Bandcamp Fridays have become sort of a musical holiday amidst the pandemic. With musicians at a major loss of income without live performances, Bandcamp has scheduled specific days where 100 percent of proceeds go toward the artist, waiving the site’s revenue share. Not only has the past year made clear how unprepared people were for a plague (I mean, who is?), more importantly it revealed the growing inequity in the world and how racism, sexism, and other intersectional factors are at play. This is all to preface the good work of the community-based platform Black Bandcamp, which has now officially relaunched as Black Artist Database, or B.A.D.
In the press release, the Black Artist Database expressed their purpose “to bring the richness of creative talent from the global Black diaspora to the surface, in pursuit of wage equity, transparency, and stable employment for our communities.” B.A.D. now lists over 3,500 profiles of black musicians and artists of all genres from all over the world. It even includes “professionals in publishing, visual and digital art, media production, curation, and discourse.” They are taking submissions for their database, which are now open and you can apply for here.
They’ve also announced the [pause] initiative, which supports businesses in the music industry to create more equitable workspaces, and the site’s exclusive mix series “B.A.D.mix.” This month’s series will feature an exclusive mix from Detroit Techno pioneer Eddie Fowlkes. B.A.D. wishes to continue growing their editorial features, starting with a mixed media series “Voices,” which highlights Black artists and “tells the untold stories of people in music and champion the voices of Black people within the global electronic music sphere.” First in the series is Eddington Again who chatted with writer, editor, and speaker Christine Kakaire.
All this, just in time for another Bandcamp Friday this week, which you can use B.A.D. to find new artists to support! Check out Black Artist Database here.
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