In June 2020, in the midst of the George Floyd protests, DistroKid launched an innovative new tool in beta entitled Artists For Change. The new program gave DistroKid members the ability to easily donate any portion of earnings from any song to charity, via DistroKid’s built-in payment Splits system. Following the beta launch of Artists For Change, more than 1,000 DistroKid members collectively donated over $50,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF). As always, DistroKid does not take any percentage of artist earnings or donations.
DistroKid has announced the expansion of Artists For Change, opening up the program to all DistroKid members and adding participating charities to the initiative. As the Holiday Season nears, newly supported charities include Miracle Messages, Support + Feed, The North Brooklyn Angels, Vouchers for Veggies and Slice Out Hunger. Additional charities are expected to be added in the coming months.
Artists For Change makes it easy for music creators who are DistroKid members to direct any portion of their earnings, from any song, to charity, as an extension of DistroKid’s Splits feature. Splits, which was launched in 2017, allows artists who use DistroKid to automatically split any percentage of royalties, from any track, with anyone. Now, that feature includes charitable organizations as well.
“The artist community has shown incredible generosity by auto-donating a portion of earnings to important causes,” says DistroKid CEO Philip Kaplan. “We’re excited to expand the program by adding support for these and many more organizations.
The following charities are supported by DistroKid’s “Artists For Change”:
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
“Fighting for civil rights and empowering Asian Americans to create a more just America for all.”
“GroundUP Music Foundation curates and assembles exceptional musicians at all career stages, with great cultural diversity from all over the globe, and provides them with funding, time, and opportunities to experiment, take risks, and work with each other and with students to create collaborations that take on a life of their own, resulting in continued creative partnerships.”
“The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Founded in 1940 under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall, who subsequently became the first African American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, LDF was launched at a time when the nation’s aspirations for equality and due process of law were stifled by widespread, state-sponsored racial inequality. From that era to the present, LDF’s mission has always been transformative: to achieve racial justice, equality, and an inclusive society.”
National Independent Venue Association
“NIVA's mission is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent venues and promoters throughout the United States.”
“Miracle Messages is an award-winning 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that helps people experiencing homelessness rebuild their social support systems and financial security, primarily through family reunifications, a phone buddy program, and guaranteed income pilots.”
”Slice Out Hunger is a volunteer-driven nonprofit that has raised over $1,000,000 to fund hunger relief efforts around the US since 2009”
“Support + Feed’s mission is to counter major culprits of environmental destruction by providing nutritious, planet-friendly plant-based food to communities in need. The organization was founded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of supporting both struggling restaurants and people experiencing food insecurity by delivering meals from plant-based restaurants to first responders, elderly people, and economically vulnerable communities.”
“The North Brooklyn Angels is a volunteer-driven, local non-profit that organizes direct action projects to address the many needs that exist in a rapidly changing North Brooklyn: hunger, poverty, homelessness & housing instability. Directly addressing food insecurity, its tiny staff, supported by scores of daily neighborhood volunteers, serves up to 1,500 hot, healthy meals per week at varying points of need in the area.”
“Vouchers 4 Veggies is a San Francisco-based healthy food program providing low-income individuals and families with vouchers for free fruits and vegetables.”
