Photo Credit: kate.sade
Across the music industry, high-profile record labels and companies are voicing their intention to suspend operations in recognition of “Black Out Tuesday,” as part of a larger effort to raise awareness of fatal attacks against unarmed African Americans.
Each of the Big Three record labels – Sony Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music – have taken to social media to announce their participation in the initiative. Accordingly, the labels (and, in turn, their subsidiaries, including UMG-owned Republic Records and WMG-owned Atlantic Records) will abstain from conducting business this Tuesday, June 2nd.
Furthermore, Capitol Records stated in a social media post that it is donating to Color of Change, an Oakland-based civil rights advocacy organization, and Atlantic called on fans to support the George Floyd memorial fund. UMG-owned Interscope also joined suit.
It appears that music industry professionals brainstormed and initiated Black Out Tuesday, and it’s unclear whether any non-music companies will participate.
Over the weekend, protesters took to the streets of many major American cities in response to George Floyd’s death. The unarmed male perished six days ago, after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin applied his knee to Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, despite Floyd warning that he was unable to breathe. A bystander recorded the tragedy, and the resulting footage quickly circulated on social media.
All four of the on-scene officers were promptly fired, and Chauvin was arrested on second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder charges. It subsequently came to light that 18 official complaints had been filed against Chauvin, and that he was involved in one fatal shooting during his 19-year tenure with the Minneapolis Police Department.
Additionally, Chauvin and Floyd worked as security guards at the same Minneapolis nightclub just last year, though the establishment’s owner didn’t indicate that they knew one another personally.
While the aforementioned protests were largely peaceful during the daytime, they became violent shortly after nightfall, as individuals in Minneapolis, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere clashed with police, looted shops, and set fire to both vehicles and buildings.
Governors in several states – California, Minnesota, and Nevada among them – have mobilized their respective National Guard soldiers to restore order.
Music Industry that makes money on glorifying of violence, racism and hatred comdemns violence? The pot calling the kettle black.
It’s true…partially. The portrayal of black communities needing bling, shoes, etc. sets an expectation and an adopted benchmark for fans in those communities. Thug life. Bitches and hoes. Etc., etc., etc.
Glad the big three are stepping up to fan the flames of racism and violence. I hope the rioters burn down their offices.
Yeah, because burning down offices really helps things. You’re mental.
I am always confused by “Days of Silence” and abstention instead of days of speaking out in the media by people with access to it. Hoping it does some good, but I would prefer an accompanying campaign to have every person in the music industry contact their members of Congress on Tuesday to demand pressure for justice in Minneapolis and everywhere else. That would set a better example than a national “no music business” day during a pandemic that has offices closed already. That’s what I am going to do, anyway.
People don’t realise how the rest of the world see’s he USA. Other countries look at the USA and see a violent and often nasty society with some very nice people and unfortunately theres a lot of crooks, looters, arsonists, vandals. American politics reflects the people, there’s good and there’s nasty.
Who remembers this…
On July 15, 2017, Justine Ruszczyk, also known as Justine Damond, a 40-year-old Australian-American woman, was fatally shot by Mohamed Noor, a Somali-American Minneapolis Police Department officer, after she had called 9-1-1 to report the possible assault of a woman in an alley behind her house.
Where were the en masse demonstrations and protests…
All lives matter..
What a mess…
The George Floyd incident is not an isolated incident. Black Americans are 3x more likely to die at the hands of police than their white counterparts. The protests are not just for George Floyd. They are for Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Philando Castille, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and countless other names of Black Americans. Excessive force by police is the problem and it’s highlighted with racial profiling. Yes, all lives matter. No one is arguing that. But blacks are disproportionately impacted by police violence at more alarming rates. Your all lives matter comment as a rebuttal to someone saying black lives matter is insensitive to the lives of black people and selfish. If all lives really mattered to you, then you’d be in uproar over both Justine Damond and George Floyd. Yet, when the conversation is about George Floyd and other black unarmed persons being killed by police, you bring up Justine’s case. If you can’t empathize with black people, that’s your issue. But at least come in agreement that police brutality needs to stop. Periodt.
You say “3x more likely”, it’s actually 3.5X more likely, but how much more likely are black Americans to commit a crime and be arrested? It’s hard to know exactly, if it is 3x or 5x, depending on a crime etc. However, we both know that it’s significantly higher. There have been numerous studies to investigate this ‘bias’ in USA police force, against the black population, but not one, has proved that it actually exists. In fact, one concluded that a white police officer is more likely to shoot a white person, and black officer to shoot a black person. Sorry to shutter your ‘illusion’!
Of course, police brutality must be confronted, but here we are talking about police brutality towards black Americans and facts/figures show that they are not more ‘biased’ towards blacks. Of course, if you like Joe Biden and believe in ‘Truth over facts’ , it’s hard to prove anything to people like you!
Gosh there’s a lot of assumptions and judgments made in the above comments..
Police brutality and cover ups is a really bad problem in both the USA and UK.
In the UK the prisons are filled with innocent people who’ve been jailed for offences they didn’t commit. The media is a lot to blame as they work with police to demonise the accused and inflate, blur the lines, distort the details to make for a better story.
There’s a whole false allegations industry in the UK that thrives with the help of bent coppers, crooked lawyers and the sensationalist media..
A lot of the coppers are hardened through the job and may well be inclined to enjoy bashing and beating to smithereens their targets. Really it’s a reflection on today’s Société. Stupid internet plays into this too.
People of America support peaceful protests and the right to free speech and a society free of police brutality and an unfair judicial system.
People want no racism or persecution of minorities.
We know that’s bad and has to change.
What people don’t support and find abhorrent is crooks, thieves, arsonists, vandals stealing other peoples property, ransacking shops, burning down buildings and cars.. thinking they are above the law.
Black lives matter
Your Life Matters
Her Life Matters
His Life Matters
even Criminals and Prisoners Lives Matter
Peoples right to not have their belongings destroyed, stolen or vandalised.
Peoples right to go and work in a store without the threat of arsonists, thugs and thieves ruining everything.