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#TheShowMustBePaused movement was created by executives Jamila Thomas of Atlantic Records and Brianna Agyemang of Platoon. The hashtag was shared more than 700,000 times.
There is a lot of criticism about how #BlackOutTuesday wasn't done the "right way”. Regardless of how flawed or perfect this campaign was, it did what it set out to do - “disrupt, a pause from business as usual”. Part of the problem was that this was a game of telephone. A movement specifically holding the music industry who benefits astronomically from black culture accountable was turned into a social media spread of black pictures with the hashtag without the understanding. Once again, the criticism is for what happened instead of the actual movement.
It’s not much effort for music companies to pause on social media, it’s a surface level attempt when everything continues to stay the same within the company itself. Performative support and activism is easy when the world is watching. This was the catalyst, now people are demanding these companies to put their money where their mouth is.
Immediate personal responses I’ve seen have been:
Click-baiting for a Cause, where many Twitter threads have catchy titles including why your favorite artist has been canceled with links to petitions to sign once clicked on.
Girls Behind The Rock Show took the day in their 8K member facebook group to make posts to uplift the black women in the group. They also invited black members to attend admin meetings (someone took them up on the offer and has become an admin!) Shelby personally reached out to me with support to “start a convo about we can do better, we’re here to listen and act.”
Cherie Chu ask, “Are these conversations happening mostly internally/privately within music companies (if yes, understandable)? Or not at all?” with some positive responses that some companies were having these conversations
Rosalinda made an excel sheet calling out music companies that have given PR statements but holding them accountable for their actions. “These entities have made $$$ off of Black music + culture. What will they give in return, aside from a PR statement, to support the fight for Black lives? Apply pressure.”
An Instagram story with a white agent calling out her company for posting solidarity with a history of overlooking black employees time and time again. She went on further to encourage her peers to keep fighting for change and recognized what her own privilege has provided her in comparison to her POC friends.
Ones to Watch post a letter from their editor, Maxamillion Polo, speaking about his personal experience as a black man and music industry.
This has created a conversation, which used to feel like a dangerous topic as people of color. It’s becoming less of a taboo to speak about true diversity within companies. In the most professional networking website, LinkedIn, professionals are talking about genuine change and ignoring the performative actions. I’ve seen many articles about supporting black coworkers in the office, finding companies to reflect their views and the
As I get daily emails from Digital Music News and Hypebot I’ve seen a slow decline in the articles about what music companies are doing to support BLM. I haven’t seen any articles addressing the question, “Thank you for your Black Lives Matter graphic. May I please see a picture of your executive leadership team and company board?”
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