Andrea Lacroix, Head of Sync and Licensing at !K7 Music, has described equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and sustainability as fundamental values that are increasingly becoming real business drivers for independent music companies. Her comments were published as part of the Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA) ‘Faces of the Independent Sector’ series, co-funded by the European Union and released to mark the close of European Diversity Month.
A Career Built on Independence
Lacroix outlined her path from promoting French house DJs and producers to leading !K7’s sync and licensing operations across Berlin and New York. She described the label group as a multi-faceted independent providing global marketing, sales, distribution and sync services to a roster that includes Gondwana, Luaka Bop, International Anthem, R&S, Rush Hour, We Jazz, Turbo, Planet E and Sonar Kollektiv.
“Independence means we don’t depend on major label structures, not for our funding, not for our distribution, and not for our decisions,” Lacroix said. “It is the precondition for freedom with responsibility, believing in the music we release, taking artistic risk, for building long-term relationships with artists, and for running our business according to values we truly believe in.”
Values as a Competitive Advantage
Lacroix argued that audiences are increasingly seeking authenticity, depth and cultural diversity, areas where the independent sector is built to deliver. She noted that !K7’s B Corp certification aligns with her personal values and reflects a broader shift.
“The second big opportunity is values: equity, diversity and sustainability are becoming real business drivers, not communication exercises,” she said. “Independents that take this seriously will attract the best talent, the most loyal artists and the most engaged audiences.”
Three Structural Challenges
Lacroix identified three key issues facing the independent sector:
- Streaming economics still do not adequately reward catalogue diversity and long-term artist development.
- The volume of AI-generated content and a lack of transparency around it puts pressure on human-made music and fair remuneration.
- Scale: independents must invest in people, data, sustainability and compliance while competing with much larger players.
“Collective work through IMPALA is how the sector closes that gap,” she added.
Pushing for an EDI Benchmark
Lacroix called for equity, diversity and inclusion to be measured with the same rigour as environmental impact. She credited the late Horst Weidenmüller, !K7’s founder and the initiator of IMPALA’s sustainability task force, with driving the creation of IMPALA’s Carbon Calculator and later proposing a similar EDI benchmarking framework.
“A sector-wide EDI benchmark, building on IMPALA’s charter, business case and new EDI toolkit, just launched, would give every company, from the smallest label to the largest independent, a clear baseline, a way to track progress and a way to hold ourselves accountable,” Lacroix said. “I encourage all independent businesses to fill out IMPALA’s survey and start using the toolkit.”
She highlighted three areas of focus: EDI, where Weidenmüller’s proposal has now been realised with EU funding; sustainability; and internal company work. “Inside our company, we are doing the work that has to back this up,” she said.
