Music Industry’s ‘Blackout Tuesday’ Anti-Racism Campaign Sparks Solidarity

The Blackout Tuesday online day of action, intended to show solidarity with ongoing protests in the US against racism and police brutality, drew support from several festivals, clubs, media and music companies in the Balkans, Turkey and Poland on Tuesday.

Many of them changed their Facebook profile pictures to black squares in a show of support for the protests that erupted in cities across the US in the wake of the violent death last week of an African-American man called George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.

In Serbia, the action was supported by Exit, the Balkan region's biggest festival, and some of Belgrade's most popular nightclubs such as Drugstore and 20/44, which posted the slogan on Facebook: "Black lives matter." Exit also posted the same slogan alongside the Blackout Tuesday hashtag, #theshowmustbepaused.

In Croatia, the Croatian Phonographic Association, the Project Vojarna techno music festival, the Dallas Records label and the Croatian branch of multinational record company Universal Music also expressed support.

The Croatian Phonographic Association, a non-governmental organisation that promotes the interests of the country's recording industry, said it was halting its promotional activities for one day "to divert the attention of our followers to these current world events because we believe that our followers and associates deserve to be informed".

"Although it may often seem to us, especially in a country like Croatia, that we can make a (significant) impact only at the local level, it is necessary to be aware of the global position of each individual and legal entity and our involvement in global issues," the National Record Association told BIRN.<...