Band together: why musicians must strike a collective chord to survive | Mat Dryhurst
Digital music and audio | The Guardian 2019-08-20
Summary:
Red Bull Music Academy is closing, alternative culture outlets are retrenching – and big tech prefers pop. Experimental musicians need to stick together
Just weeks after musicians and fans protested the BBC’s decision to marginalise Radio 3’s Late Junction show, the experimental music community has been dealt further blows. First, the news that the Red Bull Music Academy is to shutter. For 20 years, the sponsored initiative has served as the gold-standard example of how to use corporate funds to support art on the margins with practically no conditions attached. RBMA provided funding for performance visas and live-show development, and ran educational programs that forged deep connections between young talent and a diverse cast of legacy artists, in addition to staffing a well respected radio station and magazine. Already, the latter’s articles appear to be disappearing from the web.
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