Riots have caused looting and damage across the country

Record labels and artists across all music genres are banding together for Blackout Tuesday in response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmed Arbery and countless other black citizens at the hands of police. Sony, Universal, Warner, and all of their divisions, Nashville’s Big Machine Label Group, BBR Music Group, Black River Entertainment, Curb Records and Big Loud Records, will suspend their operations for the day in solidarity.

#TheShowMustBePaused is an initiative created by Jamila Thomas, a senior director of marketing at Atlantic Records, and Brianna Agyemang, a senior artist campaign manager at Platoon — who are both black — in observance of the long-standing racism and inequality that exists from the boardroom to the boulevard.

“The music industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. An industry that has profited predominantly from Black art,” the initiative claims. “Our mission is to hold the industry at large, including major corporations and their partners who benefit from the efforts, struggles and successes of Black people, accountable. To that end, it is the obligation of these entities to protect and empower the Black communities that have made them disproportionately wealthy in ways that are measurable and transparent.”

It continues, “Tuesday, June 2nd is meant to intentionally disrupt the work week. Monday suggests a long weekend, and we can’t wait until Friday for change. It is a day to take a beat for an honest, reflective and productive conversation about what actions we need to collectively take to support the black community.”

Tuesday’s blackout is in response to the Memorial Day death of 46-year-old, George Floyd, a black man from Minneapolis, who died at the hands of a white police officer named Derek Chauvin. After a video was released showing Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes as the man cried he couldn’t breath during protesting, Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter Floyd was pronounced dead at an area hospital as short time later.

The death has caused many riots across the country where stores and businesses have been vandalized and looted.