The music industry is observing Blackout Tuesday in support of ongoing protests
The music industry is hitting the pause button today, marking June 2nd as “Blackout Tuesday” and many on Instagram are following suit. The social media statement of solidarity was sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers last week, but is also a response to the continued violence that the black community continues to face due to systemic racism.
Major record labels like Atlantic Records, Capitol Music Group, Columbia Records, Def Jam, Elektra, HitCo, Interscope Geffen, Island Records, Pulse, Reservoir, Republic Records, Sony Music, Virgin, Universal and Warner Records will set aside the business of music-making and instead take the day to “disconnect from work and reconnect with our community.” Rather than a day off, the labels are calling the online demonstration “an urgent step of action to provoke accountability and change.”
“This is a day to reflect and figure out ways to move forward in solidarity,” reads the statement posted by Columbia Records. “We continue to stand with the Black community, our staff, artists, and peers in the music industry. Perhaps with the music off, we can truly listen.”
Atlantic Records shared their own message of support and included a promise to donate funds to Black Lives Matter.
Interscope Geffen pledged to take meaningful action including bailing out protestors and contributing to the economic empowerment of black people.View this post on Instagram
And Def Jam Records called on the music community to confront systemic racism and challenge broken leadership.View this post on Instagram
The social media posts have been accompanied by the hashtags #BlackoutTuesday and #TheShowMustBePaused, with organizers Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas, two senior directors of marketing at Atlantic Records, asking that anyone who wishes to press pause on their own social media account by sharing the now ubiquitous black square not use #BlackLivesMatter since that hashtag is being used to circulate information vital to the ongoing protests.The movement is also not about going silent, but about taking a time out from posting selfies or shots of our homemade pandemic pizzas to instead share and amplify Black voices, messages of support and solidarity, and (most importantly) find ways to take action against anti-Black racism.[video_embed id='1968221']RELATED: CNN correspondent arrested as George Floyd protests continue[/video_embed]View this post on Instagram
