black music action coalition
How Can Country Music Better Support Black Artists & Fans?
Banning Confederate flags at country music concerts, dedicating nights to Black performers at Nashville’s Lower Broadway bars and instating a basic monthly stipend for Black artists in Nashville — these are some of the Black Music Action Coalition’s suggestions to better support Black talent in the primarily white country music community. While country music festivals including Stagecoach and CMA Fest have specifically banned the use of Confederate flags at their festivals, BMAC urges other country music festivals and events to follow suit. “It’s important that we understand that these symbols that country music has affiliated itself with, they are racist in origin and in current practice,” says BMAC board member Naima Cochrane, who has been a contributing writer to Billboard. “It’s not OK...
FAIR Act Bill to Repeal California’s ‘Seven-Year Statute’ Amendment Wins First Committee Vote
The Free Artists From Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act passed out of the California State Assembly’s Labor & Employment Committee on Wednesday (March 30) after a 4-2 vote in favor of the legislation. The bill now moves to the Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media for an April 19 hearing and vote. Introduced by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) in February, the FAIR Act — also known as Assembly Bill 2926 — would repeal a 1987 amendment to California’s “Seven-Year Statue” (a.k.a. California Labor Code Section 2855) that allows record labels to sue artists for damages if they leave after seven years but before delivering the required number of albums in their contract. The Seven-Year Statute, which limits personal services contracts for state ...
The Weeknd, H.E.R. and Motown’s CEO Honored at First BMAC Music in Action Awards
That mission statement remained front and center throughout the nearly three-hour ceremony/dinner during which emotions ran high. The Weeknd, co-recipient of The Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award for his philanthropic support of various charities and organizations including COVID relief, Black Lives Matter and MusiCares, recalled the first time he met the industry icon. “He pulled up to one of my club gigs in Las Vegas; he’s one of the reasons why I started making music,” said the emotional singer, to whom Jones presented the award via videotape. “He said he’d wait for me to visit with fans first before we talked. He was teaching me the lesion that nothing is more important than people and giving back. This is the best award I’ve ever gotten in my life, I swear. I won’t take this for g...
