Paid in Full: The Battle for Black Music
Editor: Matt Ashton
Additional Editors: Pietro Occhiuzzi, Sophie Hurry, Michele Vicenti
Airing: Saturday 21st & 28th September 9pm on BBC Two & BBC iPlayer
From executive producers Idris and Sabrina Elba, alongside Greg Sanderson of Supercollider and Julie Bristow of Catalyst, narrated by Canadian music icon Jully Black, for national public broadcasters CBC and BBC…
Paid In Full: The Battle for Black Music is a three-part documentary series that delves into the systemic racism Black artists have faced in the music industry, from its beginnings to the streaming era. It highlights trailblazing artists, the rise of Black-owned labels, and the historic injustices they endured, including unequal profits despite shaping popular music—from jazz and rock to soul and rap. The series offers a deep look at the triumphs and struggles of Black artists fighting for recognition, autonomy, and fair compensation in an industry stacked against them.
Matt Ashton worked as Film Editor for Episode 3, Pietro Occhiuzzi and Michele Vicenti were Additional Editors on Episode 2 and Sophie Hurry worked as Additional Editor for Episode 1. Matt and Pietro shared some thoughts on editing for this series…
Matt; “I knew I was working on an incredibly intriguing story the moment I started listening to the interview rushes for the first time. Hearing the contributors talk about their first hand experiences of how they were treated by the music ‘business’ was unsettling at times, but also very satisfying, as we knew we had plenty of content to tell a compelling story.
Working around such sensitive issues is never straight forward, and often quite challenging, but the passion, enthusiasm and dedication of the team involved to tell the story in both an entertaining and educational way, was a fantastic environment to be part of.
I’m very proud to have been given the opportunity to help craft such an important story, and the production team should be very proud of what they’ve achieved.”
Pietro; “Being a music lover and a passionate listener of different music genres myself, I was thrilled to work on this project. Editing interviews, music videos and archive footage was intriguing and challenging. The aim was to tell the story of black musicians who have been ripped off for the past 100 years in the music scene.
The story had to be engaging and understandable by everyone so viewers from all backgrounds could relate to it. By combining archive footage of legendary musicians with interviews of contemporary artists like Neils Roger, Ice-T, and Trevor Nelson, my approach was to let the music drive the story and intertwine past and present.
It’s been an absolute pleasure working on this project as an additional editor across Ep 1 and 2 and to work side by side with the director and series producer Guy Evans.”
The Guardian Review; ‘Paid in Full: The Battle for Black Music review – the racism that’s seen artists brutally ripped off for 100 years’
