Artists can now nominate a fundraiser directly through their Spotify Artist profile, and it can actually be themselves. Yep.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically disrupted a whole host of industries, with the live music world amongst one of the worst hit. Today, Spotify announced a new ‘Artist Fundraising Pick‘ function for Spotify for Artists. This aims to help artists connect with fans through their Spotify Artist profile and raise awareness on their chosen cause. Fans wishing to support the cause can then make donations through fundraising partners including Cash App, GoFundMe, and Paypal. Cash App has also promised an extra $100 to each artist who fundraises for themselves and receives a fan donation.
We’ve seen a sudden boom in creative ways to keep the industry active as our weekends fill up with digital festivals and livestreams. This is one of the first capabilities for fans to donate directly to artists struggling through the pandemic.
Spotify created the function predominately to help artists raise money to support themselves and their crew, but it can also be used to fundraise for any verified organization in the Spotify COVID-19 Music Relief project. With Spotify’s global reach, this will be a powerful tool for artists raising awareness or going through tough times themselves.
This is one of many initiatives by Spotify, who are actively supporting the music industry through COVID-19. In addition to donations to MusiCare, the CDC, and WHO, Spotify also established the Spotify COVID-19 Music Relief Project. The project will match donations made through it up to the value of a booming $10 million.