Musicians behind the scenes are the glue that keeps the industry running, but are often not as supported as their counterparts. With the pandemic’s lasting effects on the music business on not just mainstream artists but all fronts, Sony Music Publishing is backing the unsung heroes.
Billboard reports that the top global music publisher has partnered with the 100 Percenters — a music-creatives advocacy nonprofit — to financially support U.S. songwriters, composers, and producers through donating $100,000 for relief grants.
Under the new collaboration and its Songwriter Stimulus Program, the nonprofit will award $2,500 stimulus checks to qualifying songwriters. The 100 Percenters will also help music creators with emergency grants.
The Songwriter Stimulus program and Emergency Fund will both launch later this year.
The 100 Percenters especially champions BIPOC and marginalized songwriters, composers and producers and currently has 250 members.
“It’s an honor to have the support of [Sony Music Publishing chairman and CEO] Jon Platt,” said 100 Percenters founder and executive director Tiffany Red, according to Billboard. “He heard us and took action in a way that I could never have imagined. This is just the beginning.”
The 100 Percenters
According to the Grammy-winning songwriter, what was initially an interaction between her and Platt over social media developed into real action for musicians.
“My goal was to try to speak to the leaders of our business, the people who can make change, and inspire them to do the right thing and to please just hear us,” she shared. “Jon was the only one to open the door.”
She added: “He sat down with me and my board, and we had a real conversation,” Red continues. “He gave us the opportunity to not just tell our stories but to also be human, and to reach him on a human level, too.”
The overall mission of the 100 Percenters is to shift the culture of the industry, and the partnership with Sony Music Publishing is helping jumpstart the movement.
