Valuations of diversity: the role of marquee quotas in creative industries.

This article investigates how workers in Toronto’s independent music industry engage with racial diversity absent formal organizational mandates, focusing on the use of "marquee quotas"—informal targets for racially diverse representation on festival line-ups and artist rosters. Through interviews with 50 industry personnel across roles such as artists, agents, managers, promoters, and label staff, the study identifies four primary valuations justifying diversity efforts: aesthetic, economic, reputational, and moral. White participants more frequently invoke aesthetic, economic, and reputational reasons, while both white and non-white participants emphasize moral justifications. The reliance on marquee quotas tends to increase visible diversity among performers but does not extend to decision-making roles, resulting in tokenistic representation that maintains the industry's predominantly white institutional culture and limits authentic inclusion for people of colour.