Start today with YouTube’s announcement of a slate of Covid-19 related original shows, with several involving music. Stay Home With: Yungblud will explore the UK artist’s quarantine life, with viewers encouraged to donate to the No Kid Hungry charity, for example.
Also positive is Abbey Road Studios’ new Topline Songwriting Competition, with songwriters, artists and producers invited to record their original songs using the studios’ Topline app, and potentially win a feedback session with Nile Rodgers, Poo Bear, Jamie Scott or Giorgio Tuinfort. “Writing being a form of autotherapy,” is part of the thought process behind the contest.
What else? Madonna’s Ray of Light Foundation is working with the Reform Alliance to donate 100k surgical masks to prisons, while more than 70 Japanese artists have joined an initiative encouraging fans to donate money to support local music venues closed by the Covid-19 lockdown.
In the UK, Music Support has bagged 1,000 free codes for music industry people to download a copy of mental-health app Thrive.
Finally, an initiative called #MyHappySong has been set up by three friends to encourage artists and industry folk to share the songs that are helping them to stay positive – including covers by the artists. Acts including WhenYoung, Broken Hands and Wild Front have taken part and the plan is to publish new covers every Friday.
Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash
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