Sony Music, the second largest of the Big Three record companies, launched a $100M fund to support social justice and anti-racist initiatives. The company will also increase mental health resources for employees, working with outside experts to implement inclusion and diversity commitments to improve the work environment.
The global music conglomerate will immediately begin donating to ‘organizations that foster equal rights’. It’s a step in the right direction for the music industry, which has great power to aware and educate millions of people around the world.
Racial injustice is a global issue that affects our artists, songwriters, our people, and of course society at large. We stand against discrimination everywhere and we will take action accordingly with our community fully involved in effectively using these funds.
Rob Stringer, Sony Music Group chairman
Matching Donations & Focusing On Mental Health Support
The measures that Sony Music will apply to their routine involve donations and mental health support. The music conglomerate will match employee donations to several social justice charities worldwide during the month of June. Some of the companies that are fighting racial injustices are ACLU, Black Lives Matter, NAACP, or The Innocence Project.
Mental health is still an unsolved matter for the music industry. In order to improve the situation, the company will provide mental health support for staff. These activities will arrive in a partnership with outside experts in race and mental health. Sony Music Entertainment will keep working with outside experts to add improvements to the personal aspects of the company. Inclusion and diversity are the main subjects to develop, so they will adapt their ongoing training program to the actual concerns.
We can be a company where these difficult, uncomfortable conversations occur more often. To facilitate these platforms for being heard, we plan to hold more regular employee forums in the coming year. Some of the above actions are extensions of the work we’ve been doing and we will do so much more in the coming weeks and months to fight racism and injustice globally. All of us have a role to play, and we’ll be looking to you for help and ideas as we work together to be part of the solution.”
Rob Stringer
The Music Industry’s Response
The music industry has quickly responded to the protests and concerns regarding racist attitudes. Even Digital Mirage, an online festival, postponed its dates showing support and respect to the Black Lives Matter initiative. George Floyd’s death was the straw that broke the camel’s back. In response to this unfortunate event, the ‘Big Three’ major record labels launched initiatives designed to address systemic racial injustice.
The music industry is doing what’s in their hand to educate and improve the actual environment. There is still a lot of room for improvement, but together we will beat the injustices.