BBC Sounds Audio Lab 2024

Hosted by creative force Mia Thornton, Instrumental is a 5 episode music podcast celebrating the powerful yet often overlooked contributions of Black British artists in shaping Britain’s most cherished musical genres – those not as typically associated with Black culture, such as classical, punk, folk, dance and pop. 

Through captivating storytelling, expert interviews with high profile contributors such as Craig David and Clara Amfo, and rich archival content, each episode focuses on one of these genres, touching themes of erasure and re-telling, breaking stereotypes, legal and economic challenges and safe spaces and community to name a few.  

This is a BBC Sounds podcast produced under the Audio Lab 2024 scheme, a training and development programme helping to amplify the next-generation of podcast producers and audio creatives, set for release in early 2025.

It is the first podcast for the BBC that makes use of a new music rights agreement called SORP, meaning we’re able to feature longer music extracts than the usual BBC documentaries you hear!

Find more information on the BBC Sounds Audio Lab Scheme here.