Bandcamp

Bandcamp giving their cut of sales to NAACP on Juneteenth

Like they did in March and May, Bandcamp is yet again waiving their share of profits on all sales this coming Friday, June 5, to support artists and labels. Considering the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the financial insecurity it has left many musicians with, Bandcamp’s continued efforts are incredibly valuable.

In addition to this Friday, Bandcamp has announced they’ll be doing a second day of waiving their cut of profits this month. It happens on Friday, June 19, also known as Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery in the US. They are donating their proceeds to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and here’s their post about it:

The recent killings of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Sean Reed, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the ongoing state-sanctioned violence against black people in the US and around the world are horrific tragedies. We stand with those rightfully demanding justice, equality, and change, and people of color everywhere who live with racism every single day, including many of our fellow employees and artists and fans in the Bandcamp community.

So this coming Juneteenth (June 19, from midnight to midnight PDT) and every Juneteenth hereafter, for any purchase you make on Bandcamp, we will be donating 100% of our share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a national organization that has a long history of effectively enacting racial justice and change through litigation, advocacy, and public education. We’re also allocating an additional $30,000 per year to partner with organizations that fight for racial justice and create opportunities for people of color.

The current moment is part of a long-standing, widespread, and entrenched system of structural oppression of people of color, and real progress requires a sustained and sincere commitment to political, social, and economic racial justice and change. We’ll continue to promote diversity and opportunity through our mission to support artists, the products we build to empower them, who we promote through the Bandcamp Daily, our relationships with local artists and organizations through our Oakland space, how we operate as a team, and who and how we hire.

Beyond that, we encourage everyone in the Bandcamp community to look for ways to support racial equality in your own local community, and as a company we’ll continue to look for more opportunities to support racial justice, equality and change.

You can also learn more about Juneteenth, the NAACP, and check out a comprehensive list of resources, including donation links, petitions, anti-racist readings, and more.