Sony Music Group has announced a $100 million fund in support of social justice and anti-racist initiatives around the world.
The group, including its recorded music and content divisions as well as its music publishing company, will award grant funding to organizations working to advance equal rights for all. The announcement follows an open call for change by Sony/ATV Music Publishing chair and CEO Jon Platt — the highest-ranking African-American executive at Sony Music Group and the only black CEO of a global music company — as well as conversations with African-American activists, artists, and scholars that unfolded last week on “Blackout Tuesday,” an industry-wide initiative designed to demonstrate solidarity with the black community.
“Racial injustice is a global issue that affects our artists, songwriters, our people, and of course society at large,” said Sony Music Group chair Rob Stringer in a statement. “We stand against discrimination everywhere and we will take action accordingly with our community fully involved in effectively using these funds.”
Variety reports that Sony Music Group is in the process of forming a task force to focus on the issue, while Columbia Records executive vice president Peter Gray and other executives have launched the Promotion Coalition with the goal of raising $100,000 in support of anti-racist efforts.
“This week, our job is to mobilize ourselves in a loud, clear, public, anti-racism effort — with our actions, our voices, and our networks,” the organizers wrote on the Promotion Coalition’s GoFundMe page. “This is our starting point. There is no finish line.”
Source: Sony/ATV Music Publishing
