Social-Media
Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Amazon join Tuesday to help Blackout
Major streaming platforms including Spotify , Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music have expressed support for Blackout Tuesday (also known as "Black Out Tuesday"), with exclusive playlists, moments of silence, and blackouts on social media. The movement aims to condemn police brutality and racism and to commemorate George Floyd, whose death by police has ignited widespread outrage and protests in US cities and around the world.
To pick playlists and podcasts on the app, Spotify will add an 8 minute and 46 second moment of silence.
The length of the moment of silence is equivalent to the amount of time former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd with his knee down by the throat, leading to the death of Floyd.
Daily Beats 1 radio programming from Apple Music has been cancelled 9to5Mac says, and now it supports a streaming station that highlights music produced by black artists. Its daily suggestion and radio tabs display a single playlist named "For Us, By Us." There's also a full-page takeover displayed to some users, featuring a protest movement help message. However, users also have standard access to their music collections and to the Apple Music catalogue.
Amazon Music has also tweeted in support of the campaign, noting that all social media will be suspended for the day. YouTube Music has released a support tweet from their official account. YouTube has also pledged to contribute $1 million to the Police Equity Center.
The activity is a part of the wider music industry movement. Following a call for action from Atlanta Records marketing manager Jamila Thomas and former Atlantic employee Brianna Agyemang, which began with the hashtag # TheShowMustBePaused, a variety of record labels are participating in Black Out Tuesday.
ViacomCBS also participates in an 8-minute, 46-second blackout across its network and cable channels beginning Monday at 5PM ET.
"The 2nd of June is Black Out Tuesday, a day of mutual disconnection from work intended to help people reflect and come together to support Black culture. On this day — and every day — Spotify will help our staff, families, associates, musicians, and creators in the fight against racism, inequality, and inequity, ”Spotify wrote in a blog post. "We 're using our platform 's power to stand with Black creators, amplify their voices, and speed up substantive dialogue and much-needed reform.
As a result, you'll note some improvements on Spotify beginning at 12:01 AM on Tuesday.
As well as pausing all social media publication, Spotify said it would replace headline podcast and playlist photos and logos with a blacked out image, and more actively support black musicians and podcasters with specially selected playlists and its new Black History is Now platform. The corporation is now matching employee contributions to groups combating racism and inequality.
