Black Lives Matter. Demand Redistribution in the Music Industry.
UMAW continues to stand unequivocally with protesters across the country in demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and all those murdered by police and white supremacy. We must bring these officers to justice, defund the police, and work to dismantle white supremacy and the carceral system as a whole.
As music workers, we must also acknowledge and fight the deeply embedded role of white supremacy and anti-blackness in our industry. Across genres, music as we know it was created by the labor of Black music workers. For decades, corporations and white artists have profited off that Black labor while underpaying, undercrediting, and often robbing Black workers. All non-Black artists continue to profit from this uncompensated labor.
We call for all music workers to support the Black Lives Matter movement with everything we have. Here’s a list of ways to contribute. If you have resources, we call for the continued sending of money. Here is a list of organizations we recommend donating toward. We also call for all music workers to financially and otherwise support Black artists, as well as Black-run labels, venues, and more. Here is a list of Black musicians you can support on Bandcamp this Friday and beyond.
Because of the historical and continued anti-blackness in our industry, we are also demanding that music corporations begin redistributing their resources to Black artists and communities. As one starting point, today we are making posts demanding these companies redistribute money to one of the funds here. Join us and we’ll repost your demands and continue to press these companies. The companies can be platforms like Spotify or Apple, massive touring companies like Live Nation, your record label, etc. Here's a good chart demonstrating how the industry has failed to act.
Here are some posting examples, among many possibilities:
”I've been supporting philly demonstrators this week, and gave $50 to @BLMPhilly this morning. @bmi, @Dominorecordco & @ada_music, will you show your support for Black Lives Matter with a cash donation? surely you can at least match me?”
“The music industry has long profited off the uncompensated labor of Black artists. Deep structural change needs to happen. Right now, these wealthy companies can do the bare minimum by redistributing their millions to the struggle. I call on @BMI @sonymusic and @Spotify to make a donation to one of these groups: https://bit.ly/2AF1rzM”
“Thousands of unemployed musicians are donating right now, why aren’t the huge music industry corporations? I call on @VirginRecords @CapitolRecords @Interscope to donate to one of these funds: https://bit.ly/2AF1rzM”
We must organize toward long-term structural change to address anti-blackness in our industry. This is only a beginning. Again, please continue supporting the movement in any way you can.