Black Bandcamp has relaunched as the Black Artists Database
The platform aims to spotlight Black creatives from a number of different fields
Black Bandcamp - the community-based platform dedicated to spotlighting Black musicians - is officially relaunching as Black Artists Database (aka B.A.D.), expanding its focus beyond musicians to various fields such as journalism, visual art, curation, and more.
The organisation was developed after the Black Lives Matter movement last year, with the aim of platforming and supporting Black musicians to combat structural inequality, building a database containing more than 3,500 profiles.
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This database will now be open to from a wider range of professional backgrounds.
The relaunch is set for this month’s Bandcamp Friday - with the new database providing links to musicians alongside the profiles of artists and creatives worldwide. New search functionalities such as location, field and genre have also been added, allowing for accessible and fast navigation of the platform.
The platform will also continue developing editorial content, with the introduction of the ‘B.A.D.mix’ - which will debut with a set from Detroit techno heavyweight Eddie Fowlkes. Their mixed media series ‘Voices’ will tell the untold stories of Black musicians within electronic music, with Eddington Again up first. The series has also heard stories from Ifeoluwa, DJ Paulette, Russell E.L. Butler and Chris Inperspective.
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Mixcloud, alongside a host of other brands are supporting B.A.D, with the distribution service offering users of the database a referral code to create a free Pro Creative account for 3 months.
B.A.D have also announced their [pause] initiative - aiming to tackle inequality within the music industry. With only 11. 4% of music industry jobs filled by Black creatives, the initiative aims to encourage industry leaders to bridge the gap.
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The aim of the Black Artist Database is to showcase the creative talent and diversity within Black communities, with the hope that wage equity, stable employment and transparency become available to Black communities.
Submissions for the database are now open here - and find the database itself here.
Tope Olufemi is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow them on Twitter