In support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and in the wake of our nation’s uprising following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many more Black folks, today, Tuesday, June 2, Vinyl Me, Please is observing the music industry blackout: #TheShowMustBePaused.

First, we extend our gratitude to the two Black women in the music industry who started this grassroots initiative: Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang. As members of the music industry, VMP will be using this time to discuss, reflect, and educate our organization on the ways we’ve been inherently complicit in the historic — and ongoing — exploitation of Black talent and labor to build and maintain our capital.

We will also be closing our store today, and we will not be adding new products this week. We encourage you to use any of the funds allocated to VMP purchases to support a bail fund or grassroots organization that directly supports Black organizers, movements and communities, many of which you can find here. We also encourage you to educate yourselves and the communities around you, and to support Black founders, creators, artists and organizations. Because the story of oppression playing out in the current moment is in direct conflict with our values of listening and amplifying voices that deserve to be heard, we will be donating $25,000, split evenly between Black Visions Collective and Colorado Freedom Fund, and we encourage our fellow music industry peers to act similarly and donate generously.

We acknowledge that this isn’t simply a day or a moment and, as we move forward, will actively seek out material changes to hold our organization accountable when it comes to inequity and the ways we are complicit in it. This time marks the beginning of VMP’s internal and external efforts to shift that participation from exploitative complicity into a constructive, healthy relationship with the Black creators and communities we conduct our business with.

Vinyl Me, Please Staff

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