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Announcing the #BrokenRecord Appeal and Festival

The Broken Record Appeal aims to support every kind of music creator in need as a result of Coronavirus. MU Deputy General Secretary Naomi Pohl discusses the Broken Record Appeal and the associated Festival planned for 24th May.

Published: 11 May 2020 | 12:00 AM Updated: 06 July 2021 | 4:34 PM
an illustration for Broken Record appeal featuring a person at their home full of music records
Tim’s regular twitter listening parties celebrate the joy of listening to albums.

The campaign we launched today with the Ivors Academy to #KeepMusicAlive and #FixStreaming was in part inspired by artists taking to Twitter and using the #BrokenRecord hashtag to highlight problems with the distribution of streaming revenue.  

The Covid-19 crisis has exposed the fact that many artists and songwriters cannot survive on royalties from the streaming of music online, despite the fact that it brings in billions of pounds of revenue for platforms and major labels. 

On Twitter, Tim Burgess has been hosting Twitter listening parties which celebrate the joy of listening to albums – see #TimsTwitterListeningParty. During the weeks of lockdown, with the involvement of many bands and artists, 120 listening parties have now been held with tens of thousands of music fans.

Launch of the Broken Record Appeal

On Monday 11 May, #TimsTwitterListeningParty and the #BrokenRecord campaign have come together to launch ‘The Broken Record Appeal’ to support every kind of music creator in need as a result of the Coronavirus. 

Donations received via this appeal will be split equally between the MU Coronavirus Hardship Fund and the PRS Emergency Relief Fund. 

Join the Broken Record Festival

In order to amplify the #BrokenRecord campaign and raise money via the appeal, #TimsTwitterListeningParty will present “The Broken Record Festival” on Sunday 24 May.  

The online festival will feature:

  • Boy George with Culture Club’s ‘Colour By Numbers’ (w/ producer Steve Levine) 
  • The Shins with ‘Oh, Inverted World’ 
  • KT Tunstall with ‘Eye To The Telescope’ 
  • John Grant with “Pale Green Ghosts’ 
  • PINS with “Wild Nights

Make a donation to the Broken Record Appeal

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