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Industry Mobilizes tCo F i g h t P a n d e m i c
harities, artists, labels, School of Public Health have agencies and various launched the initiative #FirstRe- other companies are spondersFirst to provide first-responder coming together to aid healthcare workers with physical and
HitsList WHAT WEASELS ARE WEASELING ABOuT THIS WEEk
A BLATANT RIP-Off Of A GOOD MAGAzINE
1 THEWEEKND:XO/Republicsuperstar
ascends to icon with giant 445k #1 debut,
while Weeknd warriors Monte and Sal
see their names up in “Lights.” These are
our finest Hours. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 DUA LIPA: The Future is bright for
the Warner diva’s highly anticipated
bow, as promo chief Chester and squad
Dua stellar job—with Pop #1 for six
weeks and counting. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 WENDY GOLDSTEIN: A&R boss
captains another Weeknd masterpiece
and brings well-respected creative Sam
Taylor to Republic. That’s Gold. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 CHILDISHGAMBINO:Mysterious
yet important drop has Team Nipper on
its toes. Will multimedia mastermind
Glover drive it home? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 MERCK MERCURIADIS: Hipgnosis hops
to an even higher valuation amid economic
turmoil. Who gnosis what’s next? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 HARRY STYLES: Columbia heartthrob
rides his biggest single to date to Pop radio glory
as Ron, Jeffrey and teams find much to “Adore”—
and Gray looks distinguished. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 SPOTIFY: DSP giant is all in with big
donations to worldwide biz-relief funds.
Ek-stream-ly appreciated. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 LADY GAGA: With Interscope’s
Mother Monster rescheduling her
album, will other stars follow (meat)
suit and postpone drops until touring
resumes? Watch this space. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 MUSICARES:RecordingAcademy’sphilanthropic
arm goes Boom with giant aid initiative—and digital
leaders, other major players line up with big checks.
That’s our kind of Cares package. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 PARADIGM: Sam Gores takes self-quarantining to another level as agency biz faces pandemic crisis with peremptory firings, salary cuts. Guess he didn’t get the memo.
those affected by the current global pandemic. Aside from the Recording Academy and MusiCares’ CO- VID-19 Relief Fund, the following companies and orgs are among the many pitching in.
Spotify is launching two major initiatives to provide relief for artists and other
creatives whose
livelihoods have been affected by the pandemic. The Spotify CO- VID-19 Music Relief project will recommend verified organiza- tions to provide financial relief to the music com- munity. The
first group of
partners includes MusiCares, PRS Foundation and
Help Musicians. In ad- dition to making direct donations to these orgs, the streamery will match donations made via
the Spotify COVID-19 Music Relief page up to a total of $10m.
In addition, the Spot
will be providing tools
for creators to do direct
fundraising from their Spotify artist pages—either for themselves, reach- ing out to fans to offset losses from cancellations and other pandemic- related privation, or for other artists, as well as for worthy causes.
Nashville-based Music Health Alliance has developed a CO- VID-19/Tornado Relief Plan & Database of Solutions, offering direct cost assistance to music professionals with needs like health-insurance pre- miums, medication, food, COVID-19 testing and doctor visits, for both the uninsured and under-insured.
The CAA Foundation, Thrive Global and Harvard T.H. Chan
psychological resources as they serve on the frontlines of the pandemic.
Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foun- dation (CLF) has donated $5m to several organizations around the world that are treating the sick and working to prevent the spread of the virus. The singer joins a growing
list of celebri- ties, athletes and civilians who are pitching in to help during the pandemic. CLF’s funds are being distributed to Direct Relief, Partners in Health, Feeding America, the International Rescue Com- mittee, the World Health Organization’s COVID-19
Solidarity Response Fund and other organi- zations, particularly in marginalized communi- ties in the U.S., the Caribbean and Africa.
Bandcamp waived its cut for 24 hours on 3/20, sending 100% of proceeds to artists and labels selling goods.
Nearly 800k items were sold, 15 times a normal Friday, and at the peak, fans were buying 11 items per second. In all, $4.3m worth of music and merch was sold.
Music-licensing platform Songtradr is waiving licensing fees for services rendered through 4/18, giving its share of any new licensing transactions directly to the artists.
While this pandemic has proved to be a massive challenge for our industry and will continue to do
so for the foreseeable future, it’s a beautiful thing to see people come together proactively during this difficult time.
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