BRIT Awards revamp voting system in wake of #BritsSoWhite controversy

The new invite list features 1200 people from across the music industry, with "well over half (57%)" being new members.

52% of the list is male, with 48% female, and BAME representation now make up 17% of the new list. In 2016 there was a 70/30 split between male and female, with only 15% BAME.

The changes come in the wake of this year's #BritsSoWhite controversy, which saw Stormzy slam the "embarrassing" awards in his tune "One Take Freestyle" and Mercury nominee Laura Mvula threaten a boycott.

These new changes are led by Ged Doherty, the BPI Chairman ("the organisation that owns and runs The BRIT Awards and is responsible for long term strategy").

Doherty told BBC 1 Newsbeat that Stormzy's words were a "wake up call" and that he had met with the London MC to discuss changes - the meeting directly impacted the direction of the 2017 awards.

Doherty also told the BBC that there are no plans for genre-specific categories: "Nobody wants to be doing something that could be seen as tokenistic in any way, shape or form..."

“I’m really proud that we’ve taken firm action to refresh the Academy to ensure that it keeps up with trends in music and society at large," says Doherty in a press statement. "I believe that as a result of these changes the BRITs will be better equipped to reflect the diverse nature of Britain and British music. There’s been a long-held myth that BRITs winners and nominees are decided by industry executives in a smoke-filled room, but the simple truth is that the awards are voted for each year by a 1000+ strong Voting Academy made up of experts drawn from all areas of music.”