Spotify announced today that it will match up to $10 million in donations to support artists and other workers in the music industry hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
With countless tours and festivals canceled, the streaming service says it’s working with three funds to start: the Recording Academy’s nonprofit MusiCares and U.K.-based charities Help Musicians and the PRS Foundation. Spotify pledged to match donations made through its COVID-19 Music Relief page “dollar for dollar up to a collective total of $10 million.”
Spotify says it’s also donating separately to the above groups, but when Fast Company reached out, the company declined to say how much it’s giving beyond the $10 million pledge. Spotify additionally teased an unreleased feature that will “enable artists to fundraise directly from fans.”
Along with Spotify, Billboard reports that YouTube Music, Amazon Music, SiriusXM (which owns Pandora), Tidal, and Facebook have also donated to the Recording Academy’s COVID-19 Relief Fund. And last Friday, Bandcamp waived the fees it normally collects from transactions and called on users to support artists through the service.
Meanwhile, Netflix announced a $100 million fund “to help with hardship in the creative community.” However, the company said the funds will primarily be used to help “workers on our own productions around the world.”
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