Bandcamp directs its share of sales towards NAACP for Juneteenth
Purchases on the website today (19 June) support both the racial justice cause and artists
Image: Bandcamp
In commemoration of Juneteeth and in solidarity the US-wide protests against systemic racism, Bandcamp will today (19 June, midnight to midnight PDT) be directing its share of sales towards the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. For 24 hours, all purchases made on the website will go to support both the cause for racial justice and artists.
The significant date marks the emancipation of slaves within the former US Confederacy, and is a holiday symbolic to black Americans.
In the campaign’s original announcement, Bandcamp also stated that it would be allocating an additional $30,000 annually to partner with racial justice organisations, fighting to create opportunities for people of colour.
Bandcamp’s Juneteenth event also follows three preceding “revenue-waived Fridays”, in which the website waived its revenue share from music and merch sales to support artists financially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The first two of such Fridays saw $11.4m in direct-to-artist sales.
In a statement to announce the Juneteenth event, Bandcamp CEO, Ethan Diamond wrote: “We stand with those rightfully demanding justice, equality, and change, and people of colour everywhere who live with racism every single day, including many of our fellow employees and artists and fans in the Bandcamp community.”
Bandcamp has also shared this list of artists and labels who’ve prepared special releases for today’s Juneteenth event.
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