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Music Futures - An Upcoming Interview Series

12/9/2021

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Written by Noé Loyola
Picture
Design by Andres Duarte
Introducing Music Futures, an interview series showcasing projects working to create better futures in the music industry.

As we all know, the arrival of COVID-19 brought hardship and uncertainty to the world of music. With the impossibility of concerts and the spread of the disease, it became very difficult for many artists and industry workers to make ends meet. Despite all of the adversities, there was also a glimmer of hope. The various racial uprisings across the world as a response to systemic injustice created a wave of awareness that swept far and wide. Many people that didn't talk about race were now doing so and diversity and inclusion seemed to become increasing priorities across communities and the music industry.

Unfortunately, a lot of this hope was misplaced. What we saw was not a massive mobilization of fans, musicians, journalists, and other industry workers to better the life conditions of marginalized groups. Instead, we saw plague raves where wealthy tourists further spread COVID-19 in the Global South, performative gestures from privileged musicians and companies with no real impact on communities, and a blatant dismissal of the needs of artists in order to make by.

Additionally, thanks to increased economic inequality, there has been a prevalent white washing of the music industry as it has now turned into a capitalist enterprise. This is not something new, as music genres such as techno and house (which were created by black artists) have been appropriated and commercialized for decades. However, given the constant talk of diversity and inclusion, it is particularly egregious that these issues have worsened instead of getting better.

This situation has proven to be bleak and depressing, particularly for queer, indigenous, and artists of color whose art is more difficult to market given the hesitance of music festivals and platforms to promote their work. And the situation isn't good for fans from these communities either. Many venues label themselves "safe spaces" to jump on the wokeness train while not providing any real protections against harassment and discrimination, and music journalism platforms have refused to address ties of fascism from artists they have covered. 

Given all of these negatives, it's easy to fall on a pessimistic mentality where we believe nothing will ever get better. However, throughout these times, I've learned of many projects, individuals, and communities that are fighting against these injustices by creating platforms and spaces that challenge hegemonic narratives and by carrying out efforts that materially improve the conditions of industry workers and fans.

My goal with this series is to put the spotlight on projects that are actively trying to dismantle capitalism and colonialism from the music industry, and are doing actual work that goes beyond posting on social media and doing performative, double faced gestures. To do so, I'll perform interviews with members of these projects to learn what motivated their creation, how they have created improvements in their communities, and what futures they envision for the music industry.

A better future is possible. To imagine it we only need to see examples of people working towards it. To me it has been incredibly inspiring, and I hope it can be for anyone that reads this series. If you have any suggestions for projects to cover or feedback, please let me know on Twitter, Instagram or via my email noeloyolag@gmail.com.

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Introduciendo Music Futures, una serie de entrevistas mostrando proyectos trabajando para crear mejores futuros en la industria de la música.


Como todos bien sabemos, la llegada del COVID-19 trajo complicaciones e incertidumbre al mundo de la música. Con la imposibilidad de hacer conciertos y el esparcimiento de la enfermedad, se volvió muy difícil sostenerse económicamente para muchos artistas y trabajadores de la industria. A pesar de todas las adversidades, también hubo un rayo de esperanza. Los múltiples levantamientos raciales a través del mundo como respuesta a la injusticia sistémica crearon una ola de conciencia que se esparció globalmente. Muchas personas que no hablaban de raza comenzaron a hacerlo y la diversidad e inclusión parecieron tornarse prioridades a través de comunidades y la industria de la música.

Desafortunadamente, mucha de esta esperanza fue desalentadora. Lo que vimos no fue una movilización masiva de fans, músicos, periodistas y otros trabajadores de la industria para mejora las condiciones de vida de grupos marginalizados. Al contrario, vimos “plague raves” donde turistas adinerados esparcieron el COVID-19 en el Sur Global, gestos performativos de músicos privilegiados y compañías sin un impacto real en las comunidades, y un rechazo descarado de las peticiones de artistas para existir en mejores condiciones.

Además, gracias a la creciente desigualdad económica, la industria de la música se ha blanqueado ya que es una empresa capitalista. Esto no es nada nuevo, ya que muchos géneros musicales como el techno y el house (originalmente creados por gente negra) han sido apropiados y comercializados por décadas. Sin embargo, dada la constante publicitación de la diversidad y la inclusión, es decepcionante que estos problemas hayan empeorado en vez de mejorarse.

La situación ha demostrado ser oscura y deprimente, especialmente para los artistas de color, queer e indígenas cuyo arte es más difícil de promocionar dado la resistencia de los festivales y plataformas musicales a promover su trabajo. Y la situación tampoco es buena para los fans de estas comunidades. Muchos establecimientos se etiquetan como “espacios seguros” para dar apariencias sin proveer ningun tipo de protección contra el acoso y la discriminación, y las plataformas de periodismo musical se han rehusado a indicar las conexiones con el fascimo de artistas que han cubierto.

Dadas todas estas negativas, es fácil caer en una mentalidad pesimista donde creemos que nada puede mejorar. A pesar de todo esto, he aprendido de múltiples proyectos, individuos y comunidades que están luchando contra estas injusticias creando plataformas y espacios que retan las narrativas hegemónicas y llevando a cabo proyectos que mejoran las condiciones materiales de trabajadores de la industria y fans.

Mi meta con esta serie es destacar proyectos enfocados en desmantelar el capitalismo y el colonialismo en la industria de la música, y que estén haciendo una labor que vaya más allá de publicar en redes sociales para mantener apariencias. Para lograrlo, realizaré entrevistas con miembros de estos proyectos para aprender que motivó su creación, como han creado mejoras en sus comunidades y que futuros imaginan para la industria de la música.

Un mejor futuro es posible. Para imaginarlo sólo hace falta ver ejemplos de personas trabajando para hacerlo realidad. Para mi ha sido muy inspirador, y espero que lo pueda ser para quien lea esta serie. Si tienes sugerencias de proyectos que cubrir o retroalimentación, por favor hazmelo saber en @noinoeso (Twitter), @n.loyolag (Instagram) o noeloyolag@gmail.com.
​
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