Bandcamp organized its first Juneteenth fundraiser in 2020 in response to the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Juneteenth 19th, 1865 marks the end of slavery in Texas, two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

The annual fundraiser “is part of our larger, ongoing commitment to racial equity,” according to a blog post by Bandcamp CEO and Cofounder Ethan Diamond. Also key in their efforts are their “mission to support artists, the products we develop, those we promote through the Bandcamp Daily and Bandcamp Radio, how we work together as a team, who and how we hire, and our relationships with organizations local to our Oakland space.”

Diamond goes on to mention several of said organizations by name. East Oakland Collective, East Oakland Youth Development Center, The Hidden Genius Project, Oakland Black Business Fund, and Oakland Kids First all garner an endorsement from the music platform.

Bandcamp launched in 2008, differentiating itself by offering creators more control over how they sell music and merchandise. In March, Fortnite developer Epic Games acquired the company for an undisclosed sum. Other than fighting for Bandcamp to keep using its existing payment system on android devices, the conglomerate has yet to significantly influence the direction of the platform.

Until 12:00 AM PDT, Bandcamp’s share of all sales will be donated to the NAACP Legal Defense fund. The initiative can also be supported directly through the NAACP website.

Surgeon (real name Anthony Child) selected “techno (and techno adjacent)” music exclusively from electronic musicians of color. Included in the 31-entry list were releases by artists as notable as Robert Hood and Stacey Pullen along with those of undercurrent acts like DJ Bone, Terrence Dixon and Sterac.

Remembering the Roots

The Black Lives Matter protests have brought increased attention to people of color’s contributions to electronic music and the culture surrounding it. As we recently explored, techno in particular started out as protest music. Early Detroit techno mainstays like Underground Resistance often spoke out against the whitewashing of the genre as it achieved international popularity.

As the protests stemming from George Floyd‘s apparent murder by Derek Chauvin unfolded across the world, notable figures in electronic music became more vocal about this history. Minneapolis artist Dustin Zahn criticized the industry for remaining silent in an impassioned post, and Demuir discussed how to initiate a dialogue in a YouTube video titled “A Conversation on Race and Dance Music.”

Learn more about the Juneteenth NAACP fundraiser via the Bandcamp blog.