The streaming company announced its new fundraising initiative today and launched a website for people to contribute.
Spotify today announced their COVID-19 Music Relief Project fundraising initiative. They have pledged to contribute up to $10 million to three organisations that are supporting musicians, songwriters and rights owners during the Covid-19 crisis. The organisations, MusiCares (US), PRS Foundation (UK) and Help Musicians (UK) have already received donations from the Spotify fund. The streaming company will now match public donations up to a total of $10 million via their newly-set up dedicated website.
Spotify describes their new fundraising campaign as an attempt to amplify the efforts of the three organisations’ efforts in combating the effects of the virus on the industry. Spotify also plan to work with other charities and industry organisations across the world in a similar way. When donating, members of the public can pick which charity receives their donation.
Help Musicians are an independent UK charity for professional musicians. They have set up their ‘Coronavirus Hardship Fund’ which makes urgent payments to musicians in significant need.
The PRS Foundation will use the funds to support songwriters, rights owners and music creators with “timely grant support of £500 – £750”.
Charitable foundation MusicCares provide “a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need” and have set up a specific fund for those affected by the Covid-19 virus.
Details on how to apply for these relief funds are available via their respective websites. Spotify also announced that they are working on a new feature which will enable artists to fundraise directly during this period of crisis. The statement read “Soon, we will give artists the ability to drive listeners to a fundraising destination of their choice on their Spotify artist profile pages”. Spotify would not take any of the funds raised by this method.