Music streaming platform Soundcloud has joined the Black Out Tuesday movement by scoring out all profile content upon logging in. The visually impactful move runs much deeper than simply recoding their website for the day. With the recent and unjust death of George Floyd the subsequent riots in America have looked to bring the growing problems for the Black community to light in an explosive way. In solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, SoundCloud is standing with its fellow creators, employees, listeners, and partners and is encouraging their users to do the same by donating to National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
This movement and mind-set are currently being echoed around the world by artists, labels, clubbers, and the underground in large with the use of the black square on the various social media platforms. The use of the black square is only the beginning of this movement and line in the sand that many feels was crossed a long time ago. The symbol will only go a small way to educating of the far reaches of this injustice, racism, and inequality it is now time for us all to stand collectively against the powers that deem this acceptable.
One such person that is doing her bit for the movement is BBC Radio 1’s Saoirse. The Irish selector will be dedicating her show this month to the black artists that has cultivated the electronic music scene, and there are many that are directly responsible for large swathes of our historic roots. Saoirse will also be donating her fee to help the BLM resistance campaign and she is encouraging her fellow DJs to follow suit.
It is also worth noting that if it wasn’t for the Black Community there would be no Jazz, Funk, Soul, and Disco which is where all electronic music is derived from, hence the media blackout. So, if you want to do your bit for the BLM movement the above-mentioned organisations are a great place to start.
