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Save The Music Goes Independent, Launches $10M Endowment

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Save The Music, which supports music programs in nearly 300 school districts nationwide, is now fully independent of Paramount Global, the non-profit announced Jan. 29.

Founded in 1997 as VH1 Save The Music and rebranded without the VH1 name in 2019, Save The Music provides schools with instruments and technology, trains and supports teachers, and funds and convenes community-based music organizations.

In conjunction with its new chapter, Save The Music is launching a $10 million endowment fund with $4 million already raised, which includes a “six-figure” donation pledge from Paramount.

The transition to independence began with that 2019 rebranding as part of an effort by Save The Music to become less reliant on a single funding stream. In 2024, more than 95% of its organizational budget came from non-Paramount sources.

Notable funders include record labels, agencies, Live Nation, AEG Presents, Amazon, TikTok and Meta. In 2021 Save The Music also received a $2 million grant – the largest in the organization’s history – from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

Since its inception, STM has invested more than $75 million in more than 2,800 school music programs and since 2019 has doubled the number of schools it serves with more than 600 new programs..

“Going independent is a huge step forward for us – and the culmination of a five-year effort from our team, partners, and boards,” Executive Director Henry Donahue said in a statement. “In every school I visit – from the Bronx to Miami, Philadelphia to Los Angeles, Detroit to Columbus, Memphis to New Orleans – I find that the music room is a special place. The students are excited to be there, and they are creative, thoughtful, and optimistic in a way that should give us all hope for the future.”

Save The Music has launched a giveaway campaign hosted on the Propeller platform. Through the end of February, fans can bid on more than a dozen auction prizes fromabrina Carpenter, The War And Treaty, Denzel Curry, GHOST, Common x Pete Rock, Patti LaBelle, Blake Shelton and more. Proceeds from the auction will directly support the creation of new music programs across the country.

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