmg-dump-morrissey
This was interpreted as Morrissey blaming Diversity.
Morrissey clarified that he meant that BMG wasn’t being diverse. To tumbleweed.
When the new BMG Executive says he now wants a label of ‘diversity’, what he
actually means is he wants all of his artists to be exactly the same. Make no mistake, the word ‘diversity’ is already trailing in the dust as an overused catchword that in fact means tighter restrictions and a fierce
exclusion of individuality. I have been dumped by BMG because I am TOO diverse for them. They cannot cope with an
artist such as Morrissey … who is, in fact, the very essence of diversity … whose lyrical concerns are multiple, different,
and who has been writing about all of our human differences since 1982. So, please don’t be fooled into thinking the word ‘diversity’ means varied and open; it has been warped to mean exactly the opposite. With these absolutely incomprehensibly senseless new guidelines, I’ll be surprised if BMG still exists in 18 months time. Or, if they do, they’ll be a label that no true artist would want to sign to. Perhaps this is what BMG prefers – a roster of artists who are so diverse that you’ll never be able to distinguish one from the other?”
(Morrissey, Morrissey Central, November 2020)
https://www.morrisseycentral.com/messagesfrommorrissey/the-rigid-rules-and-restrict
In fact Morrissey & his band tick all of the identity diversity boxes – he’s LGBTQ+, his mental health issues are a disability, he’s from an Irish Catholic immigrant community that faced discrimination in the UK & his band includes people of colour.
Folk Devil 