Music Companies Rally Around ‘Black Out Tuesday’
As you might have seen on social medias yesterday, music companies as well as individuals gathered around the Black Out Tuesday initiative. This article published in Digital Music News further explains What started with a a sprinkling of major label divisions has now stretched to cover a broad swath of music and entertainment companies. Now, ‘Black Out Tuesday’ is being observed by a substantial number of entertainment industry professionals — and could become an annual event.
‘Black Out Tuesday’ was conceived as a pause and show of solidarity for African-American grievances and support for protests throughout the country. Now, the time out and day of reflection has been embraced by a large number of music and entertainment companies.
The concept, which first gained steam on social media last week, carried the #TheShowMustBePaused hashtag while calling for the daylong ‘Black Out’. The industry-viral post outlined Tuesday as a day “to disconnect from work and reconnect with our community” to impart an “an urgent step of action to provoke accountability and change.”
Columbia Records clarified that “Black Out Tuesday” should not be treated as a simple day off, but a time for studied reflection. “This is not a day off,” the Sony Entertainment label stated. “Instead, this is a day to reflect and figure out ways to move forward in solidarity.”
Ultimately, the movement encompassed support from all three major labels and their various recording and publishing divisions.
That includes Atlantic Records, Warner Records, Capitol Music Group, Columbia Records, Def Jam, Elektra Music Group, Republic Records, Interscope Geffen A&M, Island Records, Sony/ATV, and Virgin EMI Records. But that support quickly spread beyond the big label ecosystem, with companies like Tunecore, CD Baby, SoundCloud, and BMI emailing Digital Music News to share news of their participation.