Music industry marked ‘blackout’ over death of George Floyd
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Radio stations and TV channels in UK have changed their programmes to mark ‘Blackout Tuesday’ on 2nd June, reflecting on George Floyd’s death in police custody. Meanwhile, music companies and musicians around the world adopted Tuesday, the 2nd June as a day of reflection and protest in the wake of Mr. Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, USA.
BBC Radio 1Xtra is hosting a series of discussions and debates in support of the black community, with song choices that reflect black pride and identity.
Many record labels and music stars have stopped work to observe the initiative.
MTV went silent for eight minutes – the length of time a white police officer knelt on George Floyd’s neck. The gesture has been replicated on other channels including VH1 and ‘Comedy Central’, while ‘4 Music’ will pause its output once an hour throughout the day.
There have also been moments of reflection on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2, while commercial radio stations including Kiss, Magic and Absolute Radio are observing a social media blackout ‘to show that racism of any kind cannot be tolerated’.
ITV daytime show This Morning briefly went dark, showing a black screen with the words “Black Lives Matter”.
Presenter Alison Hammond later said Mr. Floyd’s death ‘hurt me to the pit of my stomach’. ‘If black lives mattered, we wouldn’t be in this situation’.
Apple Music’s Zane Lowe tweeted that he would skip Tuesday’s edition of his radio show, saying he stood ‘united with his black and brown friends and colleagues’.
On Radio 1, Clara Amfo gave a powerful speech about the effects of racism and the recent events on her mental health.
Meanwhile, the global music industry is standing in solidarity after the death of George Floyd, with a ‘Blackout Tuesday’ initiative. ‘The music industry is a multibillion dollar industry. An industry that has profited predominantly from black art,’ reads a statement on the initiative’s web site. “Our mission is to hold the industry at large, including major corporations and their partners who benefit from the efforts, struggles and successes of black people accountable. To that end, it is the obligation of these entities to protect and empower the black community that have made them disproportionately wealthy in ways that are measurable and transparent.”
The blackout calls for the music industry to stop operations on Tuesday, June 2, to bring awareness to the police brutality and racial injustice in the US.
Many of music’s biggest stars have spoken out about the father-of-two’s death. Musicians including Rihanna, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have spoken out on social media about the death of George Floyd.
Rihanna said her Fenty beauty label would not conduct any business on Tuesday.
Taking to Instagram on Sunday, Rihanna spoke of the ‘devastation, anger [and] sadness’ she has experienced over the last week.
‘Watching my people get murdered and lynched day after day pushed me to a heavy place in my heart’ she wrote.
Beyoncé filmed an Instagram video urging fans to sign a petition seeking ‘justice for George Floyd’. ‘We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight…We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalise this pain’.
Katy Perry posted a plain black square to her Instagram account with the caption: ‘I hope that ‘Black out Tuesday gave us all (especially in the music industry) an opportunity to take what we’re learning and put it into action on Wednesday, and every day going forward’.
Other pop stars, including Ariana Grande, J Cole, Tinashe, Nick Cannon, Yungblud, Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes, joined protestors across the US over the weekend.
Hip-hop musician LL Cool J turned to music to express his outrage and passion, in a lengthy rap to social media.
‘For 400 years you had your knees on our necks, a garden of evil with no seeds of respect,” he rapped. “In America’s mirror all she sees is regret, instead of letting blood live they begging for blood let.’
Jay-Z released a statement late Sunday calling for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to prosecute those responsible for killing Floyd.
‘Blackout Tuesday’ has received support from major record labels, including Inters-cope Records, Def Jam Recordings, Warner Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Capitol Records and Columbia Records, among others.
The U.S. music industry observed a blackout on Tuesday, by cancelling releases of new records and turning off music, to reflect on the death of George Floyd and show support to the black community.
A number of top record labels and musicians have announced they observed the blackout and voiced support of the event. Apple Music announced over its Twitter account that they have marked ‘the day to reflect and plan actions to support Black artistes, Black creators and Black communities’.
Universal Music Group said in a statement on Instagram that it is ‘a day to contemplate, connect and organize.’
Sony Music also posted an announcement, saying that ‘We stand in solidarity with the Black community, our artistes, employees, colleagues and community leaders in fighting racial injustice and inequality.”
MTV and BET went dark for eight minutes and 46 seconds in support of Black Lives Matter and racial justice. Music-based companies Live Nation and Tik-Tok, as well as the Recording Academy, posted to social media that it planned to support and stand with the black community.
As anger spread through the music community, a message spread on social media calling on the industry to ‘take an urgent step of action to provoke accountability and change’.
‘As gatekeepers of the culture, it’s our responsibility to not only come together to celebrate the wins, but also hold each other up during loss,’ reads the statement, which circulated under the hash-tag ‘The Show Must Be Paused’, and they did.
Among those reposting the message were Warner Music Group, Sony/ATV, Universal Music, Motown, Capitol Records, British label Dirty Hit, Eminem’s Shady Records and legendary producer Quincy Jones.