Britain’s major record labels have joined an unprecedented coalition to campaign against the cultural influence of the far right, which senior industry figures fear is promoting racism and intolerance in British society.

In what is thought to be the first industry-wide collaboration on social issues, the Beautiful Resistance campaign – coordinated by Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) – has enlisted dozens of musicians, promoters and venues to help formulate and promote a counter-narrative celebrating diversity.

Paul Samuels, the head of A&R at Atlantic Records and a founder of LMHR, said: “We know full well that people who dislike black people are jumping around listening to Skepta, or they’ve got a Stevie Wonder album at home. And that’s how you bring people together. You bring people together through music.”

Samuels said it had not been difficult to persuade the British music industry to embrace the campaign, since without diversity it would not have such a world-beating product.

Piers Aggett, who is one quarter of the dance music group Rudimental whose members are white, black, mixed-race and Middle Eastern, said it was Britain’s diverse races and cultures that had made the country’s popular music scene so rich.

He said: “The heritage of the four members of Rudimental really do come through in the music. We’re a very multicultural band and it even extends through to our live show: it’s a very random mix of people and really represents the unique multicultural place that Britain is.”

Artists, in the first phase of the campaign, have filmed short social videos in which they talk about their experiences of racism and what diversity means for them. A series of school assemblies is planned, with materials being prepared to send out to teachers across the country.

Among musicians taking part are Craig David, Enter Shikari, Josh Groban, the Kaiser Chiefs, Kojey Radical, Liam Payne, Nile Rodgers, The Specials and The 1975. Ed Sheeran has emblazoned the LMHR logo across his tour equipment and hundreds of music venues will put up the LMHR branding. The major labels Warner, Sony and Universal, as well as leading independents Beggars Group and Domino have signed up to take part.

Samuels said the ambition was to perform a series of shows next year. “We’ve got a set of promoters who want to do shows with us now. I want to do a grime gig in Luton. We’ve always gone in where they don’t want us. If you go in where they don’t want us it gets right up their noses, and also it’s a great thing to do for the kids that live there.”

The campaign began on International Women’s Day on 8 March and had been expected to build towards participation in the UN anti-racism day demonstration in London on Saturday, organised by Stand Up To Racism. However, it hit a snag after the Metropolitan police denied permission for LMHR’s music float to take part.

Samuels said he decided now was the time for a new anti-racism campaign after attending a counter-demonstration to a 15,000-strong protest in support of the far-right activist Tommy Robinson last June that turned violent, and seeing the rise of the right across Europe.

He said: “We all know, if you’re reading what’s happening in Poland, if you’re reading what’s happening with the Jewish community in France and the black community, generally the rise of the right across the globe is frightening.

“And the kind of legitimisation where I can say whatever I want to say and I can be as vile as I want to be and no one’s going to say anything. That to me is why now is important. I don’t think it can wait.

“One thing my father said to me was ‘don’t ever trust in human nature, it killed 6 million Jews, remember that.’ And I always had that in my head.”

Samuels, who got involved in anti-racist campaigning in the days of Rock Against Racism in the late 1970s, said he was particularly worried by the influence of Steve Bannon, the former Trump strategist, who has sought to coordinate a Europe-wide far-right movement. With far-right groups in Britain receiving support from overseas, anti-racists needed “to do something much more focused and much more professional” to fight back, he said.