With all tours and live performances postponed for the foreseeable future, musicians are hurtin’ for certain.
But before we all start singin’ the blues, let’s take a look at some companies who are stepping in to provide a little help for our friends.
- Last week the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy’s, announced the MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund. Amazon Music, Facebook, SiriusXM, Pandora, Spotify, Tidal and YouTube Music have pledged to contribute and the fund had already raised over $2 million.
- SoundCloud has joined forces with streaming giant Twitch to give musicians a way to earn money from live streams. Under their partnership, SoundCloud creators can get their Twitch Affiliate status fast-tracked; a process that usually takes several months. Now, musicians can monetize their accounts within days.
- Soundcloud is also rolling out new features for its app which aim to increase track engagement by more than 25%.
- Bandcamp has waived its fees to send all money from sales directly to artists and labels.
- Today, Spotify is adding features to enable artists to fundraise directly from listeners with no fees.
It’s a tough time for most of us, but if you find yourself in a position to donate, your favorite artists could probably use it right about now.