Save Our Scene: Buy music and merch
Various online resources have sprung up in the wake of cancellations currently decimating the live music sector. We’ve compiled them here.
Music
• Milan electronic music artists have banded together for a two-part compilation called Together with funds raised going towards Milan’s Sacco hospital and its workers. Volume one is here and volume two here, and among those featured are The Analogue Cops, SofaTalk and Matteo Manzini & Fabrizio Maurizi.
• ClubCultureCH, agency Planisphere and label Décalé have come together release a 131-track compilation to benefit the Swiss electronic music scene. Make Some Room: Electronic Relief in Switzerland features more than 150 artist, including Aïsha Devi, Martina Lussi, Sonja Moonear, Deetron, Magda Drosz and Onur Ozman. Learn more about the project and how it came together here, and support it on Bandcamp.
• Rollover Milano have released a benefit compilation of edits by the likes of 2ManyDJs, Soul Clap and Bill Brewster.
• Tale Of Us have put together a new 31-track compilation on their Afterlife label called Unity. The Italian duo has also shared a Voyage mix of the compilation, which features the likes of Agents Of Time, Mathame, Josh Wink, Anii, Recondite, Stephan Bodzin and the label heads themselves. All profits will be donated to the COVID-19 medical relief fund for Lombardy, the Italian region hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.
• Italian techno label Suburban Avenue has put together a compilation called The Italian Resistance: Music Against The Virus featuring Neel, Alessandro Adriani and more, with all proceeds going towards the Italian Red Cross.
• Konstrukt is donating proceeds from their compilation, This Is Not A Drill Vol. 1 (featuring Yves De Mey, ASC and Peter Van Hoesen, among others) to the Dutch Red Cross.
• JAY (SIREN) and Blank Mind label boss Sam Purcell have curated an eight-track compilation called The Birds That Mimic Solitude – Vol I featuring music by JAY, Bianca Scout, Soreab and more. All proceeds go to National Emergencies Trust.
• Stamp The Wax has put together a 27-track compilation called Isolation Therapy. The artists, who include Desert Sound Colony, Anna Wall and Philou Louzolo, were given three days to write a track, with all proceeds split between them and STW.
• Montreal agency Oracle has launched a label, Auguri Records, to support their roster, which features Roza Terenzi, D. Tiffany, Olin, X-Coast and more. Check out the various artists compilation, Intensive Care, VOl. 1 on Bandcamp.
• Amsterdam-based booking agency Voyage Select has also put together a compilation to support their roster—featuring Elias Mazian, Kris Baha, Interstellar Funk, Cinnaman, Job Sifre, Tom Trago, Olivia and more—who will see 100 percent of the profits.
• On Friday, March 20th, Bandcamp waived its fees on all purchases to raise awareness of the pandemic’s impact on musicians. “For many artists, a single day of boosted sales can mean the difference between being able to pay rent or not,” stated Bandcamp Daily. In the end, fans spent $4.3 million on the day, 15 times the amount of sales for a usual day. Find our guide to the day’s new releases and participating labels (many of which still have offers and are waiving fees) here.
• Mixcloud is also offering a few ways to better support artists. For three months, the platform is waiving its revenue share from its Mixcloud Select subscription service and offering three months of its Pro service for free, which allows for fans to support via Select. Find more information here.
• Individual artists are stepping up as well. Grouper will donate all Bandcamp proceeds to “COVID-19 mutual aid” until the end of the month, while DJ Harvey is donating the proceeds from his first live mix in five years to charitable organisations.
• If you’re at a loose end on labels to support, most of the imprints covered in our Label Of The Month features maintain healthy Bandcamp accounts. See also: UIQ, Hyperdub, NNA Tapes, TT and Local Action.
• Don’t Stop The Dance is “a dancer-to-DJ support directory to keep the music flowing and the community strong.” Fans can donate to DJs via Patreon, Venmo and more for exclusive content.
• Many have begun sharing Twitter threads filled with Bandcamp links to encourage supporting artists through directly buying their music. New York collective bizaarbazaar has one here, Native Instruments’ thread is here and RA‘s Andrew Ryce is sharing music here.
• Adam Badí Donoval has compiled a list of electronic artists affected by the crisis, hosted here by Buy Music Club. Cafe OTO’s Fielding Hope also has a list here, and Chris SSG has shared a list here.
