Live Nation Urban, Major Labels Celebrate Black Music Month

Jack Plunkett / Invision / AP – Questlove and Black Thought of The Roots
The Roots’ Questlove and Black Thought perform at 800 Congress during SXSW in Austin, Texas, March 18.

Live Nation Urban celebrates “the footprint and evolution of black culture within the music industry” during June, which has been designated Black Music Month, with the release of exclusive music content including videos, artist clips, live show recaps and interviews in partnership with five major record labels.

The content will be available across Live Nation Urban’s social channels and those of Atlantic, Epic, Columbia, Interscope and Motown record labels. In addition, Black Music Month content is streaming on The Roots‘ social media channels, including archived material already aired. 

“Black Music has been at the epicenter of global culture for generations. Live Nation Urban is proud to partner with iconic labels across Black Music Month to celebrate our music in a time of transformative change in the United States and in the world,” – Live Nation Urban’s Brandon Pankey said in a statement.

Live Nation Urban’s “Meet The Founders” series airs weekly and serves as an explorative conversation with executives, crew and staff from a variety of brands, entertainment events and live shows on building their brands and experiences within the industry. Each upcoming episode for the month of June will feature a record label executive in conversation about their history within the industry and how Black music has influenced their career.

Past participants have included Brandon McEachern (Broccoli City Festival), Simone Mari & Gia Lowe (CURLFEST/Curly Girl Collective), Joi Brown (The Culture Creators & SVP of Marketing & Brand Partnerships at Atlantic Records), Ron Hill (Inspiration and Partner of Exodus Music & Arts Festival & VP of Artist Development at RCA), and Shawn Gee (Live Nation Urban & Partner of Maverick).

Black Music Month performances include Comfort Covers and Soundcheck Performances. Comfort Covers is a series featuring a select group of musicians from each record label roster performing renditions of a track or medley of tracks from a particular artist that they favor or have been inspired by.

Past participants have included Alex Mali, Sebastian Mikael, Kevin Ross and Savannah Cristina. Soundcheck Performances, a series which serves as an acoustic and scaled back performance for artists. Past participants have included Rayana Jay, Rileyy Lanez, JAHMED and Brave Williams. These performances will be featured on Live Nation Urban’s Instagram and YouTube channels.