Last Tuesday, June 2, many major music companies — spanning from record labels to streaming services as well as musicians themselves — participated in the Blackout Tuesday movement by stopping everyday operations to show their solidarity with those protesting racial injustice. It was not a day off: most companies held virtual town halls, discussions and more in an effort to strategize ways that they can better support the Black community.
Of course, it wasn’t about just one day, and many major companies and artists put their money where their mouths are by making substantial donations. A partial list follows:
YouTube
Commitment: On Blackout Tuesday, YouTube pledged to donate $1 million to organizations aimed at ending racial injustice and encouraged its viewers to do the same. Later, on June 11, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced the creation of a multi-year $100 million fund dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black creators. The fund’s first project will be the YouTube Original “Bear Witness, Take Action,” premiering on June 13 at 6 p.m. ET/ 3 p.m. PT. “The YTO will bring together creators, artists, influential public figures and prominent activist voices for roundtable discussions and musical performances, with donations benefiting the Equal Justice Initiative,” Wojcicki wrote in a letter to the YouTube community. “Through the month of June, our Spotlight channel will highlight racial justice issues, including the latest perspectives from the Black community on YouTube alongside historical content, educational videos, and protest coverage. This content showcases incredibly important stories about the centuries-long fight for equity.”
Financial Pledge: $101 million
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Sony Music Group
Commitment: Sony Music Group announced that it will commit $100 million “to support social justice and anti-racist initiatives around the world.” “Racial injustice is a global issue that affects our artists, songwriters, our people and of course society at large,” Sony Music Group Chairman Rob Stringer wrote in a statement. “We stand against discrimination everywhere and we will take action accordingly with our community fully involved in effectively using these funds.”
Financial Pledge: $100 million
Warner Music Group
Commitment: Warner Music Group and the family foundation of its primary owner, Len Blavatnik, established a fund and an advisory panel on June 3 made up of representatives from both organizations that will promote equality, opportunity, diversity and inclusion. “This fund will support the extraordinary, dedicated organizations that are on the front lines of the fight against racism and injustice, and that help those in need across the music industry,” CEO Steve Cooper wrote in a statement.
Financial Pledge: $100 million
Universal Music Group
Commitment: Universal Music chief Lucian Grainge announced the creation of the Task Force for Meaningful Change on May 31. In a memo obtained by Variety, the task force’s co-chairs, UMG chief counsel Jeff Harleston and Motown Records President Ethiopia Habtemariam laid out their call to action. This will include splitting the $25 million fund between six key areas: aid/charitable giving, global initiatives, internal/institutional change, legislative/public policy, partners and programming/curation. “We are charged with reviewing the company’s commitment to addressing and promoting tolerance, equality, and elimination of bias, within UMG, the music community and the world at large,” the statement said. “It is our mission to identify the gaps and deficiencies and to strengthen UMG’s plan with new initiatives.”
Financial Pledge: $25 million
Amazon
Commitment: Although Amazon Music only tweeted in support of Black Out Tuesday, Amazon itself has donated $10 million to the NAACP, National Urban League, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, UNCF and more.
Financial Pledge: $10 million
Spotify
Commitment: Spotify added an 8 minute and 46 second moment of silence to a selection of playlists, matching the amount of time Floyd was pinned down by the neck by a police officer, resulting in his death. In an internal memo, the company says it is “finalizing a new set of initiatives to increase representation of Black employees at the company through hiring, mentorship and elevating the incredible pool of talent we already have,” and also said it will match employees’ contributions up to $10 million globally to “the organizations that matter to them most around the world that are focused on the fight against racism, injustice, inequity, and driving meaningful change,” with further details to be specified later. Cofounder and CEO Daniel Ek also said he has made an unspecified donation.
Financial Pledge: Up to $10 million
BTS and Big Hit Entertainment
Commitment: BTS and their management company, Big Hit Entertainment, donated $1 million to the Black Lives Matter movement. Their fans later matched their pledge, bringing the total donation to $2 million.
Financial Pledge: $2 million
Kanye West
Commitment: It was revealed on June 4 that Kanye West donated a total of $2 million to the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor to help with legal fees and to establish a college fund for Floyd’s six-year-old daughter.