Tech
• Soundtoys has made its Effect Rack plug-in free until June 30th. It’s available here.
• Ableton is offering a 90-day free trial for Live 10 Suite. Download it here.
• Moog has waived charges for its Minimoog Model D iOS app for iPhone and iPad. Download it here.
• Korg has made its Kaossilator apps for iOS and Android free. Download them now.
Record shops
• Beyond club and festival gigs, record sales are the lifeblood of the industry. Bandcamp has proved to be an extraordinary resource for funneling support to artists during the pandemic, but if you’re still in the position to buy records, buy local and buy often.
• Beggars Group has pulled together an interactive map allowing record buyers to quickly determine which stores are still doing mailorder in the US, UK and the rest of the world.
• London record shop Vinyl Pimp, which remains open, is taking some useful steps to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Idle Hands in Bristol is also open and asking the community to “support us in whatever way you can over the coming weeks.”
• Shops like Vinyl Dreams in San Francisco and Mount Analog in LA and All Day Records in North Carolina are open for business online.
• Washington, DC, mail-order shop Earcave is offering 25 percent off site-wide.
• Amoeba Records closed its three California stores on Wednesday but is offering free shipping as always through its online store.
• 2 Music Bridges Arts in New York City has closed its doors, but is offering free shipping in the US on orders of $50 or more at online.
• Other US shops, like RS94109, Gramaphone Records and Super Elevation, have been dutifully updating their Discogs accounts.
• London record stores such as Low Company and All Night Flight are offering free shipping deals.
• Berlin stronghold Hard Wax is open online and by appointment.
• This is the tip of the iceberg, and shops in many locales, such as Australia, are still open. If you frequent a shop, check in on them online.
Merch
• Charlotte de Witte is auctioning off t-shirts she designed herself, with auctions starting every day until Monday at 18:00 CET here. Proceeds go towards Belgium’s King Baudouin Foundation.
• UK promoter Origins are selling social distancing scarves to benefit the NHS. Grab one here.
• Paris’s Nodd Club launched the Club Where Soul Matters campaign for their first birthday. Check out the designs on Everpress—100 percent of profits will go to various charities.
• Defected has launched its latest clothing range, SS20. Browse now.
• Claptone is selling “limited edition golden toilet paper” on his website for €0.99 as part of an April Fools’ Day bit. All proceeds will go to WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
• Everpress has collected all designs by independent labels, promoters and artists here.
• Mor Elian‘s Fever AM label are selling a t-shirt just in time for Bandcamp’s no-fees day.
• Brussels’ C12, Kiosk Radio and Crevette Records have teamed up to make the “Support Your Local Scenes” t-shirt, available here.
• London-based sex-positive party Crossbread has put together “Home Isolation Pleasure Packs” to help secure the future of the party. They’ll include a mix of records, lingerie, sex toys, lube, condoms, earplugs (“for your housemates”), polaroid nudes and more.
• If you were planning on going to check out a live show, head over to an artist’s Bandcamp and support if you can. For example, Yves Tumor & Its Band had a massive world tour cut short, but have put tour shirts up on Bandcamp.
• Bristol-based screen printer Fyahfly is offering various discounts to independent, small business owners affected by COVID-19. Find more information here.
Reading list
• For those looking to get away from the screen and the brutal news cycle, pick up some reading material—Efficient Space has just published the first issue of its Enthusiasms zine.
• Record Culture, Maggot Brain and Love Injection are also well worth your time. (The latter is also available digitally.)
• Gigsta has curated a zine, called Murmurations about “searching, writing, playing, producing, hearing and dancing from the margins,” featuring RA contributors Steph Lee, Elissa Stolman and Chal Ravens. All proceeds will be donated to aequa, a Berlin community organization for social equity. You can also donate directly to aequa’s GoFundMe.
More ways to help: offer and receive support, donate, attend virtual events.
Read our feature to hear from people across the dance music community about how COVID-19 is affecting them. Plus, here are some ideas on what to watch, read and do at home while self-isolating.
We will continue updating this post as more resources appear. Please email [email protected] with any suggestions.
Find the latest COVID-19 statistics on this interactive map created by Johns Hopkins University.