Financial Pledge: $2 million
The Recording Academy
Commitment: The Recording Academy’s charitable wing, MusiCares, reports that it has raised and distributed nearly $20 million to people from the music community impacted by coronavirus. In the wake of the protests around George Floyd’s death, it followed with a $1 million donation to Color of Change, along with commitments to “amplify the voices of Black creators” with a series of live and digital programs and events to promote Black music and shine a light on racial injustice; and to educate its staff and the music community on how to lead diverse teams; and to “appeal to music companies and major labels to add a Diversity & Inclusion leadership position to their organizational chart.”
Financial Pledge: $1 million
10K Projects
Commitment: Independent record label 10K Projects started “10K Together,” a charitable organization formed to fight against racial injustice, create an internship program for Black youth and support Black-owned businesses. They committed to spending $500,000 over the next five years on these components.
Financial Pledge: $500,000
The Weeknd
Commitment: The Weeknd donated a total of $500,000 to the Black Lives Matter Global Network, the Colin Kaepernick Know Your Rights Camp Legal Defense Initiative and National Bail Out. In his Instagram post, he called out Sony, Universal, Warner, Spotify and Apple to go public with their donations as well.
Financial Pledge: $500,000
Fall Out Boy
Commitment: On June 8, Fall Out Boy pledged $100,000 to the National Bail Out and Black Visions Collective. “When you discover rot deep within your house you don’t just paint over it. You dismantle it and rebuild a better house. We support the Black community in the struggle against racial inequality, injustice, and police brutality,” the band said in a Twitter statement.
Financial Pledge: $100,000
Michael Bublé
Commitment: Michael Bublé pledged to his fans that he would match every donation they made to the ACLU up to $100,000. “Each of us must do more than pray. We need to be part of the solution in fighting systemic racism in whatever way we can,” Bublé said in a statement. “There is so much to do but for now, I am making a donation to the ACLU who continue their work seeking justice for the civil and human rights of all citizens.”
Financial Pledge: $100,000
PULSE Music Group
Commitment: PULSE co-CEOs Josh Abraham and Scott Cutler announced an advisory panel to determine where they will donate their $100,000 pledge.
Financial Pledge: $100,000
Audiomack
Commitment: The artist-first streaming service Audiomack donated a total of $20,000 to The Minnesota Freedom Fund, The Black Visions Collective, The Northstar Health Collective and The Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund.
Financial Pledge: $20,000
Bank Robber Music and Rough Trade Publishing
Commitment: Bank Robber Music and Rough Trade Publishing co-released a compilation album, “Talk – Action = Zero,” on June 5 to pay tribute to Black Americans who have been victims of police brutality. The album was released on Bandcamp, which waived all of its sales on June 5 and donated all earnings to Black Visions Collective. It features over 90 songs, including music from Phantogram, Matthew Caws of Nada Surf, Jesse Malin and Jay Watts.
Financial Pledge: $5,000
Apple Music
Commitment: Apple CEO Tim Cook pledged that he was making donations to the Equal Justice Initiative as well as other organizations, and announced that they would match employee donations through the month of June. Apple Music itself cancelled their regular Beats 1 programming, and highlighted a playlist celebrating Black artists on their recommendation and radio pages.
Financial Pledge: Unspecified
Def Jam Recordings
Commitment: In a Twitter thread, Def Jam shared that many of their employees had donated a day’s worth of their salary to several organizations: Communities United for Police Reform, Minnesota Freedom Fund, The Liberty Fund NYC, the Official George Floyd Memorial Fund, NAACP, Peoples City Council Freedom Fund and more.
Financial Pledge: Unspecified
Interscope Geffen A&M
Commitment: In a statement posted to Twitter, Interscope pledged to “contribute to organizations that help to bail out protesters exercising their right to peacefully assemble, aid lawyers working for systemic change, and provide assistance to charities focused on creating economic empowerment in the Black community.” They also said they would not release any new music the week of June 1.
Financial Pledge: Unspecified
Live Nation
Commitment: Live Nation donated an unspecified amount to the Equal Justice Initiative.
Financial Pledge: Unspecified
Republic Records
Commitment: Republic Records will no longer use the word “urban” to describe music from Black artists. They also launched the Republic Records Action Committee to support social justice initiatives and participated in parent company Universal’s donations to the following organizations: Black Girl Ventures, Black Lives Matter, Black Mental Health Alliance, Colin Kaepernick Foundation, Color Of Change, Equal Justice Initiative, National Association of Black Journalists, Silence the Shame, Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California, The Bail Project and When We All Vote.
Financial Pledge: Unspecified
